Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Nov. 3, 2022
Dangerous
I recently discovered that hunters may put cameras on my property without permission and may also hunt on it, if I do not post my land. I cannot legally remove these cameras, but must ask the police to remove them and issue a report.
I am troubled by this in many ways. I am a homeowner who lives year-round on the southwest side of Shelter Island which is almost all private property, I am a woman sometimes alone at home, and I have two dogs that use my property. Unless I paper the boundaries of the property with unsightly signage (signage that can easily be removed if there’s an unfriendly will to do it), multiple cameras can be placed around my home, trespassers can roam my property in camouflage, and my dogs can be shot.
I recently heard of an incident in which police questioned a homeowner regarding the taking down of a hunter’s camera on her property; apparently she broke the law by removing it. I hope this law is soon challenged in the courts, and modified.
As a concerned citizen and neighbor it pains me to see Shelter Island residents, and local law enforcement on different sides of the law regarding our safety and property rights.
FRAN TAUBMAN, Shelter Island
Environmental integrity
To the Editor:
The article appearing in the Oct. 27 edition of the Reporter, regarding the proposed building of a 12,150 square-foot house with a 3,820 square-foot Accessory Structure at 11 Serpentine Drive is frightening.
The article reports the applicant says it will be a single-family home. Well, I doubt that. Behind the applicant, Crescent Beach LLC, is the corporation Hart Hotels, Inc. based in Buffalo, N.Y.
The real name of the corporation smacks of the hotel industry. This will not be a single-family home, but a mini-resort based on the size, number of bathrooms and the proposed ancillary structures.
HPOC President Stella Lagudis and all residents of the Heights should be concerned and must oppose this development. This is not what the Island needs for all the good reasons. Someone should ask Mr. David Hart a very simple question, “Will you, Mr. Hart and your family, be the sole occupants of this house?”
I urge the various review committees to invoke common sense and oppose this development in the interest in preserving the environmental integrity of the Island.
GREG SENKEN, Shelter Island
Remembering Mary
To the Editor:
The League of Women Voters (LWV) lost a good friend last week — Mary Dwyer. If you knew Mary, you knew how indefatigable she was when she had a cause. And we were fortunate that one of the many causes Mary chose was the LWV.
When we inaugurated the State of the Town luncheon, featuring the Town supervisor over 15 years ago, Mary was on the phone soliciting donations so high school students could attend; she made sure flowers were featured at each table; and that everyone was checked in and seated properly. And we usually had over 100 guests.
She could always juggle more than a few balls at once and our early fundraisers were her specialty.
She was reliable, steadfast and hardworking. But she was also fun. Her St. Patrick Day parties brought together people from all over the Island and pulled us out of our winter doldrums with a lot of laughter and melancholic Irish songs.
Being Irish defined her and enabled her to open her heart to so many of us who were lucky enough to know and work with her.
To her large family we extend our sincerest condolences. She was quite a lady.
Dia dhaoibh, Mary.
CATHY KENNY & LOIS B. MORRIS, Shelter Island
Not true
To the Editor:
I am writing based on what Supervisor Siller claimed that the number of potentially available accessory units in the Oct. 27 issue of the Reporter “is not true.”
For everyone’s information, that number can be found in the Shelter Island Town Assessor’s office.
KAREN KIAER, Shelter Island
Thank you
To the Editor:
On behalf of all of us at Reich/Eklund Construction, I would like to thank the Chamber Of Commerce for choosing to honor our company as co-business of the year.
We were pleased to share this distinction with Mary Lou Eichhorn and Cornucopia. For over 40 years Mary Lou has been a go-to person when one is looking for that “special something.”
As was said, Shelter Island is a great place to live, but can be a hard place to do business. We salute all the businesses on the Island who continue to provide goods and services to residents despite difficulties and hardships beyond their control.
JAMES EKLUND,Shelter Island
