Flying Point Road

Flying Point Road is County Road 39A. It leaves Montauk Highway in Water Mill, runs south past the Flying Point Cemetery at Wickapogue Road and the Cobb Road intersection, crosses the bridge over Channel Pond, and ends on the barrier beach at the mouth of Mecox Bay. The whole road lies in unincorporated Town of Southampton territory.

At its south end the road has two public ocean entrances: the Town's Flying Point Beach at 1055 Flying Point Road, and Southampton Town Trustee access points at the bulkhead and at the Mecox inlet. The Trustees (formally the Trustees of the Freeholders and Commonality of the Town of Southampton, a board separate from the Town Board) manage the inlet that connects Mecox Bay to the Atlantic. Few South Fork roads put a house this close to both a managed bay and the ocean.

Where it runs

The Town's parking code names the road's landmarks. The north end is the intersection of County Road 39A and Route 27, Montauk Highway. Going south: the Cobb Road intersection, the bridge across Channel Pond, Burnett Cove Private Road, and the road's "eastern extremity" at the beach. The Town parks map shows Flying Point Beach and the Mecox Cut at the end of the road.

The north end is historic farm country. The 1686 Flying Point Cemetery, also known as Wickapogue Cemetery, stands at the corner of Flying Point and Wickapogue Roads. The Dimon Family Farmhouse at 12 Flying Point Road became a Town of Southampton Landmark on January 10, 2023. A Town landmark needs a Landmarks and Historic Districts Board certificate before any visible exterior change. The Town's 2014 draft historic survey also listed several other Flying Point Road houses as potential landmarks. That status is advisory until the Town designates them.

Mecox Bay and the inlet

Mecox Bay is roughly 1,100 acres. The Town describes it as the largest barrier pond east of the Shinnecock Canal. Its link to the ocean is not permanent. The Trustees open the inlet to flush the bay, raise its salinity and bring its level back toward mean tide. The State lists the bay as impaired water, citing nutrients, sediment, septic effluent and runoff.

For a buyer, this means the water level along the bayfront is partly managed. When the inlet is closed, the bay rises and bayfront lawns, bulkheads and septic systems can sit closer to the water than a survey suggests. When it is open, the bay drains toward tide level. The pond and bayfront guide covers the general framework. On Flying Point Road, read the actual inlet history and talk to the Trustees about the shoreline.

Beach access

Flying Point Beach is a Town facility with lifeguards in season. Town permits are required from May 15 to September 15. Resident and non-resident season permits are accepted, and weekday daily permits are sold through the Town's parking app. The two Trustee access points at the bulkhead and the inlet need the same permit in season, have no lifeguards, and are where swimming is not recommended.

Living near a public beach is not the same as having private access. Frontage, a deeded right of way and public access are three different property facts. See private roads and beach rights.

Coastal position

Positions on the road range from upland Water Mill farm country near Montauk Highway, to Mecox bayfront, to parcels on the barrier between bay and ocean. The southern parcels carry the full coastal file. That means the Coastal Erosion Hazard Area (the state-mapped zone where new building and some rebuilding need a special permit), dune setbacks, FEMA flood zone, Trustee jurisdiction over the beach and bay bottom, and the lawful footprint of the existing house. The oceanfront-property guide explains each one.

Buyer diligence

• Place the parcel: north of Cobb Road, Mecox bayfront, or the barrier south of the Channel Pond bridge.
• Get the survey with wetland, dune and erosion lines. On the bay side, compare it with the inlet's recent open and closed periods.
• Confirm Trustee and DEC permits for any bulkhead, dock or dune walkway.
• Check whether the parcel, or a structure on it, is a Town landmark or in the 2014 survey.
• Pull the Suffolk County sanitary record and confirm the system's separation from the bay.

Nearby lanes

Cobb Road meets Flying Point Road at its northern bend. Halsey Lane, Bay Lane and Mecox Road reach the bay from the north and east. Across the inlet, Jobs Lane leads to Mecox Beach in Bridgehampton. Hamlet context: Water Mill.

Considering a Flying Point Road property?

Request a private pricing review from The Roebling Research Desk for the specific parcel: its band on the road, bay and ocean relationship, inlet and flood history, Trustee and coastal permits, landmark status and the recorded sales that genuinely compare.