HomeMy WebLinkAbout25 SE48_3115 Quidnet HOwners Letter 02_11_191
February 11, 2019
Nantucket Conservation Commission
Andrew Bennett, Chair
c/o Jeff Carlson, jcarlson@nantucket-ma.gov
Nantucket Select Board
Jason Bridges, Chair
c/o Erika Mooney, Emooney@nantucket-ma.gov
RE: Sconset Beach Preservation Fund Expansion Proposal
Dear Members of the Conservation Commission and Members of the Select Board:
We are writing to express our continuing concerns about the current proposal of the SBPF to substantially
expand the scope of its geotube project below the Sankaty Bluff in Siasconset. We remain seriously concerned
about the following issues:
1. The project adversely affects the public beach rights established long ago in trust for the inhabitants of
Nantucket. An expansion of the project would further compromise these public rights that were deliberately
created in recognition of the significant historical significance and importance to the public of the Sconset
Bluff and adjacent beach.
2. The project, even at its current (pre-existing) scale, has been shown in recent independent analyses to have
resulted in downdrift damage and significant erosion to areas to the north and south. Last winter, the barrier to
Sesachacha Pond was breached and the Polpis Road was significantly damaged, cutting off access for six
weeks or more. The Conservation Commission should not approve a project that creates further risk of such
damage to other neighborhoods, nor should the Select Board support ventures creating such risks.
3. The Town is working on a Coastal Resiliency Plan and updating its Hazard Mitigation Plan to set priorities on
actions to be taken to respond to climate change. The risks to Sesachacha Pond are flagged as matters of
shared concern. Management of erosion issues should be handled consistently and fairly throughout the
Island rather than by privileging certain property owners who wish to receive special treatment.
4. The proponents of the SBPF project have not been candid about their compliance with existing permit
requirements. Any action on claims for an extension of rights should not be permitted while they have failed
to satisfy their existing obligations.
Please note that we are writing here in our individual capacities. A number of those who have added their
signatures here are also members of the Board of Directors of the Quidnet Squam Association, or members of that
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Association. The Quidnet Squam Association Board has developed additional letters raising significant concerns
that it will share with you in due course.
Sincerely,
Judith Wegner, Quidnet Road
Warren Wegner, 50 Quidnet Road
Rick Atherton, 48 Squam Road
Ruth Blumenstein, 32 Squam Road
Robi Blumenstein, 32 Squam Road
William L Gardner, 3 Sesachacha Road
Dr. Melinda M Gardner, 3 Sesachacha Road
Robert F. Greenhill, 16 Hoicks Hollow Road
Peter L. Kellner, 39 Quidnet Road (has also written separately)
Susan Landmann, 6 Squam Road
Marlin Miller, 64 Quidnet Road
Richard Peterson, 43 Squam Road
Ellen Schloss Flamm, 43 Squam Road
Susan Rickards, 6 Sesachacha Pond
Charles Rickards, 6 Sesachacha Pond
David M. Roby, 85 Squam Road
Barbara D. Roby, 85 Squam Road
Randee Seiger, 11 Sesachacha Pond