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This aerial photograph shows Napeague Lane and Shipwreck Lane.

This aerial photograph shows Napeague Lane and Shipwreck Lane. Credit: Doug Kuntz

It's a question of access.

A group of Napeague property owners say that only they can control who visits the nearby beach.

The Town of East Hampton for years has allowed four-wheel-drive vehicles to use that section of shorefront.

The dispute has landed in State Supreme Court where this week, Judge Melvyn Tanenbaum gave the town and its trustees two weeks to respond to the property owners' request for an immediate ruling on the issue.

Steven Angel, a Riverhead attorney who represents the 156 property owners, has asked Tanenbaum to rule that his clients -- who have deeds to the beach -- can keep non-residents off the land, and that neither East Hampton Town nor the town trustees have the power to let anyone drive on or otherwise use the beach.

The lawsuit does not cover the beach between the high-water mark and the ocean, which -- all sides agree -- is public property.

The property owners say that more than a century ago -- March 15, 1882 -- the beach was sold by the trustees of the Town of East Hampton to developer Arthur W. Benson, who built Bensonhurst in Brooklyn when the population there was just 9,000 people.

At the time, the trustees -- by virtue of a Colonial grant dating back to before the formation of the United States -- had the authority to care for, manage and sell commonly held town property, including beaches.

The current property owners have title to those original Benson deeds as part of their own deeds.

For years, the people living in the area have complained about the noise from the four-wheel vehicles.

Anthony B. Tohill, the Riverhead attorney representing the town and the trustees, said town officials hope a compromise can be worked out between the parties before trial.

No trial date has been scheduled.

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