Finding out what Shelter Island looks like — Comprehensive Plan Task Force releases report

It’s rare that a community is presented with a detailed view of their hometown, with data on nearly every aspect of residents’ lives, including poverty levels and median ages and income.

The Comprehensive Plan Update Task Force and the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee are doing just that for Shelter Islanders.

Along with two professional planning consultants, members of the task force have released a 131-page document that covers conditions here now, what’s needed today, and what the challenges are to achieving what Islanders want their home to look like in decades to come.

This effort will culminate in a final Comprehensive Plan, which will dictate policy on multiple fronts, including development, land use, the environment, transportation, housing and other aspects of community life. It will show a commitment to serious ideas to improve the town, which in turn is used to attract funding from the state, federal, county and other entities.

In addition to the report found on the town’s website (shelterislandtown.us), the task force and committee are offering a questionnaire for residents to take to ascertain how they would like their town to look years from now. The questionnaire can be found on the town’s website in English and Spanish; printed copies area available at Town Hall and the library.

Members of the task force and the consultants want to know from the survey whether their report matches perceptions Islanders have of their community, following the maxim that to plan for the future, it’s important to understand the present.

Specific issues to be addressed include potable water, improved septics, housing, deer and tick problems, public health and safety, education, business and job opportunities, economics, natural resources, land use, natural resources, transportation, utilities and community services and governance.

Shelter Island now

The draft report, called “Shelter Island 2020,” starts with a brief history beginning in the 1600s when Native Americans were the settlers on the Island. Fishing and farming were predominant activities, and there are a few Islanders to this day who make their living from the water or the land.

Tourism now accounts for a significant number of jobs and contributions to the overall economy. An equally significant portion of residents make their living in construction and real estate. But many in the work force find employment off-Island and, even before the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many Islanders who work from home.

The planners note the changes the COVID-19 pandemic has brought, including a larger, year-round population, increased students in school, and changes in lifestyle dictated by health and safety concerns. Had there not been a pandemic, best estimates would have put the Island’s population during most of the year at 2,463. Instead, it’s estimated to be 2,745.

There are significant income disparities, with median disposable household income — the amount available to a household after income taxes — at $91,013. On the positive side, the Island has a relatively low tax rate. But despite the overall vision of an affluent community, there are those on the Island living in poverty or close to the poverty line. School district data show that 77 students out of 198 in 2018-19 were economically disadvantaged, the report said. These are students who receive free or reduced-price lunches.

Older residents make up a large part of the Island’s population. “Millennial’s born between 1981 and 1996 and Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, are underrepresented in Shelter Island,” according to the data. That’s likely because of a “paucity of jobs and affordable housing for groups … beginning careers and families,” according to the report.

The report sites the mix of residents, with those who have generational roots on the Island to those who have come as visitors and decided to put down roots or retire.

More than 90% of the population is white. It will take 2020 census data to get numbers on the Hispanic and Black communities.

Singles make up about a third of all households; more than half of households on the Island include a person more than 60 years old.

Shelter Island’s future

The report, while presenting a number of findings in many areas, doesn’t overlook significant challenges that will have to be met in the future.

Among them, which should be addressed to provide a road map for that future, are:

• Precise population numbers and other demographic information to accurately plan for future populations

• A means of balancing the interests and needs of all groups in the town

• If the Baby Boomers in the full-time population continue to live on the Island and age into “a more fragile age group, there will be a need for increased senior-friendly and supportive community systems”

• Growing diversity on the Island, evidenced by the increase in Hispanic and low-income groups served by the public school system, who are expected to bring economic and cultural benefits, but may require a response to new needs

• Zoning that currently blocks affordable housing in some areas

• The lack of a public water supply requiring continued discussion, as is currently done by town committees and the Town Board

• The lack of formal town government officials or entities with the responsibility of working with the business community

The disparity of incomes could be a hindrance going forward, according to the report, with the more affluent potentially being open to paying for services, such as firefighters and EMTs who are currently volunteers. But that could send a relatively low tax rate soaring for those on the lower end of the economic spectrum.

Each section of the report ends with a summary of findings and challenges.

The public is urged to take the task force’s survey found on the town’s website. The task force and committee have said they’re hoping for a broad range of Islanders to weigh in, including full- and part-time residents, business operators, members of all economic, racial and ethnic groups and all ages.

The committee itself reflects a wide diversity, and it wants the final Comprehensive Plan to reflect that same mix.