Conservation Commission May Issue Stop Work Orders For Gerry Island

The Town Engineer is preparing two or three enforcement orders for the Conservation Commission to issue to stop Peter Noyes and Gerry Island owner Ted Moore from driving trucks, placing floats, cutting brush and trees, erecting tents and housing a herd of goats on the island.

Noyes has applied to the commission for a permit to reconstruct seawalls on the island, but has not been granted any permits while the commission reviews whether his proposed activities might impact the island and its coastal bank. He told the commission last month that he plans to store boats on the island.

He has also asked other town departments what permits he will need for his plans on the island.

Town Engineer William Lanphear, responding to complaints from neighbors, toured the island Wednesday with two officials of the Department of Environmental Protection and the Maritime Police in Gloucester. They found .

The state officials were not pleased with Noyes' activities on the island, but the police found no violations that they could cite Noyes for, Lanphear said. The officers referred the complaints to DEP, which has broader authority to control activities that might harm environmentally sensitive areas like Gerry Island.

The DEP officials also met with Ted Moore to determine if he knew what Noyes, whom he described as his “tenant,” was up to on the island. Moore said he was unaware of Noyes' activities, but told the DEP officials and Lanphear that he had used the island in the past for activities, including his 50^th birthday party, which was catered by a truck that drove across the causeway between Gas House Beach and the island.

Noyes was seen by neighbors driving a truck and a crane at mid-tide across the stone and gravel causeway. He appears to have driven the truck around the island, then tried to drive up the coastal bank, only to get the truck stuck.

Lanphear asked Harbormaster Charles Dalferro to ferry him out to the island by boat. Once on the island, Lanphear found Noyes and a young woman, identified as Noyes' daughter, sitting on a rock on the island. He took photographs of Noyes' activities and their impact on the island and then left the island. He returned later with the state officials.

The  officials found two tents on the island, one apparently to shelter the herd of goats that have been transported there.

Lanphear said the goats are probably a good idea for trimming back the brush and the poison ivy. But the DEP officials said Noyes can not bring the goats or use a saw to remove the brush without a permit.

There is also a possibility that Noyes drove through an area that is protected for endangered species.

Noyes visited Lanphear's office Wednesday asking what violations he might be cited for. Lanphear declined to say until the orders are signed by commission chairman Walter Haug.

The application by Noyes to reconstruct the seawalls has drawn opposition from nearby residents, who want to protect the island, located in Little Harbor, from potential development by Noyes.

The commission has made two site visits to the island to review the impact of Noyes plans for the island.