The October 4th issue of the Suffolk Times features a Letter to the Editor
from SoutholdVOICE’s John Edler, co-chairman of our Trustee Liaison Committee.
Your headline “LWRP vs trustees” (front page, Sept. 27) reminded me of a story. In a country that allowed cockfighting there was a man who never won, so he decided to work hard on a system to produce winning cocks. When he thought he had succeeded, he put the cocks in his van and went off to the cockfights. On opening the van doors, all he saw were feathers and bloody injured cocks. “Damn it,” he exclaimed, “I forgot to teach them that they were all on the same team.” So it is with our town waterfront. Somehow the realization that town agencies (LWRP, Trustees, DEC, etc.) and waterfront property owners should be on the same team is being forgotten.
For the public to gain entry to and enjoyment of public water there has to be a public right of way. In East Marion where I have owned waterfront property for 47 years, the public rights-of-way are Shipyard Lane, East Gillette, Bay Avenue and the causeway — with little or no beach at any of them. Isn’t it the town agencies’ responsibility to provide and maintain the beach and to cooperate with waterfront property owners who want to maintain their beaches?
In LWRP doesn’t the letter “R” stand for revitalization (bring back to life, replenish)? Aren’t the Trustees to protect and preserve waterfront beach rights? Isn’t the DEC suppose to conserve the beach environment? How come the South Shore can get public funds for sand pumping, beach plowing, trenching, environmental plantings and sand dredge easements and we don’t as a town?
Currently, there is a tendency for town agencies to follow a waterfront philosophy of “retreat, let the waters win.” In a way, this is a subtle inexpensive eminent domain process. One can ponder what Holland would be like today, if in times past their waterfront agencies functioned as ours do now. Fortunately for Holland, they realized they were all on the same team.
John Edler
(Mr. Edler is co-chairman of the Trustees liaison committee of SoutholdVoice)
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