Furor Over Ferry Law
Hot Hearing Expected
Stop the Ferry. Save the Ferry. Do both at the same time. The East Hampton Town Board expects to hear it all tomorrow morning, during what promises to be a well-attended hearing preceding a vote that could ban car ferry terminals and place strict limitations on the size of passenger ferries.
The ferry issue has become so emotionally charged, thanks in large part to a pamphlet and radio campaign waged by Capt. Paul Forsberg of Montauk's Viking Fleet, that at press time the board was considering a change of venue. As of last night, however, the meeting was still on for 10:30 at Town Hall.
The town is faced with a dilemma: how to cap the size of passenger ferries and still accommodate the expansion plans of the Viking Fleet, the only ferry service to Block Island, New London, or anywhere else from the South Fork.
Cap The Size
If proposed legislation is passed, it will cap the size of ferries by requiring at least one parking space for every three ferry patrons, multiplied by the number of trips within 24 hours. For example, a boat carrying 300 people would need 100 spaces if it makes one round-trip a day, but 200 if it makes two.
Mr. Forsberg reportedly has room for 200 to 300 spaces on the Viking prop erty.
In addition, passenger ferries would be limited to a maximum 2,000 "installed" horsepower. For instance, two 1,200-horsepower engin es would not qualify.
Ban Car Ferries
It is also proposed to ban car ferry terminals altogether, anywhere in town. Under the current code, the only place such a terminal could be built is at the Duryea property on Fort Pond Bay in Montauk.
Town planners believe the proposed amendment to the code would prevent East Hampton from becoming, for one thing, a jumping-off point to the giant Foxwoods Casino in Ledyard, Conn., in the way Orient has on the North Fork. The Cross Sound Ferry company of New London has long wanted to build a terminal in East Hampton waters.
Two years ago, it was learned that Perry B. Duryea Jr. was in negotiations with Cross Sound regarding the Fort Pond Bay land.
Where would the proposed size-cap law leave the Viking passenger boats? No one in town government has spoken in favor of large-capacity ferries, and at the same time all the current board members say they do not want to disrupt the Viking operation.
Pre-Existing?
Captain Forsberg asserts he should not be subject to the new law because his operation pre-exists the zoning laws. A ferry was operating from the Viking dock in the late 1950s, he claims, long before the applicable part of the code was written.
Further, Mr. Forsberg maintains that under the amended code he would lose 35 percent of his business, would have to drop the popular Viking whale-watch excursions, and would be forced to cancel plans for a bigger, 140-foot, 400-passenger vessel now reportedly being built for Viking in Florida. The present Starship carries up to 200 people.
Limit Excursion Boats
The Viking Fleet also runs fishing party boats and "Cruise to Nowhere" gambling trips. The proposed amendment specifies a one-parking-space-for-four-patrons rule for "excursion boats" - the whale-watchingand gambling come under that rule - and Mr. Forsberg seems to be saying that if he had to abide by the letter of the law something would have to go.
During a televised debate Tuesday night, Town Supervisor Cathy Lester said the Viking operation already had parking problems, a charge Captain Forsberg vehemently denies.
"I'm there every morning helping to park cars and we've never had cars on the street," he said. "They all come at once, and all leave at once."
How Long?
At the heart of the Viking debate, however, is the question of how long the ferry has been in business.
Capt. Ed Beneduci, a former employee of the Viking Fleet, claims in a letter in this week's Star that no Viking ferry existed in the '50s, when Mr. Forsberg says it did. Captain Forsberg replies that the boat in question, the Jigger III, was not a Viking boat, but nonetheless a ferry, which operated from the Viking Dock. It is the service, he says, that is important, not boat ownership.
Captain Beneduci further says that his former boss had a history of building docks without the proper permits. The charge was denied by an attorney for Viking, James Greenbaum.
A 1990 Ruling
Two weeks ago, the Town Planning Board asked Fred Sellers, the chief building inspector, to determine if the ferry was pre-existing. Mr. Forsberg has objected, saying the issue was decided in 1990.
In that year, Roger Walker, then the zoning code enforcement officer, cited the Viking Fleet for having expanded its service. Debra Foster, Planning Board chairwoman at the time, had said the increased ferry services required a site plan review by her board, as well as a Department of Natural Resources special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Richard Whalen, then planning and zoning counsel, disagreed, and told Mr. Walker to back off, on the grounds that only changes to the Viking's upland facilities should properly trigger such review, not an increase in ferry operations.
In his memo to Mr. Walker, Mr. Whalen called the Viking service "pre-existing."
Justice's Letter
The summons was before Town Justice James Ketcham. The prosecution dropped the charges, and Justice Ketcham dismissed the case "with prejudice."
During a meeting Monday with Mr. Whalen and town planners, Mr. Greenbaum insisted that Mr. Ketcham's decision was final, citing the principle of res judicata - the thing has been adjudicated - in asserting that the question of pre-existence cannot be revisited.
Mr. Ketcham himself wrote to The Star this week, saying that he dismissed the case in 1990 only because the charges were dropped, and not on the merits of the case. In other words, the question of pre-existence was not answered.
Mr. Greenbaum has filed a notice of intent to sue if the town insists on having its building inspector proceed with his determination.
Charges Vote-Buying
Another of this week's letter-writers, Kent Gaugler, charges that Captain Forsberg donated "checks to every political party and some organizations from all the Viking business corporation accounts . . . [to] buy . . . the right to do anything he wants to do, whenever he wants to do it."
"Save The Ferry"
A search of the County Board of Elections list of political contributors found none in the name of either Forsberg or Viking.
Election law, moreover, does not require itemizing donations of $99 or less.
Meanwhile, Captain Forsberg has mounted a campaign to garner support at tomorrow's Town Board meeting. In contrast to the "Stop the Ferry" stickers that festooned car bumpers before the 1995 election, his "Save the Ferry" appeal has been made via pamphlet and radio. A large sign appears on a Viking truck parked across from the Montauk Post Office.
Captain Forsberg told the Montauk Chamber of Commerce recently that the proposed amendment would "choke" the Viking Fleet out of business.
The fear of ferries, especially car ferries, that was a strong undercurrent of the town elections two years ago has not been argued along political lines up to this point, but the emotionally charged issue has already put the Town Board to the test, and will almost certainly figure in the election now just 12 days away - especially in Montauk.
Board Reacts
Supervisor Lester, a Democrat, said yesterday that "even if he is found to be not pre-existing for everything, he will still be allowed to have a ferry, but he will have to make decisions about his other future uses. Nobody wants the service to Block Island to disappear."
Her Republican opponent, Councilman Thomas Knobel, said, "The Viking ferry should continue what it's doing. If we're doing something to change it, we shouldn't do it. I'm waiting for the specifics from [the Viking Fleet] of why the legislation would be detrimental."
Town Councilman Len Bernard, a Republican who is not up for re-election, commented that "Forsberg has to be treated like any other business. It has to be established, so that it will stand up in court. If the ferry is pre-existing, then a benchmark has to be established to see what he has now. People want to accommodate Paul Forsberg for what he now has. The fear is expansion."