Strong’s Marine Yacht Center
Developers in Mattituck proposed a massive project that would cause irreversible damage to the environment, negatively impact the neighborhood’s community character and quality of life, and threaten our precious groundwater.
The Strong’s Marine Yacht Center calls for the construction of two enormous heated boat storage buildings, each approximately the size of one acre, to house over 80 yachts. Damage to the environment would be mostly irreversible and the neighborhood’s community character and quality of life would be negatively impacted.
The project requires:
Cutting down over 630 mature trees on approximately four wooded acres full of wildlife and plant species, including several that are designated as Federally and New York State endangered or species of special concern.
Demolishing a bluff in between residential homes—this natural geological treasure that sits 50 feet above mean sea level and helps combat climate change, would be excavated down to 10 feet, despite rising sea levels.
Hauling out more than 134,000 cubic yards of sand—the equivalent of approximately 4,500 tractor trailer truckloads—through residential neighborhoods, truck by truck, to an offsite location over a six-month period for a total of 9,000 truck trips. That’s one truck-load every seven minutes, 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, on narrow roads where people walk their dogs and children ride bikes.
In the spring of 2023, the Group advocated alongside other concerned citizens before the Southold Town Planning Board, emphasizing the proposal’s inconsistency with the town’s comprehensive plan that advocates for the protection of lasting environmental resources, and offers nothing substantial to mitigate or offset the harm the project would cause.
In July, Strong’s Marine submitted a revised site plan to the Southold Town Planning Board. The new plan scaled back the proposal to one 65,100-square-foot building designed to accommodate 56 yachts, and also reduced the amount of sand removed from the site by 48%. The planning board has adjourned its determination until the next scheduled public hearing on Monday, September 9. The Group will immediately begin its review of the details of the latest alternative and offer comments to the planning board.
