HomeMy WebLinkAbout20140427-NantCoastalConsvLtr-BOS_Editor_201404281443439337
PO Box 2050 · Nantucket MA 02584
April 27, 2014
The Board of Selectmen
Town of Nantucket
Nantucket MA 02554
Dear Members of the Board:
This is in response to the letter sent to you by 22 Baxter Road property owners who benefited personally
from the “public private partnership,” which a majority of you voted to enter into, and which has
resulted in the hard-armoring of 900 feet of Sconset Bluff. We would like, once again, to focus on the facts.
FACT: As we have pointed out previously, this project has NOT “saved Nantucket taxpayers many
millions of dollars by avoiding the relocation of an important public road,” as repeatedly asserted by its
proponents. According to Town Counsel, all of the costs related to relocating Baxter Road to provide
alternative access, including litigation, are recoverable by betterments, a tax levied on the affected
property owners, as happened with Sheep Pond Road.
FACT: To repeat, this project has already cost the taxpayers money. During the past months, considerable
staff time has been diverted from other Town priorities which have had to be put on hold.
FACT: This project has already caused environmental harm. The letter writers contend that they are
acting in “an environmentally responsible way.” However the Nantucket Land Council, our island’s
environmental watchdog for over forty years, has publicly stated, “The Land Council is disappointed in
the Board of Selectmen majority that favored this extremely reckless and environmentally destructive
project.” [Emphasis added.]
FACT: This project has replaced 900 feet of natural beach below the bluff, owned by the citizens of
Nantucket, with a coastal engineering structure that will eventually result in the destruction of the beach,
according to expert testimony submitted to the Conservation Commission. Ownership of this beach was
secured for future generations of islanders by the Proprietors in the late 1800s. In terms of public access,
citizens will now have to traverse up and over the geotube sea wall in order to walk on what is left of
their own beach. The license to use public land for this purpose was approved by three members of the
BOS without the approval of Town Meeting.
FACT: As to “preserving the tax base” in this area, the fact is that Nantucket’s tax base has withstood 300
years of erosion. (The Surfside Hotel, the Nantucket Railroad, homes in Cisco, Sheep Pond Road, and
Madaket, are a few examples.) While some properties lose value, others gain value. Properties north and
south of the geotube sea wall could be adversely affected and lose value due to the impacts. Is it fair to
put these properties at risk just to “save” Baxter Road real-estate investments made atop an eroding
bluff? Far more taxes are at risk than any possible increase in value of a few properties on Baxter Road.
As we have stated, the Nantucket Coastal Conservancy supports an informed public dialogue, based on
facts about the merits of the geotube project, as we are sure you do. However, for supporters to provide
distorted, incomplete or downright misleading information continues to be unacceptable.
Sincerely,
D. Anne Atherton
Peter Brace
Sunny Daily
Ashley Erisman
John Merson
Linda Spery
Liz Trillos
Charley Walters
Mary Wawro
COPY: Letter to the Editor, Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror