- Target:
- Southampton Town Board
- Region:
- United States of America
- Website:
- www.OurWaterMill.org
For 75 years, Cove Ave at the foot of Rose Hill Road, has been a wide open public street and Mecox Bay access ramp. This land was purchased by the Town in 1943 for the expressed purpose to give the public an unrestricted boat ramp to access Mecox Bay.
Early in 2018, the Town Trustees entered into an agreement with an adjacent homeowner on Rose Hill Road giving the homeowner the right to carve off, merge, and privatize over one-third of Cove Ave, adding to the homeowner’s property and eliminating the loop turnaround.
In trade, the homeowner is to maintain the property and dredge accumulated sand and debris to maintain public access to the Bay. The agreement is to run 15 years, and may be extended.
The deal violates the principle and purpose of the land acquisition by the Town for free unimpeded public access to Mecox Bay via Cove Avenue, and sets an unacceptable precedent — the giveaway of public land.
Attend the Special Trustees Meeting, June 18, Monday at 6PM, Town Hall to discuss this issue.
We, the undersigned,
— Call for the Town Board and Town Trustees to take full responsibility for this error of judgment;
— Call for the Town to take all measures necessary to undo this agreement with the homeowner; and,
— Call for the Town to restore the Cove Ave boat ramp to its fully open and accessible condition prior to this agreement with the homeowner.
Furthermore, we call for full and transparent disclosure of how this agreement came to be, as formally asked by the Water Mill Citizens Advisory Committee at the Trustees Meeting of May 21, 2018:
The Undo Mecox Bay Boat Ramp Deal (Rose Hill Rd.) petition to Southampton Town Board was written by Water Mill Citizens Advisory Committee and is in the category City & Town Planning at GoPetition.