Nantucket Land &
Water Council

NLWC News

The NLWC Advocates for Appropriate Mitigation of Existing Geotubes

Anna Day • January 10, 2025

The Conservation Commission recently signaled their likely approval of a positive permit for the geotube expansion project proposed jointly by SBPF and the Town of Nantucket. As data collected by project consultants indicates, the geotubes are detrimental to the environment, increasing the erosion on surrounding beaches. The NLWC takes the strong position that there are much more appropriate and less harmful alternatives, especially given that the Town’s engineers have determined the relocation of Baxter Road can be completed by 2027.

 

The fact is that the existing stretch of geotubes remain out of compliance with the current permit issued by the Conservation Commission due to SBPF’s failure to provide the required mitigation sand. It has been demonstrated by two independent coastal engineering experts that the failure to contribute the required mitigation (a sand deficit now well over 100,000 cubic yards) has already resulted in significant damage to the Town-owned coastal beach as well as privately owned properties to the north. This includes existing and increased future risk to the Lighthouse property. This violation of SBPF’s permit resulted in a removal order which was upheld by Superior Court, and is still outstanding.

 

The Draft Order Of Conditions, which the Commission is currently deliberating, includes a finding (#17) that states this new permit will replace the removal order. However, the Draft OOC does not contain any specific information on how SBPF and the Town, as co-applicants, will be required to account for the immense and growing deficit of sand. We have asked the Commission to specifically discuss this matter at their next public hearing (scheduled for January 15th).

 

If a positive OOC is issued, and a requirement to contribute the missing volume of sand is not clarified, SBPF will be rewarded with an expansion of the geotubes that they have failed to maintain in compliance with their current permit. Environmental permitting that considers negative impacts to natural resources always follows the premise of first avoiding adverse impacts, if those impacts cannot be avoided they must be minimized, and if adverse impacts cannot be avoided or minimized they must be mitigated. The entire permitting process is broken if an applicant is allowed to negatively impact multiple resource areas in such a significant way without mitigating those impacts. The mitigation conditioned in the previous permit was determined with SBPF’s own data, supported by MA DEP, and agreed to by SBPF. In the meantime SBPF and the Town are proposing to quadruple the size of this project.

 

If the Conservation Commission does not condition this permit to require the addition of adequate mitigation sand to account for the full deficit, it will be the most egregious violation of a wetlands permit I have ever seen in my two decades of reviewing hundreds of projects. The Commission should not be complicit in its lack of enforcement. This would set a precedent that is simply unconscionable for a regulatory entity. We are looking to the Conservation Commission to ensure that this does not happen.

 

As a co-applicant, the Town will ultimately also be responsible for the implementation and enforcement of this permit. As owners of the coastal beach and bank that has already been damaged by the existing installation, they should also be insisting that the full deficit of sand be provided by SBPF prior to new construction. The Town should also ensure that they are not ultimately left with the liability for providing this sand which was the prior responsibility of SBPF.

 

Town Administration and the Select Board (as co-applicants), and the Conservation Commission as our regulatory authority must set the right example and precedent and follow through on appropriate enforcement of the geotubes that already exist before allowing any more to be constructed. Should they fail to do so, the damage to our coastal environment and resources will be irreparable.

 

Emily Molden

Executive Director, Nantucket Land & Water Council

 

The next Conservation Commission Public Hearing on the proposed geotube expansion is Wednesday, January 15th 10:00am-12:00pm in the Trailer at 131 Pleasant Street.

Summer Development Internship at Nantucket Land & Water Council

By Anna Day • February 6, 2025
Location: Nantucket Island Hours: 25-35 hours per week Compensation: $22 per hour

