In April 2024, the town entered into a purchase and sale agreement with the purported owners of property on White Horse Beach to acquire it in order to demolish the longstanding former Full Sail bar. The agreement was contingent upon Town Meeting approval of $655,000 for the land and $220,000 for the cost of demolition. At the 2024 Fall Annual Town Meeting, Town Meeting voted to approve these expenditures.
On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, I learned for the first time that on Friday, February 28, 2025, an order of taking by eminent domain had been recorded for five of the six parcels that comprise the property.
The only reasons I can think of for why an eminent domain taking was necessary are the following:
- The purported owners of the property were not the actual owners of the property, or
- The purported owners were in fact the actual owners, but there were title infirmities that only could be eliminated by an eminent domain taking.
In either case, a title search prior to Town Meeting would have disclosed the answer. Why was a title search not done prior to Town Meeting, and why was the taking against some but not all of the parcels that comprise the property?
I raised these questions during public comment at the Select Board’s meeting that night but received no answer.
– Richard M. Serkey
Serkey is a precinct 2 Town Meeting member.