A.
The Village has an extensive coastline that generally borders on the Hempstead Harbor (Hempstead Bay) to the east and the northeast, the Manhasset Bay to the south and west, and the Long Island Sound to the west, northwest, north and northeast.
[Amended 12-18-2023 by L.L. No. 16-2023]
B.
The waterfront and coastline of the Village is an environmentally sensitive area and one of the most important natural resources of the Village.
C.
The Village Board hereby finds that for ecological, public enjoyment, public navigation, aesthetic, visual and public health, safety and welfare reasons, the coastal areas of the Village must be protected.
[Amended 12-18-2023 by L.L. No. 16-2023]
D.
The shores on the open waters of Long Island Sound and the mouths of Hempstead Harbor and Manhasset Bay are typically lined with continuous, sandy beaches, as compared with the harbor areas of Hempstead Harbor and Manhasset Bay in the southeast and southwest portions of the Village, generally south of the Village Club and Barkers Point, respectively, where beach areas are largely discontinuous or absent.
E.
The Village's shorefront on Long Island Sound serves as an important public resource for various recreational activities such as walking along the beach and the enjoyment of visual and aesthetic features on the shore and out into the adjacent coastal waters.
F.
Long Island Sound is a high-energy environment, as attested by the designation of Sands Point as a VE flood zone, with base flood elevation as great as 23 feet, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
G.
The inner harbors of the shore line of the Village are generally better protected and calmer, as the available fetches are shorter.
H.
Chapter 70 of the Village Code, as currently enacted, does not adequately protect the existing, sweeping and unobstructed views of and public access along the waterfront of the Village's Long Island Sound shorefront, and does not consider the differences between the protected waters of Hempstead Harbor and Manhasset Bay compared to the higher energy environment of Long Island Sound; and also does not sufficiently take into consideration that the construction of docks can result in significant impacts with respect to important public coastal resources, particularly visual and scenic quality and physical access to the shorefront in the coastline along Long Island Sound, and that there is a potential for property damage resulting from storm-generated debris if new docks are installed in the high-energy environment of Long Island Sound.
I.
The coastal area of the Village between Barkers Point to the west and the westerly boundary of the Village Club to the east, except for a short segment of the shoreline in Half Moon Bay containing a small cluster of existing docks, is currently devoid of docks and associated Structures and is primarily characterized by a wide, publicly accessible intertidal beach, and the areas of the Village's coastline that border Manhasset Bay and the Hempstead Harbor are more fully developed and more appropriate for docks and related Structures.
[Amended 11-26-2024 by L.L. No. 20-2024]
J.
The unrestricted construction and maintenance of docks and related Structures in the shorefront and coastline along Long Island Sound would irreversibly alter the essential character and nature of the area and adversely affect the intrinsic qualities which contribute to its resource value and its ability to serve for public use and enjoyment.
[Amended 11-26-2024 by L.L. No. 20-2024]
K.
The preservation of the shorefront and coastline along Long Island Sound in its natural state is essential to maintaining the character of the Village.
L.
The desire for the construction of docks and other Structures must be weighed against the environmental value and sensitivity of the waterfront and against the rights of the community and public to walk along the shorefront and the rights of the community and public to be protected from visual pollution.
[Amended 11-26-2024 by L.L. No. 20-2024]
M.
The Village Board also finds that private rights should not supersede those of the public and that an appropriate balance must be achieved between property owner desires to access the water and protection of the public trust relating to the enjoyment of waters and foreshore in the Village.
[Amended 12-18-2023 by L.L. No. 16-2023]
N.
It is for these reasons that the Village Board creates and establishes two coastal overlay districts known as the Long Island Sound Overlay District and the Harbors and Bays Overlay District.
[Amended 12-18-2023 by L.L. No. 16-2023]