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Great Harbor settles appeals
Club awaits final permits
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Great Harbor Yacht Club settled the last two appeals holding up its pier dredging, installation of its dock and pier system and the issuance of its Chapter 91 Waterways license that it needs along with a building
 | | CONTRIBUTED RENDERING A drawing of the Great Harbor Yacht Club clubhouse. |
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permit to build its clubhouse.
"We couldn't be more excited to have all the appeals behind us," said Great Harbor Yacht Club co- developer Gary McCarthy. "We're looking forward to constructing the clubhouse and expect to start it within roughly the next 30 days. We want to have it completed by the summer of 2009."
"We look forward to being a responsible, active member of Nantucket's waterfront," he added.
On May 1, Nantucket's second yacht club at 96 and 97 Washington St. Ext. announced that it had settled with two separate appellants - the Nantucket Land Council and 10 scallopers - of its Conservation Commission order of conditions issued on Nov. 14, 2004 for its plan to dredge 795 cubic yards of sand from a 15,270- square-foot area just off its wharf and install a 40-slip pier.
In satisfying both parties and convincing them to withdraw their appeals, Great Harbor agreed to cut its 130-foot southeast pier in half to 65 feet, with no dockage on the southeastern side of this pier; decrease its dredging area and volume by 22 percent, reducing the dredging area to 11,910.06 square feet; and dropping the dredging amount to 620.1 cubic yards of sand.
Additionally, the club will spend $35,000 annually for 10 years on water quality, eelgrass growth and marine habitat enhancement projects in Nantucket Harbor.
Specifically, Great Harbor will also work with the Land Council, Marine & Coastal Resources Department and the ConCom on planting protocols, success rate criteria and locations for the planting of a minimum of 25,000 square feet of eelgrass in the harbor to mitigate the loss of eelgrass to the club's dredging. Great Harbor will also participate in a four-year monitoring program in order to meet the success criteria.
Shortly after the ConCom issued its order of conditions, 10 commercial scallopers - Marina Finch, Doug Smith, Ken Kelley, Rhys Bender, Steve Bender, Erik Bender, Bruce Beebe, David Coombs and Matt Herr - requested a superseding order of conditions from the state's Department of Environmental Protection. The Nantucket Land Council also appealed the ConCom's order of conditions in Nantucket Superior Court.
Both groups sought less dredging, less destruction of eelgrass and marine fauna, a more even ratio of eelgrass destruction to eelgrass replacement and a smaller pier footprint.
Nantucket Land Council Executive Director Cormac Collier seemed pleased that they got much of what they were seeking from Great Harbor.
"We have achieved significant site-specific design reductions that will reduce negative impacts to sensitive eelgrass beds." said Collier. "Throughout this process, one of our main goals was to minimize the footprint of the floating portion of the piers. Reducing the floats by 65 feet will increase light penetration to eelgrass beds that would have otherwise been completely shaded."
Read McAffrey, representing the scallopers and Save Our Waterfront, the club-opposition group, could not be reached for comment.
McCarthy said on Friday that he expected to receive the club's Chapter 91 Waterways Program license from the DEP shortly. That license, based on the water dependency of the club ruled as such by Chapter 91 Waterways Program Chief Ben Lynch, was held up by the two appeals when Lynch issued his written determination and conditions for Great Harbor's license on March 20.
Though Lynch issued the details of the license, as he stipulated, he could not grant the actual license until the two appeals were resolved.
Once Lynch issues the license, a 21-day appeal period follows after which, if no one appeals Lynch's decision to issue the license and Great Harbor secures a building permit, it can commence construction of its 20,000-square-foot clubhouse. Meanwhile, the club is getting ready for the summer season and securing its Army Corps of Engineers Section 404/10 Permit to dredge and build its pier.
With the resolution of its two outstanding appeals, the club also said that it had hired Stateside Construction of Westborough to build its clubhouse and Michael Mooney, formerly of the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club in Michigan, to be its club manager
McCarthy said that as much of the club's facilities that can be, would be ready for its 350-plus members in time for the summer, staffed with more than 55 employees. The boat barn is done and being used by Grey Lady Marine. The sports building will open in June. The tennis and swim facility at 23 Nobadeer Farm Road will be ready for the summer as well.
"We've got full programs for sailing, fishing, athletic programs at the sports barn and out at the tennis and swim club," he said. "It's a fully functioning club …
without a clubhouse." I
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