In an interview with The Post, George Rebstock, the former owner of the Bay Beach property, said when he sold the property for $2 million to the town in 2001, he knew about the town's intention to sell the land away from the beach.

But, he said, although there were no agreements, he did ask that access to the beach remain public.

"There were no agreements -- it was a complete sale. You buy my car, you drive it the way you wish," said Rebstock.

Rebstock, now 85, said he sold the land to contribute to the community.

"Having been born and raised in Crystal Beach, I wanted the town to have it (the land). No question about it. We could have sold to private developers for more money, but we thought this was the proper thing to do," he said. "I'm glad that the people here, including my own grandchildren, have a place to go. There is more to life than money."

Rebstock said the money the town used to buy the land came from slot revenues and wasn't taken from the tax base.

He said as a longtime resident of the area, he can understand both sides of the argument to sell or not to sell some of the property for development.

"As far as I'm concerned, with what's going on here now, I'm impartial because I can see both sides of the fence and I haven't made a decision about what should be best because I don't know what the status of the town is financially.

"Both accesses -- one at Ashwood Street and at the other at the end of Eastwood -- are there now. You could build on either side of them.

"But, with all the development going on here, maybe some open space might be desirable. You drive by there now on a busy day now -- one day was full of traffic up and down Erie Road -- it's busy and that's in the year 2008. What's going to happen in the year 2015 or whenever else?"