HomeMy WebLinkAboutBooth, EdwardAibert J. Krupski, President
James King, Vice-President
Henry Smith
Artie Foster
Ken Poliwoda
September 6, 2001
BOARD OF TOWN TRUSTEES
TOWN OF SOUTHOLD
Town Hall
53095 Route 25
P.O. Box 1179
Southold, New York 11971-0959
Telephone (631) 765-1892
Fax (631) 765-1366
Mr. Edward Booth
17235 Soundview Ave.
Southold, NY 11971
Dear Mr. Booth:
The Board recently discussed your proposal to place brash over your bluff.
It was the opinion of the Board that this would be inappropriate because it wouldn't protect the
bluff and if washed out to sea would propose a small boat navigational hazard.
Very truly yours,
Albert. J. Krupski, Jr.
President, Board of Trustees
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Town of Southold
Suffolk County, NY
The People of the State of New York vs.
qENFORCEMENT AGENCY COPY
Southold Town Trustees
Subject: Erosion on Sound Bank
17235 Soundview Ave
Southold. NY 11971
April 25, 2001
The erosion on the Sound Bank in front of my place and my neighbors to the East,
has been severe this year. The rate of erosion has increased substantially since the
Halloween Storm (Perfect Storm) of 1995. The rate, which was perhaps a foot a
year previously, has increased to perhaps two or three feet on the average. I
estimate that we lost about five feet this winter. The cliff in now just a few feet
from my lawn and about 45 feet rom my house.
There are two types of erosion. One is from rain which causes gullies and
moves the dirt and sand down to the beach where it is swept away at high tide
The other is the undercutting made by the waves as they hit the sand and clay of
the bank. The first type of erosion can be slowed by putting cut brush, bushes, and
tree limbs on the bank. There is nothing to be done about the second type short of
installing massive bulkheading. Using brush on the bank worked well for 30
years. Late last Fall, a series of severe storms undercut some of this brush to the
extent that it slipped to the beach in one mass. A few days later, other storms
washed it away. I began replacing the brush, but stopped upon receiving notice to
appear in court because I had been dumping "Debris over the Bluff within the
Coastal Zone Area without a Trustee Permit".
I signed a statement saying that I was guilty of that and paid my fine.
I am appealing to the Trustees to grant me a permit to continue placing brush
on the Sound Bank to retard erosion. The alternatives are to see un increased rote
of erosion xvhich is likely to destroy my house in my lifetime, or to undertake the
construction of a bulkhead. Since high tide comes up to the bank every day, it is
not clear how such a bulkhead could be built or whether I could get permission to
build it. The bluffheight is about sixty feet. The cost would be great. Building a
short bulkhead might only result in erosion around the end. I would rather
continue to try. to stop erosion as best I can in a natural way, one commonly used
in Massachusetts and which I have noticed around Peconic Bay.
I present a picture and some photographs indicating the erosion. The
picture, taken around 1915, is from the Peconic Bay Shopper. My house rests on
part of the foundation of the house in the foreground. The gentle slope of the Bluff
to the beach, covered with bushes, has been eroded to a steep cliff, shown in the
recent photos. A before and after pair of photos shows is erosion of Nickolaus's
bank and the destruction of his steps, as well as the destruction of the bank in
front of Mc Allister's. Finally there are recent photos of erosion on the Bank along
my property. Where the gaps are opening up and erosion is beginning, I would
like to have permission to place cut limbs and brush.
I wish there were some long term solution to the problem of erosion, such
as the building of breakwaters out into the Sound. The erosion is actually a
problem for the Town of Southold as well as for the particular victims. Perhaps
the Town could initiate a study of the problem and give us some help.
Thank you for your consideration,