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Commission OKs beach-management plans for two resorts with conditions; nourishment requires future review
Summary
The commission approved beach-management Orders of Conditions for RJ Resorts’ properties with NHESP-referenced conditions and required that any beach nourishment be reviewed at a public Conservation hearing with sieve analysis and transects; both motions passed 6-1 pending submission of a red-lined revised beach-management plan.
Bob Perry of Cape Cod Engineering and Ryan O’Loughlin (RJ Resorts) presented beach-management plans for two resort properties proposing weekly raking and contingent beach nourishment. For SE83-2522, Perry said nourishment would be handled as a contingency and only triggered if the applicant submitted required engineering data; for SE83-2523 he outlined differences including off-site disposal of raked material and transport of a temporary 12-by-12-foot deck.
Conservation staff and commissioners emphasized protection of piping plover habitat: raking must be limited to material above the regular daily high tide line, and the NHESP conditions provided comments the commission incorporated. Commissioners required that any nourishment proposal include sieve analysis and at least two topographic transects and be presented for review at a public Conservation hearing before any nourishment occurs. Commissioner Bradford Bower asked that plover-nest locations not be included in public documents per NHESP guidance and requested shorebird-monitor oversight when temporary deck movement occurs and unfledged chicks are present.
After discussion and a requirement for a red-lined revised beach-management plan, Commissioner Jack Frost moved to issue Orders of Conditions with NHESP conditions and the nourishment-review requirement for SE83-2522; Commissioner Elly Tierney seconded and the motion carried 6-1. The commission took a similar action for SE83-2523 with the additional condition that temporary-deck movement be overseen by a shorebird monitor.
Both OOCs require submission of nourishment material specifications for review at a subsequent public hearing, compliance with NHESP conditions, and an annual preseason meeting prior to April 1 to review management activities.
The decisions allow beach-management activities to proceed under staff and commission oversight but keep nourishment as an action that requires specific technical review and a subsequent public hearing.
