Strong’s Marine, in Mattituck on the North Fork of Long Island, N.Y., has announced plans to build additional yacht storage, which involves removing 600 trees and millions of pounds of sand, but the project has run into opposition.
Thousands of residents in the hamlet of Mattituck say a plan to build storage for 88 yachts would destroy the environment and the character of the area.
Local residents and environmentalists are petitioning the project, which they say will harm a nearby nature preserve. The locals have collected 3,000 signatures, saying it will ruin the environment and only benefit outsiders looking for boat storage.
But the marina owner, Jeff Strong, is from the Long Island town, which causes more conflict within the community, because he and his family’s business have earned great respect over the years.
Strong has lived in Mattituck since he was a boy and is president of Strong’s Marine, a family business that sells boats and operates commercial marinas. Strong’s Marine has been in his family for three generations. He is seeking approval from the area’s planning board to build two massive sheds for indoor yacht storage on the grounds of his yacht center.
Mr. Strong estimates it will cost him more than $5 million to clear the hill, truck out the sand and then build the two 45-foot-tall storage sheds, each around 50,000 square feet. The yacht storage facility, he said, will offer heated indoor winter storage that fills a gap in the market for wealthy boaters from Hamptons communities like Sag Harbor and Amagansett, as well as Westchester County and Connecticut, and will put up to $65,000 in property taxes and $474,000 in sales taxes into the Town of Southold’s coffers each year.
The full story is available in The New York Times.
