Ossipee—April 9, 2024—The DES Wetlands Bureau has requested additional information about the environmental impact of a proposal to install five boat docks on Leavitt Bay’s Loon Island.
The April 3 letter to the island’s owners, Deborah and Kevin Randall, states that the information must be provided within 60 days, which is June 2, or the application will be denied.
Kevin Randall told the Ossipee Planning Board in February that the 0.90-acre island is being used by boaters without the couple’s permission, and the five 40 ft. x 6 ft. docks are necessary to show that the island is private property.
Randall said trespassers beaching their boats at the site are eroding the shoreline. Having the five docks would reduce that damage by providing a place for boaters to tie-up, he said.
News of the application spread quickly on the lake and resulted in a packed Planning Board hearing on February 20, at which public comments were overwhelmingly negative.
In a letter to DES, Ossipee’s Conservation Commission said the island, which is a loon nesting site, was “not capable of supporting the proposed usage.”
The town does not have an official role in approving or denying the application, but the Planning Board voted to send a summary of the hearing to wetlands officials.
DES’s request for additional information cites Rule Env-Wt 313.03, Avoidance and Minimization, (c)(6). The rule requires that the applicant show that the structures are “designed to avoid and minimize the removal of vegetation, the number of access points over the bank, and activities that may have an adverse effect on shoreline stability.”
An analysis of the application by Ossipee Lake Alliance prior to the Planning Board hearing found that much of the information required in the application was missing, including the “scope of the work to be performed” and whether the impacts are “temporary or permanent.”
A hand-written note in Section 7 of the application stated “Docks in accordance with applicable rules” in response to a question asking for a written description of how source-specific criteria have been met for each of DES’s regulations Env-Wt 400, Env-Wt 500, Env-Wt 600, Env-Wt 700 or Env-Wt 900.
Env-Wt 500, for example, has specific requirements for docking structures and requires details about shoreline frontage, high-water, the shape of shoreline and the like, none of which are in the submission, per the review.
The Randalls did not respond to an emailed request for comment on the DES letter.
So your island is being used by boaters without your permission….and eroding the shore line. But putting in 5 monster docks will show the island is private property…..BUT go ahead and tie up boaters….bring your pontoons, your wake boats, your jet skis…..come one come all. That certainly won’t erode the shore line?? Are you guys sniffing glue? What am I missing here? Talking out of both sides of their mouths it seems.
Installing docks to protect the shoreline? Bring more people to the island? Sounds like someone wants to make some money by charging docking fees, slip rentals under the guise of protecting the land. How about one dock to start if you want to “protect” the land.