(snip)
Basically we are talking about a local town public park and marina on the
waterfront. The park is supposed to be for use by town residents only
(the park land was donated to the town in 1942 by descendants of Teddy
Roosevelt and that strict covenant is in the deed). Over the last few
years, the town has stopped enforcing this restriction. Officials claim
it is because of a law, which they are unable to cite, which states that
they can not restrict access to the water. I believe they may be
misinterpreting a law meant to prohibit restricting a boat's access to
waterways from the water (which I recall hearing about somewhere), rather
than a person's access to the water from land. Nobody on either side
seems to be able to cite any law from either perspective. I'm just
looking for something official to cite, one way or the other.

Larry Weiss
"...Ever After!"
"a little after..."

Try going to city hall and asking about any local ordinances on the issue.
Is this area of water isolated (I'm assuming that it's not if there's a
marina)? Does the marina need to utilize the waterway for vessels to access
a larger body of water? I found a website for you to check. Since a lot of
the laws are waterway specific, you'll have to browse through them and see
which applies to your area. Check www.nyss.com/NYS.html. Good luck.
--
swatcop

"If it wasn't for stupid people I'd be unemployed."