President's Message... (The following message was sent during the first week of May by SCSR president Freddie Wachsberger to members of the North Fork Environmental Council) This is a critical moment for the environment of Southold Town, and a pivotal juncture in NFEC’s and SCSR’s ten-year fight against the expansion of the Cross Sound Ferry operation at Orient Point that threatens our environment and our quality of life in Southold.
The Southold Town Board is demanding that CSF, whose site plan expired last year, be subject to a new site plan review and is asking the court for an injunction to role back ferry operations to 1995 levels until the site plan is approved. Meanwhile, CSF has an application before the Zoning Board of Appeals for a variance to allow 451 additional parking spaces on two residentially-zoned properties adjacent to their facility at Orient Point. This would presumably allow CSF to double the number of daily passenger-ferry trips.
East Hampton’s law restricting ferry service was upheld in the courts. NFEC and SCSR strongly endorse similar legislation by Southold Town that would cap Cross Sound Ferry activities at specific levels, to be determined by analyses of the impact of its traffic and parking on the environment, the economy and on the safety and quality of life of Southolders. We believe this to be the only fair and enforceable means of protecting Southold Town from being turned into a traffic corridor to southern New England. We have submitted a list of criteria which we believe should be included in the Town’s analyses. These include the impact on our air, our groundwater and our protected waterbodies, such as the Peconic Estuary, as well as on the fishing and shellfishing industries, traffic safety, and other measurable criteria.
We urge all members of NFEC to write or call Town Board members to express their support for finally solving this problem with necessary and appropriate legislation before it is too late for Southold Town.
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