Conservation Commission Denies Proposal For Gerry Island

The Conservation Commission denied Peter Noyes' application Thursday night for a permit to repair seawalls on Gerry Island, saying that his proposed construction would violate the Wetlands Protection Act.

The commission also fined Noyes $900 for last week and for not telling the commission when he was driving it off. The commission had issued an order to Noyes to remove the truck.

A native Marbleheader and restaurateur, Noyes faced a hostile audience of about 95 people, who applauded and cheered when the commission denied his application.

Noyes had asked the commission for a permit to reconstruct seawalls on the island. He also has applied for a permit to build a gravel pad to facilitate access to the island. And he filed a third proposal to anchor a float off the island and access it by gangway.

Noyes has told told the commission that he plans to store and repair boats on the island. He confirmed at the hearing that he would also like to build a campground on the island.

“It would seem like a logical summertime use,” he said. “Right now you can't use the island.”

The Friends of Little Harbor, many of whose members packed the Abbot Hall auditorium, wanted the commission to impose a larger fine and a continuing fine on Noyes for not removing floats that he left on the island's do-not-disturb zone. Commission Chairman Walter Haug, who sparred with Noyes for much of the 90-minute hearing, said the commission would continue to monitor Noyes' activities on the island.

He said the commission could have imposed a larger fine on Noyes but choose "to be gracious."

Noyes Accuses Commission of Pre-Deciding Vote Against Him

In the email after the hearing, Noyes accused commission members of deciding before the meeting to vote against him.

“Walter in his lead up to the vote clearly said 'it was a seven to nothing vote, unanimous'. The speech explaining the vote was printed and handed out. If the vote wasn’t pre-determined, then they have amazing, fast, small and silent printers hidden in their pile of paperwork,” Noyes wrote.

When Peter Ogren with Hayes Engineering suggested that Haug had said the commission had reached its decision in advance of the meeting, the chairman bristled and yelled at Ogren that he never said that.

Noyes and Haug clashed from the start of the hearing when Noyes asked for copies of permits for town activities on Riverhead Beach.

Haug shut down any discussion of activities on Riverhead Beach, saying that only issues related to the permit on Gerry Island would be allowed. The chairman also shut down Noyes' comments that there had been a personal attack on his daughter. And after the hearing, he said a man had threatened to kill him.

The commission postponed until July 14 consideration of Noyes' second application to build a 30-foot by 60-foot, 3-inch deep gravel pad to facilitate driving trucks and other vehicles onto the island. But Haug, who left little doubt that he thinks the commission will deny that application as well, said the commission will not act on that application until it hears from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The Right to Drive Across the Causeway

Haug read a letter from the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program that said driving across the causeway from Gas House Beach to the island was not a violation of its regulations.

Noyes asked the commission if that letter means he can drive across the causeway. He was told he would have to get a permit to do so.

In the email after the hearing, Noyes said there are two state agencies that have supported his right to drive across the causeway. He accused Haug of refusing “to admit it in public.”

So he asked: “If there is a right to drive to the Island, then how does the fine for driving on the Island square up?”

In a third measure, the commission rejected another Noyes' application to use a float and a gangway to get to the island. The commission ruled that the float and gangway would violate the environmental laws.

Before the commission's vote denying his permit, Noyes seemed to be resigned. “You guys are going to do what you are going to do,” he said.

The commission's denial of Noyes' application can be appealed within 10 days to Superior Court.

After the meeting, Noyes said it would be up to the island owner, Ted Moore, to appeal the ruling. Noyes has described himself as a tenant to Moore's Redstone Realty.

He said the town would be better off if it allowed him to do what he wants to do on Gerry Island. “In a few years, if the town let me do what I want, people would say: 'What was all the fuss about?',” Noyes said.

He also speculated that the commission may have rejected his permit application because “I think the town would like to take the island.”

Asked how the town would take the island, Noyes said if the commission's ruling is not reversed, it would keep anyone from doing anything on the island.

Protecting the Little Harbor Lobster Nursery

There was a lengthy discussion about the impact Noyes' proposed construction and boat repair activities would have on the nearby lobster nursery in Little Harbor.

Denise Fiore with the Lobster Conservancy said, “I was blown away by the (juvenile lobster) nursery site you have here,” she said. “Marblehead is the place to be for lobsters.”

The baby lobsters benefit from the nutrients that flow in the water around Gerry Island and the rocky bottom that provides excellent hiding places from their fish predators, Fiore said.

She said the proposed construction and boat maintenance would have a negative impact on one of the best lobster nurseries in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and southern Maine.

Several commercial lobster men also spoke against Noyes' application, saying they feared his plans would damage the lobster industry.

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