HomeMy WebLinkAboutTB-07/16/2024 PH FI Yacht Club 1
1 TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
COUNTY OF SUFFOLK : STATE OF NEW YORK
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TOWN BOARD
4 PUBLIC HEARING
5 RE : FISHERS ISLAND YACHT CLUB
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8 Southold, New York
9 July 16, 2024
9 : 00 A .M .
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B E F 0 R E :
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17 ALBERT KRUPSKI JR, SUPERVISOR
18 JILL DOHERTY, COUNCILWOMAN
19 BRIAN 0 . MEALY, COUNCILMAN
20 GREG DOROSKI , COUNCILMAN
21 ANNE H . SMITH, COUNCILWOMAN
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JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 2
1 FISHERS ISLAND YACHT CLUB - CEA
2 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Welcome ,
3 everyone . This morning, we ' re having a
4 public hearing on the Coastal Erosion
5 Hazard Board of Review appeal for the
6 Fishers Island Yacht Club .
7 JUSTICE LOUISA EVANS : I ' m recusing
8 myself because I ' m a member of the Yacht
9 Club .
10 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
11 you, Justice Evans . Greg, would you
12 read the public notice for us?
13 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Yes ,
14 absolutely . All right . So I ' m just
15 going to read a summary . The public
16 hearing that we ' re holding today is for
17 a Coastal Erosion Permit Appeal for the
18 Fishers Island Yacht Club . And it is
19 related to maintaining an existing
20 sailing float and two accessory floats ,
21 install four floating fingers on the
22 east , west . With the addresses as
23 listed in the file . Now, in the file
24 here , I have an affidavit of publication
25 in the Suffolk Times of the legal notice
JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 3
1 for this public hearing . I have a
2 letter to the DEC, a copy of the
3 resolution itself, copy of the legal
4 notice and I have a copy of the appeal
5 application filed by DA CA. That is what
6 I got .
7 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
8 you . Is the record complete , Paul ?
9 TOWN ATTORNEY P . DECHANCE : The
10 record is complete .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
12 right, thank you . So is the hearings
13 open . Is there anyone who ' d like to
14 speak on the application?
15 KEITH NIELSEN : Good morning . My
16 name is Keith Nielsen with DACO, and I
17 have with me Tim DeBartolo, my partner .
18 And we are going to be making a
19 presentation on behalf of the Yacht Club
20 this morning for this appeal . To start
21 off, we ' ve got the return receipts from
22 the mailings . Would you like those for
23 your records ?
24 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Yes ,
25 please . You can give those to the
JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 4
1 Clerk . Thank you .
2 KEITH NIELSEN : Thank you . Do I
3 have to stand by a microphone?
4 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : No, you
5 should be picked up by the thing in the
6 ceiling . Just makes sure you speak
7 loud .
8 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . :
9 Actually, if you could turn it the other
10 way, maybe the people on -- there you
11 go .
12 KEITH NIELSEN : The application
13 that we ' ve gone through with Trustees is
14 to improve boating access to the
15 existing dock facility, which is known
16 as the Western Dock or Hick Dock . And
17 the club would like to put finger piers
18 on the east side -- the west side of
19 that projecting floating dock and pier,
20 to make boarding more efficient . So, as
21 you can see on the diagram, we have the
22 main dock projecting out to the south .
23 Again, this is along the east shore, the
24 west shore of West Harbor . And the
25 desire is to add these finger piers
JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 5
1 along the east side of that projecting
2 dock . The finger piers are more or less
3 standard sizes . 20 feet in length .
4 They ' re 4 feet wide . When we first made
5 our presentation to the Trustees , we had
6 all of these finger piers rigidly
7 attached to the existing floating dock .
8 We were told that in order to have an
9 approval , we were going to have to keep
10 this less than 200 square feet . We made
11 of the finger piers attached to the
12 floating dock, hinged attachments . So
13 that they can be removed annually . And
14 the diagram, you ' ll see that there are
15 two darker finger piers . Those will
16 remain in place . The one at the upper
17 right edge of the dwelling, along the
18 northeast corner is a fixed pier, type
19 of measurement, to the existing fist
20 pier . Just before you get to the second
21 finger here -- I ' m sorry the finger pier
22 there ' s a break in the main dockage . It
23 changes from a fixed pier to a float .
24 And so the remaining four finger pier
25 are all floating finger pier . We kept
JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 6
1 the third one as a rigid connection . So
2 that it will add stability to the six
3 foot wide main float . The other three
4 will be the removable fingers . When we
5 were going through this process , the
6 Trustees at first pointed out that --
7 that we had to have -- we had to comply
8 with the 200 square foot rule . Stated
9 in the regulations paragraph 111 . 10-b .
