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Community Corner

Bluffs Decimated by Irene; Solutions Sought

Shinnecock Hills homeowners on Shinnecock Bay lost parts of their yards to erosion during Tropical Storm Irene.

Since Tropical Storm Irene hit, many bayfront homeowners in Shinnecock Hills have a shorter walk to get to the beach.

In some areas on Shinnecock Bay, particulary between Atterbury Road and Far Pond Road, property owners lost as much as 30 feet from their yards as churning waves destroyed the bluffs — bluffs that they have been trying to stabilize for years with the help of environmental consultants.

Sandringham Beach Association resident Alexa Van de Walle’s steps from her yard to the beach were wrecked in the storm, and her bluff was decimated. The plantings she had paid to put in on the bluff to prevent erosion were washed away.

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Van de Walle is working with consulting firm First Coastal, based in Westhampton, on a plan to restore the bluff and ensure its future stability. Past methods to protect the bluffs from erosion have failed. “We’ve been very limited to sand and plants, and they want to be more creative,” she said.

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First Coastal Vice President Billy Mack said he is in talks with Southampton Town’s chief environmental analyst and the Southampton Town Trustees, who are charged with preserving town waters and beach access, on coming up with a solution for homeowners.

“The property owners have gone through multiple bluff restorations, which are a soft solution,” Mack said. Efforts have included trucking in fill to reshape the bluffs, planting vegetation and installing biologs, coconut fiber logs planted at the foot of the bluffs to avoid “toe erosion.” “Moderate waves can hit that and keep the bluff intact,” Mack said of biologs.

But was more than the biologs could handle. Mack said Irene had sustained south, southeast and southwest winds. “That is why this particular storm eroded so much there.”

First Coastal always first advocates “soft solutions,” like fill and vegetation, Mack said. Rather than moving to bulkheads or rocks next, he said geotextile sandbags are being looked at.

“They’ve gone through a series of these soft solutions and the property owners are looking to do something with a little more predictable level of protection,” he said.

Part of the problem left by Irene is the angle of the bluffs after being slammed by the storm’s waves.

“Now they’re left with a sheer drop,” Mack said. Because of the angle, the bluffs won’t naturally grow vegetation to hold the sand again until as many as 10 years of further rain and wind erosion change the angle of the bluff again.

Southampton Town Trustee Ed Warner, whose area of responsibility includes Shinnecock Bay, said the Trustees are working on a management plan to help homeowners preserve their property while also preserving Shinnecock Beach Road, a Trustees-maintained right of way on the beach.

Warner said the Trustees have owned a 50-foot easement from the bay since Shinnecock Hills was subdivided around the turn of the 20th century. The easement protects pedestrian access as well as 4x4 driving.

Also because of the easement, homeowners need a permit from the Trustees before putting a hardening structure, such as a bulkhead, upland of the beach, Warner said. He noted that the Trustees haven’t issued a permit for a new bulkhead in 20 years, because when waves hit the retaining walls, all the sand downland from the bulkhead is washed away.

And even bulkheads aren't a perfect storm solution. Warner said that during Irene, bulkheads that were just two years old failed.

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