HomeMy WebLinkAboutJane Austin_Re_ Barnstable Conservation Commission - Comments re_ Bonnybrook Realty Trust 185 Ocean View Avenue - Public Hearing March 7, 2023From: Jane Ausn <janekausn@gmail.com> Sent: Friday, March 3, 2023 4:46 PM To: Cavanaugh, Kimberly Subject: Re: Barnstable Conservaon Commission - Comments re: Bonnybrook Realty Trust 185 Ocean View Avenue - Public Hearing March 7, 2023 Aachments: Conservaon Commission Ausn comments re Bonnybrook Realty Dock Extension Public Hearing March 7, 2023.docx Comments Attached. On Fri, Mar 3, 2023 at 4:44 PM Jane Austin <janekaustin@gmail.com> wrote: To: Barnstable Conservaon Commission From: Greg and Jane Ausn, 200 Ocean View Ave., Cotuit Public Hearing: Tuesday, March 7, 2023 BONNYBROOK REALTY TRUST, 185 OCEAN VIEW AVENUE, PIER EXTENSION PROJECT Dear Members of the Barnstable Conservaon Commission, We are wring to express our strong opposion to this project. We ask that you deny the applicaon in order to protect public safety in this heavily used waterway and to preserve the use and enjoyment of this area for the public. We have sailed in this area for decades and believe that this pier extension will have a significant negave impact. 1. The dock is located in a channel area which is heavily used for navigaon and recreaon. o Any extension will have a negave impact on the safety and ulizaon of the area by the public. o This area serves as a primary exit to Nantucket Sound for the hundreds of boats moored in Cotuit through North Bay. o The distance from the designated channel does not capture the impact of the dock extension on this ulizaon. It is a very acve navigaonal area in which sailboats and smaller motorized vessels oen go wide of or avoid the narrow marked channel. Small boats of all kinds frequently use the area of water into which the extension is proposed. o Given the narrowness of the main channel, smaller motorboats and sailboats must give way to larger vessels in the area regularly. o There is a known and significant current (marked by the Town at Riley's) which also requires boats (especially sailboats) to exit the marked channel and ulize this area to navigate safely and successfully. 2. The dock is located in a dynamic coastal area in terms of shoreline change and weather/storm exposure. o Recent dredging has triggered significant but likely temporary changes in the dock area which do not jusfy this significant incursion into the public waterway. The point of the island is already encroaching back to its prior posion and may well result in a shi in the channel towards the proposed dock area. o The Google Earth photo below shows 437 feet from the dock to the point of the island (photo is October 2021). Assuming it has not goen smaller (which it likely has), the 25 dock represents a permanent ~6% reducon in the total channel at one of the smallest points in Cotuit Bay. o Recent changes in the contours of the beach must be considered in light of on-going sea level rise which will make the dock an increasingly invasive structure. 3. The dock, as it is, has funconing boat lis and provides access to the applicants’ mooring so there can be no claim of hardship on the part of the applicant. Thank you for your consideraon. Sincerely, Jane and Greg Ausn (401) 742-6286, janekausn@gmail.com Jane Kenney Austin 26 Narragansett Bay Avenue Warwick, RI 02889 janekaustin@gmail.com (401) 736-5181 -- Jane Kenney Austin 26 Narragansett Bay Avenue Warwick, RI 02889 janekaustin@gmail.com (401) 736-5181 CAUTION:This email originated from outside of the Town of Barnstable! Do not click links, open aachments or reply, unless you recognize the sender's email address and know the content is safe!