For more information about the proposal by Gardiner’s Bay Country Club, click on the below links:
All Zoning Board Meetings are conducted via Zoom, contact kmartin@shelterislandtown.us for the Meeting Password prior to the meeting
Town Board Meeting Scheduled for December 3, 2021 at 4:30pm
At tomorrow's meeting, the Town Board will be considering extensive modifications to the Town Code under the heading of "definitions," addressing over 75 definitions and 20 Chapters of the Code.
It is unclear the extent to which these modifications will cause substantive changes to important issues such as zoning and environmental matters.
Please see the letter below from Bill Mastro to the Town Board regarding this matter and the process issues it raises.
If you have time, we ask that you consider joining the Town Board meeting tomorrow and lending support to delaying the Town Board’s review until the proposed changes are better presented and explained. You can attend in person or via Zoom by requesting a Zoom link from the town clerk via email at townclerk@shelterislandtown.us
LETTER FROM BILL MASTRO:
Dear Members of the Shelter Island Town Board,
After viewing the video of Tuesday’s Town Board meeting, I write the Town Board to express my concern regarding the Town Board’s intentions to review and perhaps pass extensive changes to the Town Code at its meeting on December 3, 2021. These extensive changes are being proposed as merely changes to definitions for the purpose of clarification and simplification. However, it appears that these extensive changes, modifying over 75 definitions across 20 Chapters of the Town Code (and which proposed changes are riddled with errors and typos) are being fast tracked at holiday season without providing sufficient context, reasoning or information about the imperative to act on these changes, many of which appear to be, in fact, substantive changes and not merely simplifications and clarifications.
I understand it can be difficult to move matters forward and effectuate needed change. But, process matters and best practice processes allowing Shelter Island residents the ability to review these proposed changes in a simple to understand document that easily tracks the changes and explains the rationale and need for the changes, is essential and, at minimum, what the Town Board should insist exists. All of the changes may be well reasoned and necessary. Right now that is next to impossible to tell. Publishing, just before Thanksgiving, such extensive changes in an error riddled document, without a tracking document and without a detailed overview explaining the imperative for the changes, is just awful optics that flies in the face of good and transparent governance and process. Additionally, again from an optics perspective, how can the Board seriously consider passing a document riddled with errors and typos (even if they are incrementally fixed), as it raises questions as to the potential unknown consequences of what is in the legislation.
I respectfully request:
1. That the Town Board delay consideration of the revised definitions until there is a full and open public vetting, including the Town Board sharing the specific reasoning behind the various proposed changes so that we can properly understand the potential implications. Such reasoning should be shared with the public in a detailed overview document.
2. That the Town Board make available a “red-lined” copy of the proposed changes, so that the reader may see how the current definitions and other sections of the Town Code would be modified, deleted or revised. Having worked with legislative bodies, such documents are the usual standard for legislation and the absence of such a document, on its face, raises concerns.
3. That any and all substantive changes to the Town Code that would occur through the adoption of the revised definitions or other modifications be specifically highlighted, especially as pertains to zoning and/or environmental matters.
4. That if there are matters that are of a more urgent nature, that such matters be addressed incrementally in a simple and easy to understand process.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Bill Mastro
Letter from the Shelter Island Association
I am sharing the below letter from the Shelter Island Association (SIA) to the Town Board concerning the very important issue of re-zoning and it’s potential impact on the environment, home values, and the quality of life on Shelter Island.
Pat Clifford, President
HBPOA
Letter to the Editor
submitted to the Shelter Island Reporter
Ready! Fire! Aim! Unfortunately, that seems to be the path the Town is taking in terms of across the board modification to zoning requirements and the possible creation of spot zoning. This is a huge mistake on many levels and Shelter Island residents need to be aware and strongly push back to protect the sanctity of double AA zoning and the potential negative outcomes on our fragile environment.
Residents need to ask and get answers to why this is being considered:
First, from a strategic perspective, why would the Town think a major change to zoning would be appropriate before the adoption of a Comprehensive Plan that sets forth the direction, vision and the most important initiatives the Town must address moving forward? It truly is backwards and not a best practice to act without a current Comprehensive Plan - Ready, Fire, Aim.
Second, why now? What is the imperative that is driving the need for a major change to zoning without the necessary context of a Comprehensive Plan? I am sure there are worthwhile tweaks and efficiencies that can occur, but quickly moving to spot zoning and across the board modifications is not the answer.
Third, why would the Town make wholesale change that diminishes its capacity for review and limits its leverage to negotiate on a case by case basis? Why abandon this leverage?
The intended and potential unintended consequences of the zoning proposals require significantly more transparency, scrutiny and public debate. Homeowners and the local homeowner associations need to be brought into any discussions. And any changes to zoning should be done slowly, openly and deliberately.
Bill Mastro
Letter to the Editor
Submitted to the Shelter Island Reporter 8/16/2021
The Hay Beach Property Owners Association (HBPOA) was recently informed by the Shelter Island Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) that Gardiner's Bay Country Club (GBCC) has withdrawn its application to construct a 64 person staff barracks. As a result of this withdrawal, the ZBA has cancelled the August 25th meeting to address this matter and no new date has been scheduled.
It is our understanding that GBCC may be revisiting all aspects of their withdrawn proposal and if that occurs, it is necessary that any such proposal address the sanctity of double AA zoning, as well as the effect any such proposal will have on our fragile sole source aquifer. Water access, quality and quantity are issues that all Shelter Islanders care about deeply.
We are pleased and heartened about this initial development, but it is imperative that all on the Island remain diligent and focused on any future proposals that such proposals do not weaken and create a negative precedent regarding double AA zoning and that such proposals include detailed review of all environmental issues, especially water issues by an independent qualified reviewer, chosen not by GBCC but by a qualified outside organization. The movement for clean water across the entire Island is essential to the future of Shelter Island. The quality and quantity of the aquifer must be preserved for the benefit of all, not just the benefit of private organizations like GBCC.
Thank you,
Bill Mastro
Board Member HBPOA
