During the Town Trustees worksession on Wednesday January 23rd, SoutholdVOICE was kindly allowed to submit questions raised by our members. We hope this will help all of us in our understanding some of the complexities of life on the waterfront. Chairman John Kramer presented your questions and received the following responses from the board:
Question 1: At what point is a permit for normal maintenance required? What’s the answer to Dan Christianson’s rotted dock plank question, fix it or not?
Answer: If a dock has a permit, no problem, repair in kind. (Remember, no CCA or treated lumber where feet and hands touch wood). A dock that has a permit has a number on it. If there is no number, then you will have to do some research and see if it is or is not “permitted”.
Question 2: What is the definition of “functional” when talking about docks and bulkheads and jetties?
Answer: If it works to serve the purpose for which it was built, it is functional. Therefore, before going away for the winter, or before a storm, you may want to take some digital pictures of your structures to prove their condition. Repairing a functional structure is a simpler “administrative” permit. After a hurricane, for example, you might get an emergency permit to stop further damage while awaiting your administrative permit to replace in kind.
Question 3 A: What is a Non-Turf Buffer?
Answer: Any pervious buffer that is usually required landward of a bulkhead that is NOT SOD. It can be sand, pebbles, rock, natural beach grass planting, even a wood deck, so long as it does not require mowing, pesticides and fertilizers. The purpose is to keep those things at least a minimum distance from the water. A Non-Turf buffer is usually stipulated in a developed lot with a house.
Question 3B: What is a Non Disturbance buffer?
Answer: A strip of land that is left natural, and undisturbed, that separates what is usually an undeveloped tract of land from the water. This is usually stipulated in the pre-development stages where a farm for example is being developed. It would usually allow for an access path to the waterfront.
Question 4: The current Trustees Jursidicition is how many feet from where?
Answer: 100′ landward from the wetlands line. The wetlands line can be identified by the Trustees, a consultant or surveyor as long as it is agreed upon.
Question 5: Do the Trustees test water quality or have any water quality tests for the creeks in Southold?
Answer: Jim King tests for the DEC, creeks conditionally opened for shell fishing. A portion of Mattituck Creek and Hashamommuck are open or closed due to rain fall runoff. These are the only creeks that are conditional. The town has no data on any testing conducted in the town creeks by other agencies.
If the above didn’t answer your question, please send what’s got you wondering to southoldvoice – at – gmail.com (replace -at- with the @ sign), or post a comment here, and we will get you an answer.
The next Trustee worksession is at 5:30 on Feb 27, 2008 at the Town Hall. Can you attend?
We are looking for a volunteer to attend the next meeting, ask the questions and report the answers to our Board of Directors for posting on the website and newsletter circulation. Can you help? Please email southoldvoice – at – gmail.com. Thank You!
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