voices: the community speaks of Nantucket and GHYC

To: Dirk Roggeveen, ConCom

April 13, 2004

Of Immediate concern: GHYC MARINA

I implore the Commission to withhold approval of GHYC's petition to construct a number of docks and (currently 51) boat slips in the Harbor. They themselves are calling this a "MARINA" (Gary McCarthy, Feb 23 2004, 10:37 PM Nantucket Yahoo Chat Group and other times).

Mr. McCarthy has stated emphatically (Feb. 29, 2004, 10:29 AM, Nantucket Yahoo Chat Group):

"Please note that the dredging proposed is NOT necessary to the functioning of the yacht club. If our dredge plan cannot be approved by ConCom (and in turn the Commonwealth and the Army Corp. of Engineers) we will still have a workable yacht club......the dredging and docks are not necessary to the GHYC to be viable but that does not make our applications invalid......"

Thus, the purpose of the marina is of questionable value for this dining, swimming, weight-lifting, squash-playing membership, whose boat ownership needs have not been specified.

Mr. McCarthy has revealed that owning -- or even wanting to own -- a boat is not a prerequisite for membership acceptance. In public discussions he has avoided answering direct questions as to boat ownership of their members, other than that many already have moorings in the Polpis, Madaket and Nantucket Harbors.

These can be served, as at 95% of all yacht clubs, by a club launch. It would be adequate for ConCom to approve two floats at the bulkhead to service loading and offloading of members' boats and club launch.

The irreparable harm the marina will do to our Harbor and the adjacent Creeks has been well defined by the Town and Shellfish Biologists. I would also call to your attention how such a marina would agitate the adjacent Shore Reservation bird sanctuary that runs from GHYC's southern boundary to the mouth of The Creeks.

I implore you, as protector of our wetlands, to realize that there is no justification for such a private marina, particualry one so close to The Creeks and so perilous to the Harbor's life.

Most Sincerely,

C.S. Lovelace