Residents, Activists Oppose Revetment Project Near Shadmoor Park

At the East Hampton Town Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing Tuesday, opponents to a revetment application on the property adjacent to the eastern border of Shadmoor Park in Montauk urged the board to consider alternatives to a project they believe will harm a part of the park and beach below.

In public comments Tuesday, representatives of the Concerned Citizens of Montauk together with the Group of the East End and the Surfrider Foundation representatives addressed several issues regarding legality of the project, and focused on the fate of the 3-ton to 5-ton boulders at the revetment basin.

The revetment project was undertaken by John Ryan of 108 Surfside Ave in Montauk. Ryan is seeking approval to build a 100-foot by 10-foot-wide stone armor revetment along the west side of an eroding stream channel on land that abuts a section of Shadmoor. The public hearing notice stated the parcel of land contains freshwater wetlands, coastal bluffs, beaches and tidal wetlands.

Thomas Muse, an environmental designer and director of the Surfrider Foundation, said the project "is designed to fail," and that lining the stream will harm the wetlands and public beach. Muse also said the boulders will eventually fall onto the beach, and claimed the town would be liable for any unintended consequences.

"Is the board going to assume the risk and allow something like this to happen for a private homeowner?" Muse said. As another option, Muse suggested stabilizing the stream channel. "We have rare and federally protected and endangered species in a park adjoining this property."

Drew Bennett, representative to Ryan, said the homeowner had inherited this problem from properties to the east and that significant storms in the past year had made the project urgent. In opening statements, Bennett, who said Ryan was forced to relocate in 2003 due to heavy storms and erosion, said that Ryan had made concerted efforts to minimize the project's footprint in Shadmoor Park. 

"We have considered other alternatives," Bennett said.

Brian Frank, Chief Environmental Analyst of the , did not oppose the projected plan.

"I think everybody wants the same thing … the right project," Frank said. "One thing we know about coastal areas is that [there are] variable[s] based on the weather."

Jeremy Samuelson of the Group of the East End argued the board was only left with a "take it or leave it option" and had a responsibility to "consider the full spectrum of alternatives. Samuelson argued the New York State Parks Department had not been given an appropriate amount of time to review Ryan's proposal, and told the Board that additional activists planned to comment upon receiving the state analysis. 

The board subsequently left the record open for five weeks, giving New York State one month to send in an analysis and then one week for responses from Ryan's representatives and Montauk citizens.