10 And so these modifications were made to
11 accommodate that , but during that
12 process the Trustee Secretary Elizabeth
13 Cantrell pointed out that she could not
14 find the initial authorization for the
15 Sailing Program, which is for large
16 floating dock on the west side . The
17 left side of the main dock system. I ' ve
18 been doing work for the Fishers Island
19 Yacht Club since 1992 , and that dock has
20 been there the whole time that I ' ve been
21 doing work for the Yacht Club . It ' s
22 been included in various references in
23 our applications as existing floating
24 dock to be retained and maintained,
25 which it is on a regular basis . And
JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 7
1 this floating dock represents one of the
2 keys to the Yacht Clubs activities .
3 Because this is where literally
4 thousands of youngsters have learned to
5 sail . They have -- if you ' re out there
6 during the Summer, you ' ll see kids all
7 over West Harbor sailing in these little
8 optes and other small single seat and
9 two seat sailboats . And this is one of
10 the primary funding ' s of the Yacht Club .
11 And so the appeal that we have is to
12 retain this float that ' s been in
13 existence for more than 30 years that I
14 know of personals , and serves a vital
15 function . I would also like to point
16 out that in the regulations , the reason
17 for the 200 square foot design standard
18 was in order to make sure that floating
19 docks in harm ' s way or dock systems in
20 harm ' s way, could be easily removed so
21 that in advance of a storm they could be
22 pulled out , removed, and it would
23 minimize damage to the dock facility .
24 It would minimize debris and marshes and
25 things like that . And while the
JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 8
1 intention of the regulation is a good
2 intention, it ' s not appropriate for
3 Fishers Island . It is appropriate for
4 the bays and the coves and the creeks
5 that are on the south side of the North
6 Shore here , but it is not a prudent
7 design standard for Fishers Island . One
8 of the problems that we have with
9 removable is that when you withdraw
10 piles , the disturbance that you create
11 softens the sand . And the next time --
12 or the bottom sediments , and the next
13 time you go to drive piles to retain
14 that dock again in the next season,
15 you ' re in weaker substrates . And so
16 repetitive removal of these piles
17 creates its own hardship . As a matter
18 of fact , I would like to point out that
19 this dock, having been here for 32 years
20 that I know of, and it was not new when
21 I got there in 1992 . This dock has
22 demonstrated through the test of time ,
23 that it is not susceptible to the
24 tremendous potential of coastal storm
25 damage . And so that is really as much
JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 9
1 as anything the basis of our appeal .
2 Removing -- having this dock become
3 removable is an onerous burden . It is
4 disruptive to the environment and it ' s
5 counterproductive really to the
6 structural integrity of the entire club
7 dock system. I would be happy to answer
8 any questions you might have . I would
9 also point out that we are most of the
10 way through the permitting process at
11 this point . And so with the granting of
12 this appeal , we ' ll be in a position to
13 begin construction of these floating
14 docks this Fall in time for next season .
15 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Let me
16 ask you, you say you ' re through the
17 permitting process . I assume that means
18 DEC, Army Corps and the Trustee Wetland
19 Permit?
20 KEITH NIELSEN : We have the Wetland
21 Permit . And thank you for bringing that
22 up because the manner in which this
23 appeal comes to you is a result of two
24 separate meetings from the Trustees .
25 And at the last meeting, I asked the
JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 10
1 Trustees if they supported our appeal ,
2 and they absolutely supported it . We
3 asked them if they could put that in
4 writing . There seemed to be a little
5 bit of nervousness about that, but the
6 bottom line is , I hope you have a chance
7 to talk to the Trustees , verify to your
8 own satisfaction that they support the
9 project .
10 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Well ,
11 having them approve the wetland code
12 portion basically puts it in writing as
13 far as I ' m concerned .
14 KEITH NIELSEN : Thank you .
15 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Thank
16 you . Does anyone else have any
17 questions about this?
18 (No Response ) .
19 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All
20 right . Thank you . If you could -- if
21 anyone else has any questions that maybe
22 you could answer that we couldn ' t? Any
23 other questions ?
24 (No Response ) .
25 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Is
JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 11
1 there anyone on Zoom who has any
2 questions about this?
3 (No Response ) .
4 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Okay .
5 So all right . So if there ' s no other
6 questions or comment, that I can
7 entertain a motion to close the hearing?
8 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Make
9 the motion to close the hearing .
10 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Second .
11 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : All in
12 favor?
13 COUNCILWOMAN JILL DOHERTY : Aye .
14 COUNCILMAN GREG DOROSKI : Aye .
15 COUNCILMAN BRIAN MEALY : Aye .
16 COUNCILWOMAN ANNE SMITH : Aye .
17 SUPERVISOR AL KRUPSKI JR . : Aye .
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19 (Whereupon, the Public Hearing
20 concluded at this time . )
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JULY 16, 2024 PUBLIC HEARING 12
1 C E R T I F I C A T I O N
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3 I , Jessica DiLallo, a Notary Public
4 for and within the State of New York,
5 do hereby certify :
6 THAT , the within transcript is a
7 true record of said Board Meeting .
8 I further certify that I am not
9 related either by blood or marriage to
10 any of the parties to this action; and
11 that I am in no way interested in the
12 outcome of this matter .
13 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto
14 set my hand this day, July 16, 2024 .
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17 ( Je ica iLallo )
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