The Shoreline Access Task Force, formed in the early days of the pandemic amid panicked calls to limit the use of Island beaches, is drafting its final report to the Town Board.
The group’s goal: to complete its mission and be “mothballed.”
The SATF is three Town employees — Shelter Island Police Department bay constables Beau Payne and Peter Vielbig, Town Engineer Joe Finora — and representatives of volunteer entities dealing with public access at the Island’s shoreline. Andy Reeve represents the Shelter Island Fire Department, which relies on surface waters for firefighting. Al Loreto represents the Waterways Management Advisory Council, which advises the Town Board on moorings, docks, and other waterways activities.
Besides a few open-ended legal issues, which Payne said are above the group’s paygrade, the SATF appears to have essentially accomplished tasks the Town Board assigned in December 2020.
That’s due to Vielbig’s courteous leadership, Payne’s can-do doggedness, and the group’s overall matter-of-fact style of doing business. The SATF stuck to its mission and stalwartly supported public use of coastal resources.
As members reviewed the final report’s initial draft, Monday’s Zoom meeting had a sense of certainty about it. All agreed to return comments to Payne by March so that the document could go to the Town Board.
“We’re trying to wind the task force work down with an eye toward hopefully dissolving [it] or putting it into some mothball category,” Payne said.
Initial recommendations
The SATF submitted an initial report to the Town Board in March 2021 that:
- established a numbering system to catalog dozens of public shoreline access points, identifying each as a Town Landing, Public Bathing Beach, Town Beach, Town Dock, or Town Ramp
- evaluated each existing access point
- recommended future access points
- prescribed actions to ensure continued public use
The report highlighted issues at each of the Town Board’s high-priority areas, recommending actions such as designating parking areas, improving signage and fencing to show public boundaries, and installing racks for permit-holders to stow small watercraft.
You can read the March 2021 report on the SATF page on the Town website.
The Town Board carried out many of the site-specific recommendations for the initial 14 designated areas, but Payne some have not been accomplished. What’s more, the SATF has since reviewed other sites and offered solutions that await follow-up.
Among the general recommendations is that the Town catch up on prescriptive actions and then implement an in-house process to “monitor changes in uses, potential encroachment issues, and track needed repairs/improvements.”
And, the Town should “prioritize the repair and improvement of existing ramps.” For example, some ramps are “deteriorated to the point of questionable safety and utility.”
Need for access at Dering Harbor
As a result of mapping public access points, it became evident that some areas lack sufficient egress. Topping the list is Dering Harbor, which is surrounded by privately-owned property.
While there’s a Town Dock at the sharp bend in North Ferry Road next to Piccozzi’s Marina, it’s designed for use by larger transient vessels and their tenders; operators of trailered boats or small vessels can’t put in there. Likewise, Volunteer Park is fully bulkheaded; there’s no practical access even though it abuts the water.
Open legal questions
The SATF also touched on a few open questions. For instance, does the Town have a legally-defensible interest at Rocky Point Road in the “Green Lawns” neighborhood along Nostrand Parkway?
The neighborhood was part of an extensive late 1800s development called West Neck Park, envisioning hundreds of cottages on small lots spread across the West Neck Peninsula. Instead, only a few substantial “cottages” were built before the development went bust. Today the area is densely wooded, but back then it was open land.
Old images show a roadway extending to the water, and for many years the annual Chamber of Commerce map marked the spot with a symbol indicating it was one of the dozens of Town landings. What’s not clear, Payne said, is whether the Town of Shelter Island ever claimed any jurisdiction over what’s known as the Rocky Point Road extension. Now landscaped with hedges and trees, a private driveway flanked by gateposts roughly indicates the area in question.
It appears that neighbors dating back to the early development may have some rights to access the shore there, Payne said. But from the records available to the SATF, it seems the Town has no legal claim. A title search many years ago suggested that use of the capitalized words “Public Highway” on a plan of the area, may mean some access was intended for the general public.
“That’s way above my paygrade,” Payne said. “I certainly can’t make a decision on the proper nouns and their effecti on historic ownership.”
Christina Houston, who joined Monday’s Zoom meeting, wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Her family owns a home on the inland corner of Rocky Point Road and Nostrand Parkway. In the absence of an active neighborhood association, she believes the Town should represent the interests of the nearby property owners.
“Personally, I feel like it’s definitely a fight worth having between private parties,” Payne said, noting he’s not a lawyer. “I don’t feel the town has a dog in that race.”
Payne focused on records in the Assessors Office. He found that on the 2014 Town assessment roll, the size of the property in question at 19 Nostrand Parkway increased from 1.3 acres to 1.75 acres. But he could find no documentation describing the parcel as matching that larger size. Payne said he pointed out the discrepancy to the Assessors.
Reeve recommended the SATF final report note that the matter remains an open question.
“It’s a potential water-access point,” Reeve said.
Adding a GIS layer
Vielbig said the SATF shoreline access points catalog would become the Town’s authoritative list, used by the Department of Public Works and Town Clerk for management and permitting purposes. Reeve asked if Town would include the access points in its GIS mapping software.
Payne said the Town had initially charged the SATF with updating the GIS, but the Town IT department was ultimately responsible for doing so.
“We don’t have the authority to order those services,” Payne said. Instead, the task force can recommend that the Town budget resources for a new GIS layer showing shoreline access points.
Surveys needed
Several public shoreline access points lack current surveys, Payne said. Therefore, the SATF will also recommend the Town Board provide funding so the appropriate Town departments can contract for updated surveys.
“It’s important that Town plan to obtain those surveys in the near future,” Payne said so that public access is protected.
