Nissequogue Village on Long Island may require regular inspections for erosion control structures, like bulkheads and seawalls.
Nissequogue Village Mayor Richard Smith wants bulkheads and seawalls to have oversight similar to when houses are built.
An architect is often hired to submit reports on how homes will be built, and they’re cleared by the officials based on village code.
Right now, there is no similar process for how these erosion control measures are built, and Smith says the results have been devastating in the past.
“Just picture 8x8 timbers 20 feet long, for instance, and just several hundred of them strewn on the beach and washed out to the Sound. It’s a horrific cleanup and it can cause further damage to the cliff face itself.”
The proposed law would require an engineer to join the process whenever residents want to build bulkheads and seawalls on their property. It would also require a long-term maintenance plan for the structures that accounts for the impact on neighboring properties.
