My attention was directed to the Mattituck Inlet Marina and Shipyard, MIMS, zone change application for their 33+ upland acres by a member who read the article in the The Group for the South Fork, (now East End) biannual newsletter depicting the project as “Acres of Mining & Massive Marina heading for Mattituck Creek”. After reading the negative article, I arranged to meet Jim Pape, the person in charge at MIMS and get a look at what is being proposed.
Upon entering this shipyard at the end of West Mill Lane, one is immediately struck by the organized and tidy operation of this 40 slip marina. After speaking with Jim and walking the yard to see where the proposed expansion will be, I recognized that this marina sets the standards for Best Management Practices for environmentally friendly operations. Jim explained that they adopted pollution mitigation long before it was popular or mandated, and it is evident as you walk the property:
- Special drains that filter all runoff from boat servicing areas are cleaned out seasonally
- The surface area is recycled porous material so that there is no runoff into the creek
- Their dock lighting is Eco-friendly and they are using blue, rather than the usual white, dock lights to lessen the light impact.
- They recycle the boat waste oil and use it for heating
I think anyone visiting this family owned marina will agree that they are the professionals who can transform this 40 slip marina into a yachting destination with an additional 200 slips. They plan to:
- Dredge out and reclaim what was a creek which was filled by the spoils from a long ago army corps inlet dredging project.
With this new marina space they plan to:
- Move their buildings back off the inlet
- Replace metal storage sheds with canvas sheds
- Minimize the structure view from the water
- Beautify the site
The plans and elevation depiction are on the office walls and it looks to be a vast improvement to the creek. But what excites me are the additional other positive outcomes:
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Local jobs
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The promise of increased business for the Mattituck business district
MIMS has currently 19 year round employees, with 240 slips and a year round restaurant this is expected to more than double. The additional tax base will be a welcome offset to the tax loses resulting from purchases of development property. With yachts purchasing provisions, parts and equipment, and transient boaters exploring the creek by dinghy and visiting Love Lane and Mattituck Village, this looks to me to be a real stimulus for the Town of Southold, with no taxpayer cost.
It’s obvious that the Pape family, who has owned and run this business for 40 years, will have to go through the environmental impact studies and mitigate potential impacts, but my feeling after talking with the owners is that if anyone can do this right, they can. I would encourage anyone who is skeptical about their abilities, or plans to visit and speak with Jim or Steve, they are open to discuss anyone’s concerns. I hope everyone gets excited and supports this marina project, after all, Southold Town has so few transient slips and destinations for visiting yachts, this will be a big win for all of us.
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