Southampton bans docks on Peconic bays

A new Southampton Town law will ban construction of private docks along the shorelines of the Great Peconic Bay and Little Peconic Bay.

Town officials said the prohibition is designed to protect fragile shoreline habitats and preserve public access to beaches, which are open to the high tide line. They argued that docks can disrupt ecosystems and, in some cases, become hazards if damaged by ice or storms. Environmental advocates have backed the ban.

The town board approved the measure by a vote of 5-0 on Tuesday.

“It’s an important step in fulfilling our responsibility to protect our environmental and aesthetic resources,” Supervisor Maria Moore said in an interview. “By enacting the ban, we're preserving the rights of all residents to access the public beaches.”

The ban has drawn sharp criticism from some bayfront homeowners and their representatives, who argue the town is overstepping its authority.

“It seems problematic that they're attempting to regulate something that is outside their territorial limit,” Aram Terchunian, a coastal geologist who has opposed the law, said in an interview.

 Terchunian, who consults on dock construction, said docks in the Peconic and nearby bays have long been permitted by the state and do not pose environmental or safety risks. The town needs state legislation to approve a ban, he said. 

“I assume that some people will challenge" the new measure, he added.

Moore and Southampton Town Attorney James Burke said they are also expecting legal challenges.

“The docks are anchored on town property,” Burke said. “We feel that that's our jurisdiction.”

In a memo to the town, New York's Department of State said municipalities in Nassau and Suffolk counties have “the implied power to enact ordinances regulating construction of docks, piers and wharves within their boundaries.”

The measure follows the town’s discovery of several private docks installed along the Peconic bays without permits from the town’s conservation board.

Southampton has brought legal action in town justice court against several property owners, which remain pending, Burke said Tuesday.

This year’s icy winter made a compelling case for the ban, officials said. Freezing temperatures caused water to ice over around dock pilings, gripping them and yanking them out of the seabed with shifting tides. Southampton trustees declared an emergency over the conditions that allow residents to more quickly secure permits to repair or rebuild damaged docks.

“They're subject to this severe wave action and ice pile up, and we've seen them destroyed in the winter months,” Moore said. “They leave behind a lot of dangerous debris.”

Southampton Town joins Southold in banning docks on the bays. Southold has long prohibited private docks on the Peconic bays and recently expanded that restriction to additional waterways.

Pete Topping, executive director of the environmental group Peconic Baykeeper, said the ban is “an important step forward.” Docks can have a detrimental effect on sand migration, disrupting the spawning and nesting areas of species like horseshoe crabs and shorebirds, he said.

“I grew up in Southampton, so I've seen the East End change very quickly over the last few decades,” he said. "The boats are getting bigger, the houses are getting bigger, and I think having the town move forward and drawing a line to protect something for the public is a huge win for the community.