Old Lyme Selectmen to Meet at 11am to Continue Discussion, Intent was to Send Ordinance to May 19 Town Meeting for Approval
OLD LYME–A jurisdictional dispute over management of the Horseneck Creek Landing has resurfaced in the form of “last-minute” language inserted into a draft Harbor Management Commission Ordinance, according to Selectman Jim Lampos.
Selectmen at Monday’s Old Lyme Board of Selectmen meeting decided to reconvene on Wednesday, May 7, at 11 a.m. to discuss the draft ordinance, which is one of several updates to the local law book that selectmen hope to send to voters at the May 19 Town Budget Meeting.
Lampos on Monday objected to new language approved by the Harbor Management Commission last week, after he said the original draft produced by Harbor Master Matthew Lynch had been vetted by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the town attorney.
The new provisions are meant to codify the Harbor Management Commission’s authority over town-owned waterfront parcels including Horseneck Creek Landing.
Lampos said the language was added to the draft a day before the Harbor Management Commission held a special meeting last Wednesday to vote on the Ordinance change.
“And Harbor Master Lynch confirmed that these did not come from DEEP or from him, but were last minute additions,” he said.
Harbor Management Commission Co-Chair Teri Lewis in a Tuesday phone call said there were two separate parts to the ordinance update. One was the harbor master’s effort to create rules and an enforcement mechanism to control swimmers and jet skiers better at Sound View Beach, and the other was a commission effort to name all the town landings within the commission’s oversight.
Horseneck Creek Landing at 36-1 Buttonball Road was the subject of a dispute between the Open Space Commission and Harbor Management Commission several years back. The controversy revolved around how much access the public should have to the water on the environmentally delicate property, as well as who was responsible for it. The issue seemed to be resolved in 2023 by the now disbanded 36-1 Buttonball Road Committee and the Board of Selectmen through an agreement for the two entities to work together to manage the property.
The Harbor Management Commission is currently working to install a dock there.
But Lampos argued most of the provisions regarding the town landings aren’t about mooring or regulating boating activity.
“They have to do solely with controlling the waterfront parcels associated with upland parking facilities and other supporting features,” he said.
The language would give Harbor Management authority over mowing, parking areas, removal and control of vegetation, and “other improvements deemed necessary by the commission.”
The draft ordinance states that town-owned parcels subject to Harbor Management Commission oversight “shall include, but are not limited to” several specified properties in addition to Horseneck Creek Landing: the town dock at Ferry Road, the Ferry Road Landing at the Lieutenant River, the landing for Back River at Town Landing Road, Old Bridge Landing at the Lieutenant River and Pilgrims Landing on Neck Road.
Included in the list is “any other property that the Town may acquire through purchase or donation that is specifically for use as a water access point” to tidal waters.
Lewis said Tantummaheag Landing was not on the list because its ownership is in dispute.
She emphasized the language is a way to place the inventory of town landings in writing officially.
“We’re just naming Horseneck Creek as one of our access creeks,” she said. “We are still sharing and will always still share Horseneck Creek. We have no plans on taking over Horseneck Creek.”
She said the commission has been working to publicize the collection of town landings. Members are working on fliers to give out at the Midsummer Festival and maps to mail to residents to make sure people are aware the landings are available to the public.
“Because nobody knows,” she said.
She acknowledged the language related to the landings and their oversight needs approval from the DEEP and the Town Attorney, which she hoped could be completed next week. She was unaware that selectmen said they needed to vote on the ordinance by this Wednesday to ensure notice of the Town Meeting could be placed into the newspaper in time.
Open Space Commission Chairman Gregory Futoma in a Monday afternoon email to First Selectwoman Martha Shoemaker described the three-acre Horseneck Creek property as “an outlier” compared to the rest of the town landings specified in the ordinance proposal.
He said the other properties are “uniformly smaller and without pristine coastal forest or extensive marshland.”
Lampos told selectmen the jurisdictional issue was too big to address in time to send the Harbor Management Commission-approved draft ordinance to the town meeting later this month. He called for selectmen to instead approve the initial draft approved by town counsel without the additional provisions.
“Some of these issues are going to be controversial and create jurisdictional disputes where none currently exist,” Lampos said.
Open Space Commission
Futoma in a Monday email to Lampos said his commission was not consulted regarding the proposed revisions that were sent to him by Lampos shortly before the selectmen’s meeting.
Futoma requested time to share the amended draft ordinance with the commission.
He said the commission has abided by the sentiments expressed by the former 36-1 Buttonball Road Committee and the Board of Selectmen that the town’s Horseneck Creek Landing property be co-managed.
“The Commission believes it has brought to the property amenities for visitors that would not otherwise be available. For example, the Commission sought and received a grant to highlight the unique coastal forest and tidal marsh features of the property, worked with experts from UConn and Audubon, and prepared some exceptional educational materials,” he said.
He said the commission has reached out to the Harbor Management Commission about each new program “out of a spirit of cooperation and to ensure that nothing might jeopardize the Town’s application for a dock and water access.”
Sound View Commission
Sound View Commission Chairman Frank Pappalardo in a Monday email to the Board of Selectmen said the revised draft is “unacceptable and must not be moved forward.”
He said his commission reviewed the original draft at the end of April. They issued a memo to Lynch and the Harbor Management Commission agreeing to most of the proposed changes that he said would provide needed management and enforcement assistance when it comes to swimmers and jet skiers at Sound View Beach.
“It was therefore a complete surprise on Friday, May 2 to see a copy of the proposed ordinance containing several entirely new sections…that far exceeds any previous Harbor Management Commission jurisdiction and is a far over-reach from overseeing boating and moorings,” Pappalardo said.
He said the Harbor Management Commission “cannot just assign themselves jurisdictional control” over areas currently managed through agencies including the Parks and Recreation, Open Space and Sound View commissions.
“I find it disingenuous that these sections of the proposed ordinance were NOT included in the draft sent to the SVC for review and the Chair of the Harbor Management Commission made no statement regarding their existence,” he said.
Lewis, the Harbor Management Commission co-chair, said the language related to the town landings has nothing to do with the Sound View Commission.
“We have no interest whatsoever in managing Sound View Beach or managing the town parking lot,” she said.
Selectmen on Wednesday at 11 a.m. will also discuss draft ordinances on parking at Sound View Beach and golf cart usage in beach areas. Visit this link to view the agenda for the meeting.
The meeting, which will be held in the Town Hall meeting room, can be accessed via Microsoft Teams here.