ON SPENCER’S POINT

How Oceans Attract Us

By Bob Spencer

Alluring. Mysterious. Relaxing. Inspiring. Awesome. This is what an ocean offers.

And — sniffing the salt laden air, as one approaches the seaside, just adds to an ocean’s appeal.

I first became inspired by the ocean when in my teens, and I would sit by a summer sea in the evening and watch a full moon slowly rise out of the Atlantic. I promised myself then and there that I would seek to recreate such a feeling over my life span. Because it made my mind come alive, it becomes a catalyst of the imagination.

An ocean can reveal its infinite beauty – it can also raise its haunches in powerful strokes of stormy winds and tides to cause a show of respect.

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As of January 3rd, 2006 Fire Island National Seashore (FINS) updated policies and procedures for reviewing and issuing permits and approvals for private bulkheads within the Seashore. This is to be the park policy until further revisions from either a new rule, plan, or procedure is developed.

The purpose of this guidance is to provide for consistent treatment and a clear understanding of compliance requirements and park policy concerning applications for special use permits for the repair and replacement of bulkheads on private property.

“The Beach Zone: Using Local LandUse Authority to Preserve Barrier Islands”
by Tiffany Eisberg and Jessica VanTine
A Critique by the Fire Island Association

The article whose title and authors appear above, appeared in
successive issues of Environmental Law in New York, Vol. 13, Nos. 10 and
11, October and November, 2002. It puts forward a misguided and
uninformed theory aimed at removing residential property from the Fire
Island National Seashore. The authors seem unaware of existing law on
the subject and are not informed as to the scientific or technical
background of the issues the article discusses.
read more from "December 2002 “The Beach Zone”"

The Fire Island Association was not a party to the lawsuit brought by the New York Coastal Partnership, described in the following complaint. The FIA Board of Directors concluded that, while Board members may, as individuals, support the factual assertions in the complaint, FIA should not be a party to it as doing so could interfere with necessary communications between our organization and the various state and federal agencies named in the suit. Accordingly, the complaint is provided strictly as a matter of information.
read more from "June 2001 - NY Coastal Partnership Case"

General

The following comments reflect the views of the Fire Island Association and relate, except where noted, to the Fire Island National Seashore, within whose boundaries there are some 3,850 properties and businesses. FIA, with over 1,600 paid members, represents the interests of these owners. As the comments note, it is the declared intention of some government agencies and environment groups to remove existing homes from communities that were protected by the Fire Island National Seashore Act, and this was a frequent subject of discussion during the workshop­. The Fire Island Association believes this is unnecessary, as well as violative of the statute, since well-established methods of beach nourishment can protect existing structures, while newly applicable state law provides adequate assurance that the approved density levels will not be exceeded. Accordingly, FIA intends to use all measures at its disposal to resist any effort to gain control of Fire Island property other than from a willing conveyor.
Opening Remarks by Col. William H. Pearce, NY District Engineer, USACE
read more from "February 2001 “Non-Structural Solutions” Are Neither"

Non-Structural Solutions Workshop

General

It is the declared intention of some government agencies and environment groups to remove existing homes from communities that were protected by the Fire Island National Seashore Act, and this was a frequent subject of discussion during the workshop­. The Fire Island Association believes this is unnecessary, as well as violative of the statute, since well-established methods of beach nourishment can protect existing structures, while newly applicable state law provides adequate assurance that the approved density levels will not be exceeded.

read more from "February 2001: Non-Structural Solutions"

MEMORANDUM

TO: Gerard Stoddard

FROM: Lawrence R. Liebensman, Mark M. Viani

DATE: June 5, 2000

RE: Coastal Zone Development Moratorium Proposed

This memo addresses the Department of Interior’s (“DOI”) demand for a development moratorium in its February 29, 2000 letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“USACE”).

read more from "June 2000 — Park Demands a Moratorium on Building"

THE FIRE ISLAND INTERIM PROJECT
WILL NOT CAUSE BUILDING ON DUNES

Summary and Conclusion

Several environment organizations recently have publicly opposed a beach nourishment project on Fire Island because of fears that the project will lead to new residential building in dune areas.  The following discussion reveals other more likely reasons for opposition to the project, while demonstrating that there is no basis for the professed “fears.

read more from "April 2000 — Opponents fear more dune houses"

A Reply to FINS

In the Fall 1999 newsletter of Save Our Seashore, Inc., the Superintendent of the Fire Island National Seashore set forth his position on the proposed Fire Island Interim Project, a transitional shore protection effort designed to protect Fire Island beaches until a longer term solution known as the Reformulation Study can be implemented.

In the course of doing so he demonstrated a bias against the project. The Fire Island Association believes the Superintendent’s position would place properties and government infrastructure, both on Fire Island and on the south shore of Long Island, at needless risk in order to effectuate a policy designed to facilitate removal of private development from the barrier island. Supt. Dillon’s statement is attached. His major points are encapsulated below in bold­face type, followed by comments from the Fire Island Association.
read more from "1999 — Seashore Opposes Interim Project"