The East Hampton Town Trustees debated a modification to their policy with respect to moorings in waters under their jurisdiction on Monday, as it was brought to their attention that several permit holders in Northwest Creek never installed them, yet the spaces remain unavailable to boat owners who would like to claim them.
John Aldred told his colleagues of “persistent” requests to obtain a vacant mooring space in Northwest Creek, where he, Tim Garneau, and David Cataletto had recently checked on moorings and permits. Only around half or two-thirds of the moorings that had been permitted were in fact in place, “so there were a significant amount of moorings not in, and this was late July,” Mr. Aldred said. “It seems as though there’s an issue here with, we’ve given out mooring permits and [permit holders] may not be putting them in.”
The available number of mooring permits is dependent upon the harbor. Small motorboats of 25 feet or less and sailboats of 20 feet or less may apply for a permit in any harbor under trustee jurisdiction, depending on vacancy. A motorized vessel over 25 feet or sailboat over 20 feet can only be moored in the Three Mile Harbor Large Boat Mooring Grid.
Permit renewal applications are available to anyone who held a permit for the prior season, and the trustees offer applications to those wishing to moor a boat for the first time. Renewal applications are due March 31 of each year for recreational mooring permit holders and May 1 for commercial permit holders.
But “a lot of people seem to be, perhaps, getting a mooring permit as much to hang on to the mooring permit for future years as to use it,” Mr. Aldred said. “Northwest Creek is a very popular spot to moor: There’s good sailing out there in the harbor; it’s got a lot of places you can go north and west, and Shelter Island and Sag Harbor.” The trustees are likely to face the question as to why they are issuing mooring permits that go unused, he said, and a change in policy regarding permit renewals may be in order.
“I should say,” Mr. Aldred added, “we do have a policy that says if you don’t put your mooring in, you lose the mooring permit. . . . But we’ve never enforced that.”
The trustees were in agreement that no change would occur this year. “At this point in the season, we know who’s in, we know who’s out,” Jim Grimes said, suggesting a letter be sent to permit holders who have not installed a mooring, reminding them that they are expected to, “and if you’re not using it, please advise us so that we can make it available to somebody else.”
Perhaps, Mr. Aldred said, starting next year the trustees should enforce a policy stipulating that if a mooring is not in place by a date to be determined, such as July 15 or Aug. 1, “that space will become available to the next person on the waiting list at that date.”
The issue is specific to Northwest Creek, he said, where there are no vacant mooring spaces, “there are five or six people who want to be on a waiting list, and then there’s people calling up who aren’t on the waiting list and want a spot.” When a space becomes available, a permit applicant is chosen by lottery from the waiting list, he said.
“I’m just making suggestions here,” Mr. Aldred said. “I don’t know if we’d make a blanket policy. Then are we obligated to either check every harbor for whether a mooring ball is in, or do what we’ve always done, which is ignore our policy?” If the trustees enact a policy stipulating a date by which a mooring must be installed, “then we’re obligated to follow up on it.”
