What happens when two coastal erosion zones collide? Tears.
That was the outcome at the East Hampton Town Board meeting on Tuesday, when it became apparent that the board was not going to grant a code change that would have made it easier for four parcels, located on Soundview Drive at Montauk’s Culloden Point, to armor their properties with coastal erosion structures.
“I remain open to this, but it doesn’t sound like you have the votes on this board,” said Councilman Ian Calder-Piedmonte, “so it seems like a wise thing do would be to go before the zoning board.” The restriction on hardened structures in what is called coastal erosion zone two, where the Soundview parcels are located, is not absolute, and a variance could, in theory, be granted.
As he spoke, Sarah Iudicone, owner of 184 Soundview Drive, wiped her eyes, flanked by her lawyer Alice Cooley and Aram Terchunian, a coastal geologist and owner of First Coastal Corporation. Both had tried to convince the board that Ms. Iudicone’s property, along with three others on Soundview, were mistakenly left out of coastal erosion zone four, which allows erosion-control structures, when the zones were adopted into the town code in 2007.
“These types of issues are the hardest that I deal with as a professional,” said Brian Frank, the town’s chief environmental analyst, who had made a presentation to the board arguing no mistake had been made. “Maybe it comes with the territory, but it is difficult.”
The four parcels comprise seven acres, and account for 763 linear feet of shoreline along Block Island Sound. “The properties beginning at 180 Soundview Drive mark the beginning of the Culloden Point headlands, an area characterized by well-developed coastal bluffs with significantly higher elevations than the bulkheads and remaining barrier dunes to the east,” Mr. Frank wrote in a report pushing back at Mr. Terchunian’s assessment that the current coastal erosion zone border had no geological basis. To the immediate east of the Soundview properties, coastal erosion zone four extends nearly a mile to the Lake Montauk jetties, and is full of revetments, bulkheads, and the like; to their west, 8,000 feet of shoreline are completely free of erosion-control structures.
No formal vote was scheduled. Instead, Rob Connelly, the town attorney, explained that the board had a single question to ponder: Were the parcels placed in coastal erosion zone two in error? The board’s answer, despite some qualifying from Councilman Calder-Piedmonte and Councilman Tom Flight, was no.
Ms. Cooley and Mr. Terchunian were disappointed. Applicants seeking a revetment at 117 Bay View Avenue, about 10 miles west, but also in coastal erosion zone two, had recently been required to undertake a lengthy environmental review. Time was of the essence, and they hoped with a code change they could circumvent a visit to the zoning board.
“It might be appropriate for the town board to ask Mr. Frank if he would recommend a shoreline protection structure to the zoning board,” said Mr. Terchunian.
“That’s an unfair question,” said Councilwoman Cate Rogers, “to assess a potential application without any details whatsoever. The zoning board does not have a mechanism for approving concepts. It’s just not appropriate.”
“It’s also not appropriate to send someone somewhere where they’re just going to be told no,” said Mr. Terchunian.
“That’s not helpful,” said Councilwoman Rogers.
Ms. Cooley said there was a big difference going to the Z.B.A. and requesting a variance, which means an action is prohibited by law, versus requesting a natural resources special permit, which is all Ms. Iudicone would need to build a revetment if her property was in coastal erosion zone four. “This beautiful town has many shorelines and many properties, and we think the Soundview properties were overlooked for inclusion in zone four,” she said. “Saying this area is predominately free of erosion-control structures is belied by the facts. It requires my clients to close their eyes when they look out their windows upon their direct neighbors’ bulkheads and stone armor revetments and their own rapidly eroding bluffs.”
Nearly 100 years ago, jetties were built at the mouth of Lake Montauk, perhaps sealing the fate for the mile of beach directly west, as they starved it of sediment. Subsequently, much of that beach was lined with bulkheads and revetments, becoming its main characteristic, and causing the town to place it in coastal erosion zone four. “Look at the shoreline here,” said Mr. Terchunian, pointing to the area in front of Ms. Iudicone’s house. “It’s generally an east-west shoreline,” a continuation of the shoreline from Lake Montauk. “Yes, our properties are on the cusp at the western terminus. But if you look at the other shoreline in zone two, it’s a north-south shoreline. I think a mistake was made and I think it can be easily corrected by this board.”
Twice, Councilwoman Rogers, looking directly at Ms. Cooley and Mr. Terchunian, made the point that in fact, changing a coastal erosion zone was no easy task, since coastal erosion zones were tied to state approvals and subject to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act. “I want to make sure your counsel gives you all these steps,” she said to Ms. Iudicone.
“We were counseled it was extremely unlikely to get zoning relief on this, that’s why we chose to go this route,” said Ms. Iudicone. “I just think it’s important that you know this wasn’t our first course of action when we bought the house in 2017. I never would have thought if a house two doors down had a revetment that we wouldn’t be allowed to build one. The amount of erosion in the last years has been drastic and we don’t have any more time.”
Culloden Point has lost 150 feet in the last 20 years, and Superstorm Sandy, in 2012, exacerbated an already existing erosion problem. Ms. Cooley suggested this required the board to take a fresh look at the coastal erosion zones. The local waterfront revitalization plan “does require that you look at new information.” (The 2001 L.W.R.P. was the basis for the coastal erosion zones that became part of town code in 2007.) She asked for the matter to be discussed again at a hearing soon.
“We’re empathetic to the homeowners,” said East Hampton Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez, who seemed willing to discuss the matter at a future work session.
“The suggestion that perhaps there was a mistake, I don’t believe that’s true,” said Mr. Frank. He worked on the coastal erosion zone mapping in 2007, he said, and there were multiple public hearings before they became code.
