Trustees Sympathetic
After long deliberations, the East Hampton Town Trustees are on the point of allowing a lessee on trustee-owned property at Lazy Point to move her shoreline house to higher ground.
The beach in front of Susan Knobel’s house on Shore Road has suffered extensive erosion. Suffolk County’s recent dredging of Napeague Harbor’s west channel, a project the trustees opposed, included the removal of the tip of Hicks Island, and Ms. Knobel fears that the project has left her house more vulnerable than before, exposed now to wind and water flow. One or two more extreme weather events, she feels, may leave the house in the water.
On Tuesday, she submitted an application to the trustees to move it to a lot that, while still north of Shore Road, is farther from the water and less susceptible to flooding.
The trustees oppose “hard” protective structures, such as revetments, believing them more destructive than helpful. They have previously insisted that Ms. Knobel try alternative solutions, which she says have been ineffective.
Such a move would not be without precedent. Diane McNally, the trustees’ clerk, or presiding officer, said Ms. Knobel would be the fourth Lazy Point tenant to move her house to another lot, should her application be approved.
At the trustees’ meeting Tuesday night, two residents of the town spoke on her behalf. “The trustees have a tremendous amount of land on Lazy Point,” said Pat Mansir, a former resident of the area. “I think no other form of government has this advantage.” In the past, she said, the trustees have been amenable to suggestions about houses jeopardized by erosion. Likening the newly dredged west channel to a “bowling alley,” she told the trustees that “there is a history of trying to maintain what you own, but never at a detriment of other people . . . I hope there’s something you can come up with in terms of letting her move.”
Ms. Knobel’s family has been at Lazy Point for almost 40 years, said Elaine Jones. “She will take care of that property,” Ms. Jones said. “She really needs help, it is dire straits.”
“We have a lot of thinking to do,” Ms. McNally said. “I know that Susan is in a particularly tricky situation.” But, she said, the trustees will proceed with an abundance of caution. “In addition to relocating, we want to look at everyone else in the area so it’s a fair decision,” she said. Past discussions have focused on landward retreat, farther south of the bay, she said, but wetlands and vegetation may preclude some areas. “There are things for us to look at, but most definitely we’re looking at Sue’s.”
“Susan, I think you can leave here feeling pretty upbeat,” said Brian Byrnes, a trustee. “We’re going in the right direction.”
“We just want to cover all our bases,” said Tim Bock, his colleague. And Deborah Klughers, a trustee, called the proposed move “a good example of coastal retreat.”
John Courtney, the trustees’ attorney, agreed that Ms. Knobel’s house is in danger, and that the recent dredging has exacerbated that danger. Nat Miller, a trustee, said he was not opposed to relocation of the house, but objected to a move that would keep it on a northerly lot, facing the bay.
Ms. McNally said the trustees should visit the site and determine the best available location for the house’s move. Approving it, Ms. Mansir said, would show “a government body that can act and get it done. That’s been a unique plus of the trustees, over the years, that’s different than other boards. It feels good.”