Reporter Editorial: A Shelter Island Historic Preservation Board

Recently, a group of Heights residents, along with Heights Property Owners Corporation General Manager Stella Lagudis, went before the Town Board to pitch the formation of a Shelter Island Historic Preservation Board. The idea is to preserve the Island’s history by protecting structures that, just by existing, note and celebrate epochs in the life of this unique place.

The group, in addition to Ms. Lagudis, included Tim Purtell, Robert and Catherine Harper, Lori Beard Raymond, Karen Kiaer, and Rebecca Northey.

The residents wanted to immediately dispel the idea of a Preservation Board as Big Brother dictating what homeowners can do with their houses. Rather, the group would be an adviser to homeowners to find resources to get their properties listed on state and national registers that will increase property values.

Currently, there is no protection for a property that could have been preserved from being demolished by the owner. Any of the Island’s strikingly beautiful houses from eras gone by could be demolished “at somebody’s whim,” said Mr. Purtell, chairman of the Town’s Green Options Committee and a preservationist.

Ms. Lagudis noted that while the Heights has an Architectural Review Committee, it has no enforcement tools. An Historic Preservation Board could have teeth, Ms. Lagudis added.

The public would benefit by having the Town’s “unique history and character” preserved and its business areas revitalized, Mr. Purtell said. Homeowners would become eligible for grants to help maintain and protect their property. It’s not just the fortunate who live in fine houses who would benefit financially, but preservation of properties results in job creation.

It was agreed that it’s not necessary for Shelter Island to reinvent the wheel, since there are boards on the North and South forks, and the Island could benefit from examining their work to determine what could work here.

Many people believe that preservation is only about something that has passed. But the importance of preservation is more about the present, where we can see with our own eyes what has gone before us. It’s also about the future, to keep alive times gone by.

Jacqueline Kennedy, who was a trailblazer in fighting for preservation, said, (and we can substitute her words “our Island,” for our city):” “Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future?”

We urge the Town Board to act to create a Shelter Island Historic Preservation Board.