My View of Life on the Dock
History
2017 GMG post about Salt Island for sale, again, includes a historic timeline and links to prior ‘for sale’ stories
Save Our Shores – Salt Island coalition including Essex County Greenbelt commenced October 2017 here
2019 sorted deeds
Salt Island, Good Harbor Beach, Gloucester, MA, is for sale. Unimproved and undeveloped, Salt Island is a natural monument, a beacon. For generations,the Island seemed as free as the air and sea, the beaches and shore. All were welcome at the right tide– daily the beach and island are connected. There’s an innate understanding that visitors need to respect the natural property much as they would when visiting a national park. Yet Salt Island is owned privately; it’s simply left wild and public.
Yearly taxes were paid by the family. The City provided yearly services; for instance lifeguards to help stranded visitors, unaware of the tides.
Is it possible to compensate the owner in the most advantageous way (some combination of sale, waiving estate taxes, credit for donation) to clear up any future ownership confusion and protect the means of public access, minus vague qualifiers (“left open as resources allow”) or increasing any necessary costs? Land steward organizations sometimes sell property or limit access, laws and environment change, funds for care deplete. Is there a common sense path that considers Salt Island as Good Harbor Beach– it’s attached daily– and accorded the same balance of care that the beach has legally maintained since the 1920s?
above – Lifeguards have a summer suggestion in the VIDEO link For Sale in Mass: A $750K Island Packed With History. “This small island in Gloucester, Massachusetts has hosted a major salt theft, a lobstering hermit and a Hollywood production.” by Rob Michaelson for NECN NBC Boston
above- photos of Good Harbor Beach lifeguards moving a signature chair after a morning conditioning training session that involved swimming and running the length of Good Harbor Beach, twice. Foggy drizzle, low tide connection to Salt Island
below– link to Coalition Aims to Buy Salt Island: Greenbelt Negotiating Bid for Save Our Shores, by Ray Lamont Gloucester Daily Times
infinite moods of Salt Island
GMG post about Salt Island includes a historic timeline and links to prior ‘for sale’ stories published by Cape Ann Beacon and Boston Globe
SOS UPDATE: As of tonight at 6:10pm
Please donate whatever you can, no donation is too small and every cent is appreciated. Thank you!
HERE IS THE LINK: SOS GO FUND ME
SAVE OUR SHORES IS ONLY $8,000.00 WAY FROM THE GOAL OF $100,000.00
If you haven’t made a donation yet– absentmindedness, procrastination, or for whatever reason–now is the time to do so. Every single donation helps, small or large. THANK YOU!
The donations continue to arrive, and we are within shouting distance of our goal!
But now our deadline is approaching; in order to close this purchase by April 19th, we need to have the funds in hand by April 12th. So this is our last big push to get us over the top. Any excess funds raised will be used to protect more of Gloucester’s undeveloped coastline.
Save Our Shores Gloucester would like to thank all of our generous donors for their support. And special thanks goes to Lindsay Maver, who raised more than $1,500 from her customers at the Plant Shack in Gloucester last weekend!
Please share this one last time, and thank you again!
BREAKING NEWS: SAVE OUR SHORES HAS RAISED $84,000.00!!!
To our devoted supporters:
Just $16,000 more needed!!
We are excited to be so near our goal of $100,000 needed to purchase four parcels of land on Atlantic Road, and pay for legal and closing costs.
As of today, we estimate our total donations and pledges at $84,000.
A short time ago, one of the most beautiful places in New England was threatened with massive construction and irretrievable damage. We’re just as amazed as each of you that this prized land and viewscape will belong to all of us. Without the support of each and every one of our more than 400 donors, this would not be possible.
Thank you for your continued support and for showing up at all of those meetings.
Save Our Shores Gloucester (SOSG)
Roger Armstrong
Hazel Hewitt
Marty Del Vecchio
Dave Manley
Mark and Pam Poulin
Barbara Silberman
EDITOR’S NOTE ~ PLEASE READ TO THE END AND DONATE TODAY. EVERY SINGLE DOLLAR DONATED WILL HELP GET US ONE STEP CLOSER! Link to donate: SAVE OUR SHORES
Save Our Shores Gloucester (SOSG), a group working to protect Gloucester’s undeveloped coastline, signed a purchase and sales agreement for $75,000 to buy 4 lots at 166-178 Atlantic Road owned by Cheryl Soones. The group intends to protect and preserve this land for the public in perpetuity. The sale will close in mid-April.
For months, these lots have been under assault by developers who wanted to build houses on the ocean side of Atlantic Road and prohibit public access. SOSG members fought them every step of the way- at the Conservation Commission, the Planning Board, and City Council, where hundreds of people turned out in protest. Undeterred by community opposition, the developers returned with larger and more elaborate plans. Last week Cheryl Soones filed a lawsuit against the City requesting that the Back Shore Overlay District be declared invalid.
In light of these realities, SOSG is prepared for a long and expensive legal battle. The group hired land use attorney Jamy Madeja, of Buchanan and Associates, and sought out the best experts in land conservation, and protection of natural habitats. They worked closely with Marilyn Hyde, a local real estate broker, to secure the land.
These tactics worked! SOSG is thrilled that the land purchase is the least expensive and quickest strategy by far, for ensuring preservation of these lots on the Back Shore. As Madeja exclaimed, “The best way to assure public safety and public access, visual and physical, for centuries to come, is to buy these properties and preserve them, on the deeds. These local heroes are doing this for everyone. I’m proud to be associated with them. This is the best possible outcome. “
Now the group needs to raise $100,000 for the sale and purchase, closing costs, and legal fees. As Marty Del Vecchio, a leader of the group points out, “”We urgently need to raise this money and have it in hand by April 12th, just a few short weeks away. We need the support of those who love the Back Shore; please donate so that this tremendous opportunity to preserve this land is not lost.”
Donate now and own a piece of the Back Shore Tax-deductible contributions can be sent to the Gloucester Fund, 45 Middle St., Gloucester MA 01930. Please add SOSG to the memo line. Donations may also be made through GoFundMe at https://www.gofundme.com/sosgloucester.
For more information, contact Barbara Silberman at barb@sosgloucester.org.
Good Morning Gloucester 