Clang, clang, clang go the Scuba tanks: Residents near one Rockport beach sue town over divers

People living near Rockport's Back Beach say they're tired of what they say are politically connected and often malevolent Scuba divers, who clang their metal air tanks at all hours, get naked in the street, block driveways, toss their trash on people's lawns and dox or threaten residents who complain.

So they've sued the town in US District Court in Boston.

In their complaint, the members of the Back Beach Neighbors Committee say they've tried to work with the town to corral the teeming masses of Neoprene'd divers, but that while outmanned police try to help, town government is stuffed with people who make money from diving schools and who are actually trying to increase diver access to the beach, located just up Beach Street from the better known Bearskin Neck.

The neighbors claim they are being deprived of their right to equal protection, because no other beach in town is treated like Back Beach, that they are unnecessarily subjected to a nuisance, because while the divers are exercising their right to go jump in the water, the town doesn't have to make it so easy for them, that "the Town of Rockport has illegally conveyed special benefits or privileges upon divers" in violation of the state constitution, and that, in fact, the town is violating its own bylaw that prohibits diving in town harbors except for the purposes of boat repair, and that even if the bylaw were changed, the town would still be violating another bylaw that requires a permit for any commercial uses of a town beach, which the residents say includes dive schools.

The Town is solicitous of divers as a whole. Two of the members of the Town’s harbor advisory committee are divers. Members of other committees have had to recuse themselves from scuba diving issues in the past. The Town considers diving to be a useful tourist activity.

The complaint, which asks a federal judge to order the town to finally do something, details some of the complaints:

On numerous occasions on summer weekend nights, night divers have been causing noise, and clanging tanks until 1AM, while a fresh group of divers arrives at 6AM to start the day fresh, depriving the Members of sleep.

On several occasions, the Members have witnessed divers changing in the public street or sidewalk, immediately visible from the neighbor's front windows, rather than in the public facilities or on the beach. The Members have seen divers engaging in actual public nudity to change, rather than simply an issue with bathing suits. For those neighbors whose houses are within a dozen feet of the sidewalk, this is particularly distressing. Some of the neighbors have children or grandchildren who are young and impressionable.

One of the Committee was subjected to 'doxxing,' the malicious public disclosure of private personal information for purposes of embarrassment or harassment. In context, the member's information was posted to a niche divers internet forum, pointing toward the most malicious use of doxxing which is to invite or enable unknown persons to retaliate or otherwise assault against the person whose behavior is disapproved of. ...

The Town's enforcement officials, when summoned to enforce beach regulations or parking bylaws or criminal laws, will normally warn the diver. Then they will also proceed to the house of the neighbor who called, thereby revealing the identity of the complainant. The malevolent strain of divers have taken to retaliating against the Committee Members for summoning the police. ...

The Town has failed to enforce parking rules at Back Beach, lax though they are, resulting in neighbors being blocked in their driveway, unable to drive down the street, or unable to return home after being out.

Separately, to encourage divers, the Town has different parking layout and metering at Back Beach to make its access easier for strangers. The parking arrangement at Back Beach is unlike any other public area or beach in Town. The Town plans to augment this unique arrangement, to Back Beach's detriment, with forthcoming federal funding under the Complete Streets Program.