Leisure boats rafting up off Sand Dollar Cove, Manchester
The neighborhood off Long Beach secured a US Coast Guard permit for six open-faced diamond buoys, signaling that boaters proceed with caution. But the installed buoys mark a boat exclusion zone, or “stop/do not proceed.”
Manchester Harbormaster Harbormaster Bion Pike
Currently, there are two “harbor” issues circling Manchester’s Select Board. Discussion of a Harbor Master Plan was on the Board’s agenda Monday, and, coming up fast is an unrelated but no-less-important issue: exploring options to control leisure boat anchoring off Sand Dollar Cove and Long Beach. Each will be fully taken up formally by the Board, one early in October and the other later in the Fall.
It’s been nearly two months since Harbormaster Bion Pike and MBTS Police Chief Todd Fitzgerald went before the Select Board after two on-the-water parties on a sunny Saturday in July triggered complaints about trespassing and boating close to Long Beach, a private beach accessed by a Smith’s Point neighborhood association called the “Great Pasture Society.”
At the time, the Select Board asked Pike to return with recommendations on how to “calm” activity at Sand Dollar Cove, prompting a debate about public access and public safety within a 150-foot buffer of swimmers.
But the issue isn’t easy. The harbor is a complex tapestry of regulatory players—Massachusetts state regulations, US Coast Guard, US Army Corps of Engineers, US FAA (interestingly, the waters outside Sand Dollar Cove are a federally-designated seaplane landing strip), and, of course, local authorities governing moorings, public safety and environmental issues. And laying over the entire debate is the reality: public waters are essentially a public park, owned by everyone, together.
Adding to the confusion and challenge of regulating leisure boats in this specific area are seven US Coast Guard navigation buoys erected off Long Beach by the neighborhood association after securing a three-year, six-buoy permit. According to the permit granted in March 2021, the Coast Guard buoys are advisory and must have open faced diamond markers, designating “proceed with caution,” to boaters to watch for potential danger like rocks, shallow waters, or a shoal as they proceed.
But the buoys off Long Beach are different. They feature diamonds and red interior cross markings, signaling a boat exclusion area, “stop/do not proceed.” And there are seven buoys, not six.
Steven Pothier of the Coast Guard said navigation aid buoys like these are only enforceable by the US Coast Guard. He also said as a practical matter, historically, the bigger danger from power vessels for swimmer safety are jet skis, not lashed-up power boats anchoring for the day.
Further, the buoys are unrelated to the Massachusetts state regulation (Mass Reg. 323 2.07) requiring a 150-foot buffer restricting power vessels from swim areas. It’s up to interpretation whether that distance is from swimmers or beaches. (Bion Pike interprets this as 150 feet from the wet tide line of a public or private beach, a practice widely used by other communities.)
On October 12, the Harbor Advisory Committee and Pike will meet to weigh out options for the Select Board. They will have to weigh the impact of the options beyond Long Beach and Sand Dollar Cove. For instance, looking just 300 yards across the channel from Long Beach is the popular public beach at Tuck’s Point, which is well within 150 feet of two active docks. One is the busy launch at the Manchester Yacht Club. The other is the docks off the Rotunda, which are set to be expanded from a state economic development grant for commercial fishing.
Harbor Master Plan: Mooring Compression, And Expanding Local Marinas
Second up before the Select Board is the idea of a Harbor Master Plan, and the item on Monday’s agenda was triggered not by anyone in Manchester but rather an outside engineer, Payson Whitney III from Waltham-based TRC Group, who is representing a group of coastal property owners on Norton’s Point and elsewhere in Manchester.
Mr. Whitney was unable to attend Monday, and his business with the board was pushed to October 3, but that didn’t stop the board from discussing the need for a Master Plan with Harbormaster Pike, who has recommended the development of a Manchester Harbor Master Plan several times in the last five years.
A master plan doesn’t just address water issues—moorings, mooring placement, protecting the ocean floor, and ocean resources like shellfish, navigation, seawalls, and public docks to accommodate visitors. It is also designed to establish a vision for a coastal community and addresses options for waterfront areas (such as development, or commercial operators to support the harbor).
And, increasingly, said Pike, Harbor Master Plans in other communities are addressing sea level rise. As a result, a Manchester Harbor Master Plan should include participation by other boards such as the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, public safety, and the Parks and Recreation Department, among others.
“The idea of the document is it’s all-inclusive,” Pike told the Select Board Monday. “It gives the community something to actually use.”
Developing a Master Plan, especially one that is as technical as one addressing the future of a community’s harbor, must be completed by specialist consultants, and can run up to $250,000 to develop. Pike said if it’s to be pursued, Manchester’s Harbor Master Plan should connect and support the town’s existing Town Master Plan, certified by the Town Meeting vote several years ago.
Select Board member Ann Harrison Select Board said a Harbor Master Plan would have to begin with the basics, otherwise, it’s a waste of time and resources.
“At some point, we need to decide what our goal is, and we’re not there yet,” she said.
Pressure to address a master plan was driven first by a group of residents of Norton’s Point, who retained the TRC Group after Manchester Marine and Crockers Boat Yard appeared before the Conservation Commission this summer seeking approvals on significant expansions of their commercial docks. Both companies are seeking a series of complex approvals required in order to proceed with their plans. (Crocker’s Boat Yard, for instance, first applied for approval of its expansion in 2019 before the Planning Board, which at the time approved it unanimously.)
In a letter to the town, Mr. Whitney said his clients believe the Crocker’s and Manchester Marine plans could displace private moorings and could accelerate something called mooring density.
Earlier this week, Pike said moorings have been reorganized in recent years to match boat type—often smaller boats with shallow water draws—to areas of the harbor that fit them. And that began before either marina announced plans to expand.
The Select Board agreed that a Master Plan is worthy of exploration. Select Board member John Round asked Town Administrator Gregory Federspiel if board members can review Harbor Master Plans from other communities similar to Manchester.
