Guidelines in the works for Near Shore

The Water Advisory Committee met Monday evening to consider its recommendation to the Town Board regarding impermeable driveways in the Near Shore and Peninsular Overlay (NSPO) zoning district. It seems likely that once the committee drafts its recommendation, it will suggest to the Town Board that impermeable driveways anywhere in the NSPO, including recycled concrete aggregate (RCA), should require both a building permit and an engineered water management design

Protection of the shallow aquifer and of the sensitive shore and wetlands environment are the uppermost concerns of the committee. Double washed gravel could be used anywhere in the NSPO without a permit and without engineering design.

Setting the stage for the discussion were two proposals, to which professional engineer Matt Sherman and professional architect Ian McDonald, both Shelter Islanders, contributed technical expertise. Both took into account a Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) demarcation of 300 feet distance from tidal wetlands for permitted uses and activities. Both proposals would allow the construction of double washed gravel driveways anywhere in the NSPO without a permit and without engineering, and both would require both a building permit and an engineered design for impermeable driveways within the 300 foot distance.

Mr. McDonald’s proposal differs from Mr. Sherman’s beyond the 300-foot line. Both would require a building permit, and both required a “best practices” approach to water management, forbidding runoff onto town or neighboring properties as well as tidal wetlands. Those practices might include drywells, rain gardens, and other recognized structures and techniques. But Mr. Sherman would also require professional engineering or architectural design of the stormwater collection system beyond the 300-foot mark; Mr. McDonald recommended that widely-recognized “best practices” observed by the homeowner and contractor should suffice.

There was a lengthy debate, centered over a large-scale Zoning Map clearly illustrating the NSPO areas of the Island. The main issue was whether restrictions ought to apply throughout the NSPO rather than in the 300-foot “layers” along the coastlines both proposals recommended. Committee members acknowledged that there are areas within the NSPO where it is extremely difficult or even impossible to engineer the water management structures required to meet the runoff prohibitions. They further recognized that there are numerous existing structures in the district that, if submitted for approval under even the present code, would be denied.

The design costs of an engineered impermeable driveway and its related water management accessory structures were calculated, roughly, at between $8,000 and $10,000. Given the typical cost of buying or building in the NSPO, as compared with buying or building inland, the additional engineering costs would not be an undue burden on a prospective or existing homeowner.

With that in mind, the discussion moved toward uniform limitations and regulation for driveways throughout the NSPO, and away from the tiered approach of  Messrs Sherman and McDonald.

The committee also reviewed the monthly monitoring well summary prepared and presented by Ken Pysher. The trend is modestly upward, but the levels are still low.  The levels of the wells on Big Ram and Little Ram Islands and in Dering Harbor were not reported.

Committee members John Hallman, Will Anderson, Mr. Pysher and Hoot Sherman were present, as were Town Board liaison Glenn Waddington, Mr. McDonald, and resident Howard Johansen.