6/30/1998 SOUTH CAPE BEACH ADVISORY Minutes

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To: South Cape Beach Advisory Committee From: Park Management Subcommittee Re: REPORT DATED JUNE 30, 1998 / It is the belief of the Subcommittee that current management practices of the Commonwealth are, in the main, promoting the dual missions of the South Cape Beach State Park, namely, protection of the natural resources of the Park and enhancement of passive public recreational opportunities. The Subcommittee also believes that there will continue to be severe fiscal limitations that will negatively impact on both the availability of necessary personnel to manage the site and potential capital improvements. Therefore, future changes in either use or development of the Park will have to be planned with prudent fiscal conservation. Although the current Town Beach facility isn't technically within our purview, it nevertheless presents serious concerns both in terms of potential ownership by the Commonwealth (if the Town opts to swap its facility for the McGregor Road facility now owned and managed by the Commonwealth), and potential negative impacts to the surrounding State Park lands. We question the advisability of continued construction and repairs of the Town's parking lot directly within the primary dune system. The repaving of the parking lot has resulted in serious run-off and erosion, and there are several obvious and substantial gullies on the beach side. In the event of major (and predictable) storm surges and wave velocity, there is no doubt that the parking lot will be seriously damaged again and the destruction of the primary dune, upon which the parking lot sits, will substantially increase the risk of damage to the dunes and marshes landward of the parking lot. In light of all of the wetlands protection laws and regulations supposedly protecting the integrity of the resource, we question whether the Town has received appropriate permits for the repeated construction on the primary dune system, and if so, whether the issues should be reexamined by the permit-granting agencies. Having had two formal site inspections on May 5, 1997 and June 27, 1998 (and many intervening personal observations of the site), we have the following management