Letters

Our shoreline, bays and wetlands are crucial to our Long Island lifestyle, the health of our environment and the safety of our communities. After Superstorm Sandy, over $200 million of taxpayer money was used to buy zombie houses and other lots on or near the water. This was done to prevent rebuilding and the development of private homes and structures along our precious shores.

We are dismayed that there are properties where permits have been approved by the Southampton Town Board and Trustees to build large homes along Flanders and the Peconic Bay, negating the potential benefits of leaving the shoreline in a natural state, so that flooding and the impact of future storms can be averted.

These homes are often much larger than the original ones and include bulkheads stretching into the bay. We are concerned that these structures will cause permanent damage to our bays, beachfronts and vital wetlands.

This overbuilding and overdevelopment extends to other areas of our communities, which also contributes to environmental pollution and places stress upon the natural environment. In many cases, there has been clear-cutting of trees that is in violation of town codes that were established precisely to address the issue of pollution and climate change.

There are instances where homeowners who have been granted stewardship of former New York Rising properties acquired by the town are removing vegetation and using them for storage, or growing on them with little or no consequences, despite being in violation of the original covenants that still apply to them.

We believe that the Town of Southampton and its Trustees must safeguard our natural environment and protect our shoreline by not allowing personal entities to violate them and jeopardize the well-being of our communities and our waterways.

We believe that the town must take additional steps immediately by reexamining the permit process to ensure taxpayer money and our natural resources are used and preserved to benefit all of us.

Lorraine Paceleo

President

Vicki Wojcik

Vice President

Irene Musorrafiti

Treasurer

Sally Marzouk

Secretary

Bay View Pines Civic and Taxpayers Association Inc.

Flanders