Shelter Island Reporter Letters to the Editor: Aug. 13, 2026
TAKE THE SURVEY
To the Editor:
Our 2026 Housing Needs Survey is now out online at: shelterislandtown.gov/213/Community-Housing-Board in both English and Spanish. Paper copies are available at the Town Hall and the Public Library.
We, the Community Housing Board, are looking for responses from residents, workers, and business owners/managers to better understand housing conditions, challenges and needs on Shelter Island. The results will inform the Housing Needs Assessment and help guide policies, programs, and future housing initiatives. In addition, you can sign up to be on our mailing list for updates about the rental apartments we are hoping to start construction on next spring.
We are looking for responses from the entire community, especially those seeking stable, affordable, year-round housing here and having trouble finding that in the market.
You will see us tabling at events like the Green Expo and are planning a public meeting in early autumn, so please help us by filling out the surveys and spreading the word.
BRAN DOUGHERTY-JOHNSON, Chair, Community Housing Board
ANSWER: DELIBERATION
To the Editor:
Mr. Colby’s letter last week asks whether the Board’s handling of the certificate of occupancy law reflects deliberation or delay. The answer is deliberation.
His letter treats three matters as one. Two are proposed local laws, neither adopted, both in open hearing. The third is a lot line modification, decided May 9 by the Trustees as the Planning Board under the code in force, not a law under debate.
Regarding the lot line modification the letter is wrong. The condition would have reached only the two improved lots: one owned by a Trustee, one by a resident who holds no office. The Mayor’s parcels are unimproved. The requirement was never proposed for “their colleagues’ transaction.” It fell on one trustee and one private resident, and came off for both alike.
Section 230-47 ties certificates of occupancy to construction, not ownership or boundary changes, and subsection D leaves an updated certificate for an existing lawful use to the owner’s request. It would have compelled owners to seek what the code leaves to them. I said so on the record and would have for any applicant.
If Mr. Colby means to allege that something was arranged privately, he should say so plainly and produce evidence. The meeting was noticed. The interested trustees recused. The minutes are public; he drew his account from them, though he did not attend. A proceeding any resident could have attended is a strange candidate for a private arrangement.
I am not a principal advocate of this law. I did not bring it forward; as I understand it, the aim was to bring our code in line with neighboring municipalities. In four meetings of minutes I never spoke in its favor.
That is deliberation. It is on the record, where it has been all along.
I write in my individual capacity.
SAMUEL M. ASHNER, Deputy Mayor, Village of Dering Harbor
2026 LEGION BBQ
To the Editor:
The members of Mitchell Post #281 are excited to announce the sixth annual American Legion BBQ Cookoff on Sept. 5, at 4 p.m. This year 10 teams will be selected on a first-come, first-serve basis.
If you want to compete and test your BBQ skills, please register by submitting your team name and roster to [email protected] no later than Aug. 20. Additional event details will be published at a later date. We look forward to seeing you.
MEMBERS, American Legion Mitchell Post #281
