Conservation Commission Preparing For Long Night

The large crowd expected tonight at the meeting will come to see what happens to Peter Noyes' application for a special permit to reconstruct seawalls on Gerry Island. But the future of the beloved Little Harbor island will not be the only controversial issue on the agenda.

First on the agenda is Groom Construction's application for a permit to raise the seawall at 15 Spray Avenue by five or six feet. Then after the commission considers the restaurateur's proposal for Gerry Island, it will take up an application for a new private pier at the northern end of town.

The commission, which will meet at the Abbot Hall auditorium to accommodate the expected large crowd, may not take up for hours routine issues like landscaping changes at Goldthwait Reservation and a new roof at 8 Ferry Lane.

Noyes and island owner Ted Moore were served last week with enforcement orders by the commission to stop Noyes' driving a large truck out to the island, placing floats, cutting brush and trees, erecting tents and housing a herd of goats on the island. The enforcement order said these activities violated the Wetlands Protection Act.

Noyes has applied to the commission for a permit to reconstruct seawalls on the island, but has not been granted any permits for activity that 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 said since then that he may create a campground on the island.

Since its last meeting, which was held to an overflowing crowd, the commission members have made at least two visits to the island. DEP officials accompanied commission chairman Walter Haug and Lanphear on a tour of the island last week.

Noyes' activities have attracted the attention of both the state Department of Environmental Protection and the Army Corps of Engineers, both of which would have to grant permits for his proposed activities.

Last week, Noyes went on the offensive against the town, requesting copies of any permits granted to the town for activities on Riverhead Beach.

“This is to inform you that violations of the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act are taking place at Riverhead Beach in Marblehead,” Noyes wrote to the Conservation Administrator William Lanphear.

He cited activities that included “driving heavy equipment and vehicles on, operation of a marine facility including storage, construction and maintenance of, bottom cleaning of and painting of vessels.”

He indicated he wanted to discuss the town's “long standing policies” at Riverhead Beach during the June 9 meeting as “very relevant” issues.

Spray Avenue Wave Debate

Groom Construction got some good news last week from the peer review engineer hired by the commission to determine if raising the seawall at the house would force the strong waves to hit the neighbors' property instead.

CLE Engineering's Carlos Pena wrote: “The revised concave shaped 6-foot concrete seawall along with permeable backfill will not have an increased negative impact on the abutting southerly property as long as it is properly engineered and constructed.”

During Atlantic Ocean storms the waves hit the seawall at 15 Spray Avenue hard and shower the house and yard. Groom, which is rebuilding the house for sale, is proposing to build a concrete patio behind the raised seawall.

Its engineering firm, Hayes Engineering, found that the higher seawall “would not exacerbate conditions at the abutting property and could protentially limit wave action in that direction.”

New Private Pier

Nathaniel and Louisa Greene at 7 Mooring Road are asking for a permit to build a long wooden pier into Salem Harbor.

The commission has approved other private piers, despite opposition from neighbors. Commission members have warned that the apparent proliferation of private piers could endanger the quality of life along the coastline.

The state's Division of Marine Fisheries worried that the proposed pier and boat traffic “may shade and scour the undrlying eelgrass habitat.”

The meeting starts at 7 p.m.

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