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Seventeen properties at Lazy Point on Napeague Harbor in Amagansett have been added to the East Hampton Town Community Preservation Fund project plan. The decision, agreed upon by the East Hampton Town Board last Thursday, is another step toward the town’s plan to retreat from the flood plain and allow nature to take its course and create a natural buffer to erosion.
With no opposition voiced during a public hearing on Thursday, December 18, the 17 properties will soon be appraised and offers will be made to homeowners.
The plan is to demolish the homes and remove roads as well as water and electricity lines from the area.
In August, the town was awarded $9.9 million in federal money to purchase the properties to protect the area from further erosion on Bay View Avenue and Mulford Lane. Kim Shaw, the director of the town’s Natural Resources Department, said that the $9.9 million includes taxes, the cost of demolition and appraisal.
The grant was given as part of the federal Sandy relief bill through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, which offers funding through its Emergency Watershed Protection Program. It doled out $16.48 million to aid Amagansett, Mastic-Shirley and Stony Brook this year.
The 17 parcels at Lazy Point amount to more than 6 acres, according to Scott Wilson, the director of land acquisition and management.
“The state wants the easements and then we’ll remove the structures and foundations and restore these parcels back to their natural state,” he said. “The town would be responsible for acquiring the residual value but they need to be on the plan first.”
Ms. Shaw said not every house on Bay View Avenue and Mulford Lane will be removed, but that the idea is to have blocks of open space.
“We’re ahead of schedule compared to other entities on Long Island,” she added. “We’ve submitted our work plan and budget and now we’re waiting on the appraisers to go out in the next several months and then we’ll be making offers.”
Shaye Weaver on Dec 23, 2014