by Doug Hardy:
An article (Shell Game, Your Move) by Dennis Lane expounds on the virtues of docks and decries the destruction of wetlands caused by blundering and media-conscious protesters walking along the shore. As you may recall, this was our group exercising our legal right to public access. Even though some members of SoutholdVOICE may be environmentally concerned, this article should leave little doubt that the primary thrust and purpose of this group is to champion private property rights of waterfront owners to the exclusion of the legal rights of the general public.
Mr. Lane is right that docks can provide a surface for the attachment of fouling organisms, such as barnacles, sea squirts, and sponges, which do provide a service by filtering out particulate matter from the water column, rendering it less turbid. What Mr. Lane neglects to tell us is that docks have impacts less desirable to the environment. A dock casts a shadow larger than the dock itself, when one includes the shadow of the boats attached to the dock. Docks serve as a magnets to destructive human activity such as prop wash, which churns up the substrate; the release of detergents from hosing down boats and pumping out bilges and the flaking off of anti-fouling paint, which accumulates in the substrate below. An uncontrolled proliferation of docks would magnify these impacts, as well as hinder shoreline navigation and impede legal public access.
Mark Terry and his staff have produced a thoughtful PowerPoint presentation of the dock issue in Southold Town. It was presented to the Town Board and Town Trustees and to the Conservation Advisory Council, but to date I am unaware that the general public has been offered a viewing. It seems to have slipped off the radar. This is a presentation well worth seeing so that Southold residents can make a meaningful decision on this issue.
Mr. Lane is dead wrong and distorts the truth in accusing the so called “Southolders for Sovereign Rights” of trampling the marshes of Jockey Creek. The participants and reporters on this march for legal
public access will all testify that every effort was made to avoid walking onto the marshes by wading seaward of them until confronted by docks that prevented passage. Such docks often did not conform to Town Code 275. It is amusing when an elitist organization wraps itself inside a green flag in order to disguise its true purpose, all the while smearing other groups with lies.
Best,
Doug Hardy
Editor: A copy of the above referenced Mark Terry Powerpoint presentation was purchased by SoutholdVOICE from the Town and first published here on December 6th 2008, since when it has been the featured video on our home page. You can also read in our Forum about temporary difficulties experienced by SoutholdVOICE in obtaining a copy of the powerpoint presentation from the Town for the purposes of facilitating wider distribution for public access. That discussion is here.
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