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Conservation board urges denial of proposed dock at 62 Laurel Lane over otter and rare insect habitat concerns
Summary
The Town of Southampton Conservation Board recommended denying a proposed catwalk and platform at 62 Laurel Lane (Sag Harbor), citing field findings that the structure would impede river otter movement and harm threatened bluet damselfly species and aquatic vegetation; the board voted to send advisory comments to the town trustees.
Marty Shea, chief environmental analyst for the Town of Southampton, told the Conservation Board that a field assessment on 07/13/2026 found lawn maintained within a recorded covenant buffer at 62 Laurel Lane and unauthorized storage of recreational watercraft "within the balance of the covenant of the buffer, which, need to be removed pursuant to an administrative wetland permit." He urged the board to use advisory comments to the trustees of the freeholders of the town to address those violations and to recommend denial of the proposed catwalk and platform.
Shea provided a detailed ecological rationale: he said river otters commonly move between Little Long Pond and Long Pond and that the catwalk and platform "will unduly restrict and interfere with vital access points to and from Little Long Pond" for the species. He also described the presence of threatened and vulnerable bluet damselfly species and water lilies that serve as critical habitat, arguing that pilings, construction trampling and altered water flow risked plant mortality and reduced foraging areas for shorebirds and waterfowl.
The analyst noted the site inspection dated 07/13/2026 and referenced a 2025 regional survey that supports the pond complex’s conservation value. Following the presentation, a board member moved to send the advisory comments to the board of trustees of the freeholders and commonalty of the Town of Southampton; the motion received a second and was approved by voice vote.
The board’s action was procedural advisory comment to the trustees and does not itself authorize enforcement; Shea also recommended removal of the unauthorized kayak rack and stored watercraft and cited the recorded covenant (recorded 12/14/2007) as the basis for his concerns. The board did not take a binding enforcement action at the meeting; it resolved only to forward the advisory comments and the field findings to the trustees for further action.
