voices: the community speaks of Nantucket and GHYC

To the Editor of the Inquirer and Mirror

STOP NANTUCKET DISNEY WORLD

Does anyone else feel like the people of Orlando, Florida in the early 70's who had just sold family land (unknowingly) to the Walt Disney Corporation? Historians can tell you that in the mid to late 60's and early 70's land was "quietly" purchased parcel by parcel, acre by acre in the Orlando/Kissimmee area for the pending WALT DISNEY WORLD project. None of the Central Florida residents could have known then that the land they sold would become the empire that it has become. The "Empire" has done much for tourism in the area and many people have done better financially then they ever could have imagined. However, others were overwhelmed and basically forced to sell their homes and land to avoid being overtaken by this corporate conglomerate. This project completely changed the lives of those who had lived for generations in Central Florida forever.

What does this have to do with Nantucket? Everything.

Before one permit has been issued, before one variance has been granted, The Great Harbor Yacht Club has quietly plotted and planned to create a "Nantucket Disney World" at the expense of its neighbors and all that Nantucket Multigenerational Natives hold dear.

Does anyone really feel that Nantucket needs another ALL EXCLUSIVE Yacht Club on her shores? Mr. McCarthy talks of "'public access' this" and "'Nantucket Community Sailing access' that" but will it really happen, who knows? Once the club is permitted and built, Nantucketers will probably be lucky to see the light of day through the club's fences and secured gates. The club will start with 400 "Family Memberships", however, what about their 2 to 5 children and their wives/husbands/children, and their 2 to 5 children and their wives/husbands/children, etc.? Who will monitor the growth? This is not Darien-by-the-Sea, this is Nantucket and we would all like to see an ALL INCLUSIVE harbor where our children rich, working class, and "other" can play and learn together. If Mr. McCarthy would like to build an all exclusive yacht club then maybe he should, perhaps, build it in his own back yard rather than stuffing it into an already overpopulated region of beautiful downtown Nantucket Harbor.

There is nothing "altruistic" about these plans. For decades, oil and other hazardous materials are said by locals to have been dumped on the property that is to be Great Harbor Yacht Club, yet according the reports in the town newspapers, an independent company has given the property a "clean bill of health". How can that be? I remember hearing the same "song" about Otis Air National Guard Base in the late 80's shortly before environmentalists found several "plumes" of highly toxic chemicals and fully active ammunition dumps just two feet beneath the Elementary and Middle School playgrounds at the schools I had attended. Let's get someone in there who does not have financial interest in the outcome of the tests...shall we? Let's not be so naive as to believe that positive "results" cannot be purchased "for a price."

Although there are "plans" for the Grey Lady Marine operation to still provide service to the "average" Nantucketer and summer resident alike, there is no guarantee involved. It is one of the two remaining waterfront maritime service operations. Those who have become accustomed to the "boat valet" service that Grey Lady Marine provides yet cannot afford the hefty/outrageous $200,000 price tag that the Great Harbor Yacht Club has to offer will then be forced to trailer their boats to and fro (inexperienced boat trailer drivers as added traffic on the already overpopulated roads and intersectionsÑan accident waiting to happen) or they will have to initiate a relationship with Madaket Marine. I cannot speak from personal knowledge as to the space that Madaket Marine has for valet storage. It is not my place to do so. Maybe it will be a good financial benefit to their operation. However, I can speak for the fragile state of the Madaket Watershed area and the fact that doubling the load of boaters launching from Hither Creek would be devastating to the delicate ecological balance that already exists.

What, if any, considerations are being made for the event that "Great Harbor Yacht Club, Inc" were to permit, build and then later sell the Great Harbor Yacht Club? Will all of the same variances/restrictions apply to the buyer? Will the operation be able to further expand/encroach upon her neighbors? That is a mighty big "loop-hole" that should be examined.

As a parent of a young 4th Generation Nantucket Native, I would like to preserve the Nantucket that my child's forefathers held dear. There is no turning back. If this "Nantucket Disney World" is approved by the Nantucket Planning Board, it will be a sad day for the shores of Nantucket. This one decision will be one that we will all lament for centuries to come. One exclusive yacht club on Nantucket is more than enough. Our children, and their children deserve better than the detrimental domino effect that will likely come from this proposed Great Harbor Yacht Club endeavor. I am not an abutter, I have nothing financially or "other" to gain, I simply feel that more time should be given to examine what the developers of the Great Harbor Yacht Club have to offer Nantucket as a community. Let's not further broaden the gap between the ultra-rich "haves" and the hard-working class "have nots/have littles". As the bumper stickers that are popping up all over town say, "SINK THE YACHT CLUB, SAVE OUR WATERFRONT"

Happy & Safe Holidays to All!
Colleen S. Whelden