A group of concerned citizens is petitioning Southampton Town Supervisor Jay Schneiderman, Southampton Town Council Member Christine Scalera, John Bouvier, Julie Lofstat, Southampton Town Council Member Stan Glinka, Representative Lee Zeldin, Suffolk County Legislature Bridget Flemming, Southampton Town Deputy Supervisor Frank Zappone, Southampton Town Trustees President Edward J. Warner Jr., Senator Kenneth LaValle, Representative Fred Thiele, Southampton Town Trustees Secretary – Treasurer Scott Horowitz, Southampton Town Trustee Eric Shultz, Southampton Town Trustee William Pell IV, and Bruce Stafford in regards to the erosion of one of the area’s beaches. The Save North Sea Beach campaign, which includes the www.change.org petition, aims to “revitalize this wonderful resource for the entire community.”
“For generations, North Sea Beach has been a large and stable resource where the community enjoyed access for all manner of recreational activities,” the petition states. “Today, the beach is nearly gone.”
The lack of preventative efforts have taken its toll on the area. “For the better part of the 20th Century, Suffolk County, the Southampton Trustees, and the Southampton Town Board dredged North Sea Harbor and periodically put the sand on west side of the channel on to North Sea Beach, following the natural drift of sand from east to west,” the petition continues. “Over the last 20 -30 years, this practice stopped, with nearly all of the sand put to the east, starving North Sea Beach and causing the current drastic erosion.”
Those that live in the area are ready to address the issue themselves. “Well…the residents of North Sea Beach Colony would like to take the matter into their own hands and pay to restore North Sea Beach,” the petition explained. “This would not require major expenditures from the government as the residents are willing solve this problem themselves.”
The residents are pleading with those who can help to restore North Sea beach. “To restore North Sea Beach, we need the assistance of the Southampton Town Supervisor and the Town Board among other stakeholders,” the petition concludes. “Please help restore North Sea Beach by telling officials that you also support restoring North Sea Beach as a wonderful community resource.”
For more information, visit www.change.org.