NLWC Raises Critical Water Quality Issues with Surfside Crossing’s 40B Proposal

By Anna Day • January 29, 2025
The remand hearing for Surfside Crossing’s 156 unit 40B development is ongoing before Nantucket’s ZBA, and the deadline for the public hearing has been extended to February 21st . Last fall when the remand hearing began, the NLWC hired two professionals to assist us with reviewing the current plans for the 18 condo buildings and onsite development . One of our consultants, Sean Reardon, is a professional engineer who has worked with a number of ZBAs across the state assisting as their peer review engineer on 40B projects. The second, Scott Horsley, is a renowned water quality specialist who has helped us take a closer look at the implications of the proposed development on the island’s groundwater and public drinking water supply. They discovered some critical issues with the project’s design that have raised major concerns with the ZBA . What Reardon and Horsley’s reviews have brought to light about the proposal is a lack of compliance with the state’s Stormwater Management Standards as well as the MA Drinking Water Regulations and an important provision in Nantucket’s Zoning Bylaw governing development within our Wellhead Protection District. Almost the entire 13.5 acre Surfside site lies within this environmentally sensitive area . The Wellhead Protection District was established to protect the region of our aquifer that contributes to the public water supply wells (this region is also called a Zone II region). The bylaw provision sets a standard that only up to 15% of a property within the Zone II can be developed as impervious surfaces unless it can be demonstrated that at least 95% of the stormwater is properly recharged into the aquifer AND there will be no degradation to groundwater quality. I mpervious surfaces typically include things like parking lots, roadways, and buildings, where precipitation is impeded from naturally infiltrating into the ground . Instead it runs off the surface carrying pollutants or contaminants with it. The aggregate amount of impervious surfaces proposed by project developers is three-and-a-half times (3.5x) the limit imposed by the Drinking Water regulations and the Nantucket bylaw. Modern stormwater infrastructure can do a great job of managing flooding by infiltrating run off into the ground, but without proper pre-treatment many of these contaminants are carried directly into our groundwater as the natural filtration provided by vegetation and organic soils have been eliminated. To date, the developers have made no attempt to address these critical issues and have only responded with attempts to justify their lack of compliance with this standard based on a lack of proper enforcement at other sites within our Zone II on the island. The scale of this project and magnitude of disturbance, clearing 13 acres of natural vegetation and converting 6.48 acres (52% of the site) to impervious surfaces, warrants more effort than simply relying on what others have gotten away with elsewhere. As Nantucket continues to develop throughout the mid-island area, much of which is within our Zone II, it is critical that we take better care to ensure that these developments do not cumulatively degrade our public drinking water supply, and implement the state and local standards for managing impervious surfaces and stormwater properly. We will continue to advocate against the proposed project, which fails to meet state standards for stormwater management and does not adequately prevent the pollution of our public water supply. We encourage all community members to participate in the public hearing and raise any concerns you have about the project with the Zoning Board of Appeals. The ZBA is scheduled to hear this matter on Feb 3, from 1pm - 4 pm, on Feb 4, from 11 am - 2 pm, and on February 19, from 1 pm - 4 pm. Our submission to the ZBA on these issues can be found here. The ZBA’s entire Surfside Crossing packet as of 01/24/25 can be found here: https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_01242025-14728?html=true .

2024 Special Town Meeting Recap

By Anna Day • September 30, 2024
At this September’s Special Town Meeting, the Nantucket Land and Water Council once more encouraged Nantucket residents to vote for the environment by following its recommendations on many of the articles. This year’s Special Town Meeting saw debates continue over matters including short-term rentals (STRs) and zoning changes. The NLWC is pleased to report that nearly all of its recommendations were seen to fruition by Nantucket voters. In the STR world, voters faced multiple competing proposals to regulate short-term rentals. Article 1, supported by the Select Board, aimed to legalize short-term rentals in all residential districts with limited restrictions. However, concerns about workarounds for the restrictions it did propose and ongoing investor incentives led to its defeat, with 472 votes against and 416 in favor. While the article proposed to impose a limit of one STR per person, an individual would still have the ability to set up any number of other legal entities (in the form of LLCs, trusts, etc) on their own or in partnership with others with each as the owner of separate STRs. As a result, this important provision would not have held water. Article 2, proposed by Charity Benz and Nantucket Neighborhoods First (NNF), took a more restrictive approach, allowing short-term rentals only as an Accessory Use, requiring property owners to live in their homes more than they rent them. Nantucket Waterkeeper RJ Turcotte read a statement by NLWC president Lucy Leske in support of this article. While Article 2 didn’t pass, it gained significant support, receiving 478 votes in favor and 394 opposed, exceeding 55% approval but falling short of the two-thirds majority needed. The strong backing for Article 2 reflects growing concern over the impact of short-term rentals on Nantucket’s environment and community. Article 5, which the Nantucket Land and Water Council (NLWC) supported, was successfully passed. This amendment clarified and strengthened restrictions against corporate ownership of STRs. Zoning changes which would have resulted in significant subdivision potential, as well as proposals for Town Sewer were also proposed in Articles 11,12,13 and 14 which affected 44 Skyline Drive, and 13/13A Woodland Ave. These changes were not supported by the NLWC because of the significant change in density they would have facilitated in addition to concerns around surrounding infrastructure impacts. The proponents of the articles presented all of them at Town Meeting as key elements in larger plans for affordable housing developments. However, the proponents of the articles did not clearly present their plans for the properties in advance of Town Meeting leaving many questions. This uncertainty and the degree of density proposed for these locations resulted in strong defeat across the board. Town Meeting also voted strongly in favor of Article 16 which once again proposed to implement specific changes to the constitution of the Nantucket Planning & Economic Development Commission with the intention of creating a more dynamic and diverse planning commission to help the island navigate many of the bigger picture challenges we are facing. Many thanks to all of our residents who came out to the Special Town Meeting to engage in these discussions and to vote!
MORE NEWS
Share by: