By:Laura Lane Mervosh
Withdraws proposal seeking to lengthen dock
Bellmorites are relieved.
Tbe Alpha Sigma Society, a private men's yacht club, recently decided to withdraw a plan to lengthen its dock by 250 feet, after residents voiced considerable opposition to the proposal.
The fraternity, which has owned its Beach Avenue club since the 1940s, now stores at the dock 22 boats, each about 35- to 40-feet long. Surrounding residents said the longer dock would only make what is already a bad situation worse.
They said that boats from the club are launched by large groups, which creates a parking nightmare on the narrow Beach Avenue and neighboring roads. They also said the longer dock would block off other boaters in the canal, as well as endanger the local environment because of increased spillage of gasoline in waterways. Further, there was concern that more boats navigating the already tight waterways would result in more accidents.
The fraternity had submitted its proposal to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state Department of Environmental Conservation for review. For such a proposal, the DEC ordinarily reaches a decision quickly, after a comment period, but after receiving about 90 protest letters from irate Bellmore and Wantagh residents, the DEC called for a more detailed technical review.
Ron Masters, the commissioner of Conservation and Waterways for the Town of Hempstead, visited community activists and the fraternity to learn more about the proposal and community concerns. In his meeting with yacht-club members, he told them the permit process would be more involved than they expected, and stressed the community's dissatisfaction with the proposal.
"During the meeting, the members of Alpha Sigma said that they wanted to be a community-responsive organization," Marleen Kastleman, director of communications for the town, said on behalf of Masters, who was not available to comment directly.
Community awareness and anger had increased after an April 26 article in the Herald reported on the Alpha Sigma proposal. It was then that Bellmore residents were joined by those of neighboring Wantagh in protesting the plan.
"Residents will no longer tolerate the speeding, noise and pollution," Joe Giacalone of Bellmore said.
On May 19, Giacalone received a letter from state Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. (R-Merrick) that Alpha Sigma Society had withdrawn its proposal "in the interest of community harmony." Fuschillo also congratulated Giacalone and his neighbors for "protecting your community interests and your environment."
Wantagh residents also were relieved by the news. "I thought it was good that everyone came to an agreement without yelling and screaming at a public hearing," said Paul Maffeo, who had distributed fliers alerting folks in Wantagh about the dock proposal. "I'm glad that the fraternity did the right thing."
