Top officials with the Office of Coastal Zone Management, the state’s lead waterfront policy and planning agency, swung by the Island this week for a daylong conference at the Harbor View Hotel.
They joined a large number of scientists, coastal planners and others that gathered for the second Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Conference to learn about shoreline changes, wetlands monitoring and other topics in the world of coastal planning and research.
After the conference, CZM assistant director Brad Washburn and Cape and Islands coordinator Steve McKenna spoke with the Gazette on the Harbor View porch, looking out over the Edgartown Lighthouse and increasingly summer-like crowds on North Water street.
CZM provides a wide range of technical support for coastal communities, with a coordinator for each the five coastal regions in the state, including the Cape and Islands. Headquartered in downtown Boston, it operates with a core staff of just 25 employees, with much of its work implemented by other agencies such as the Division of Marine Fisheries.
“Everything we do is essentially a partnership,” said Mr. Washburn, former planning director for the town of Easton, who joined CZM in 2012. Among other things, the agency participates in the Dukes County barrier beach task force and has helped the town of Oak Bluffs analyze and respond to the threat of coastal flooding.
It also administers the Coastal Resiliency Grant Program, which has helped fund a major restoration project at Squibnocket Beach in Chilmark and is expected to provide another large chunk of the funding this year.
The hotly-debated Squibnocket project, billed as a managed shoreline retreat, was among the first in the state to receive a coastal resiliency grant. But as the political process dragged on, a deadline for spending the money came and went. The town reapplied in 2014, but missed the deadline for that grant as well. It applied again this year, and with all the permits in place, the project will likely start in the fall.
“A lot of our grant programs have a public outreach or education component as well,” said Mr. Washburn. “That’s one of the things that you can do through partnerships — really crank out the return and get your message out there more broadly.”
CZM has funded a number of retreat projects, but Mr. McKenna saw the partnership between the town of Chilmark and the Squibnocket Farm Homeowners Association, as well as the association’s plan to build a raised causeway through a wetland, as unique. The coastal resiliency grant will fund only the town portion of the project, which involves removing coastal structures and allowing the shoreline to retreat.
Chilmark conservation agent Chuck Hodgkinson, who has coordinated much of the work so far, offered an update at the conference, projecting an eight-month time frame for construction, beginning in October. Mr. Hodginson and Mr. McKenna both agreed that community buy-in has been a challenging but essential part the project.
“There is a really unique passion about coastal projects,” Mr. McKenna said. “When you are talking about relocating a beach or changing significant use of a coastal resource, people are passionate about it. Whether for or against, they usually have some pretty strong opinions.”
He added the process often takes a long time, perhaps especially on the Vineyard. “There is a tremendous environmental ethos out here,” he said. “Because of that, things get looked at long and hard.”
While the Island lacks some of the planning and engineering resources of communities on the mainland, it also has the advantage of being less developed, which expands the options for shoreline retreat.
“When you go to Hull, or example, there are no options for retreat,” Mr. Washburn said. “You can literally leave, but moving [a structure] back is almost impossible because immediately behind you is another built up property. So I think the Vineyard — and Nantucket to a degree as well — has more space to be thoughtful and forward thinking in its planning.”
Both officials saw a growing awareness of coastal issues on the Island, especially in regard to cost, as was evident at the conference, where attendees highlighted the importance of funding for coastal projects.
“You are seeing the communities out here actively seeking grant funds for these projects,” Mr. McKenna said. “They are doing it on their own.”
Looking ahead, CZM is putting together a task force to explore issues with sand mining — another topic of heated debate on the Island. During a panel discussion that wrapped up the conference on Monday, Mr. Washburn said a myriad of local, state and federal regulations make that process more challenging. But he saw promise in a collaborative approach.
“I think that’s the way — seeing where we are now and where we are trying to get, and getting the right parties around the table,” he said.
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