City Says Willow Street Dinghy Racks Solve Demand and Clutter Problems

Residents upset about the new dinghy racks installed on Willow Street did not object to the project when the state Coastal Resources Management Council reviewed the project, a city official said, and they are part of an ongoing effort to clean up and manage the city’s driftways.

In an email message to City Council members, Timothy J. Mills, harbormaster, said that the dinghy rack program began last year with installation of racks at King Park. The project continued this year with the Willow Street racks and next year racks will be installed at the Poplar Street driftway.

The dinghy racks project is an outgrowth of the driftway sticker program that began in 2010. Before the sticker program, ”the drift ways were unmanaged and a dumping ground for unused and unwanted dinghies and other watercraft. This seriously diminished available space for the public who legitimately wanted to use the area for accessing the water,” Mills said.

The program was successful in that it cleaned up the driftways and made more space available. That in turn drove demand, which prompted the Harbor Division and Waterfront Commission to consider how to optimize space, improve public access to the water and be minimally intrusive along the way.

“Dinghy racks were researched and found in other towns as a low cost solution to accommodate the growing demand,” Wills said.

The project was added to the capital budget in 2014 and the first rack was completed in the middle of the boating season in King Park. Before long, every space had been sold.

The Willow Street racks, delivered Monday, were not leveled and fully installed at first, Mills said. He suggested that residents might have gotten a false impression of the racks’ scale and fit. They have since been leveled and were awaiting final installation as of Tuesday. They were constructed by the Public Works Department to keep costs down.

On Monday, Point residents, including members of the Point Association, expressed dismay. In an email message, Beth Cullen of the association told acting City Manager Joseph Nicholson that the city dropped the ball when it came to their installation.

“City leadership didn’t bother to inform the abutters, never mind discuss size, number, style/appearance, placement of the kayak racks. This is yet another example of lack of city process, collaboration, and a total mis-management of civic engagement,” Cullen said.

Mills said that neighbors were not officially notified by the city, “however the abutter to the south is a member of the Waterfront Commission and had full knowledge of the project.” Additionally, “I believe he is actually a proponent of it as it prevents dinghy owners from leaning the dinghies against his fence. I spoke with the abutter to the north and from my recollection that abutter did not voice any major concerns.”

He also noted that the city had to apply for an assent from CRMC, which found no significant impact and granted the assent. The city gave CRMC a list of all abutters and Mills said that he didn’t hear or know of any objections during the public hearing process.

Some Point residents said they plan on attending tonight’s City Council meeting to voice their concerns.