Issues → September/October 2008 → Features →
Nantucket: A Disappearing Island
(page 6 of 8)
"We've changed from a tourist destination to a place for summer residents," says longtime fisherman Bobby DeCosta. "Fishermen don't have the clout they used to. Merchants don't, either. Teachers, department heads -- regular people can't afford to live here. I really wonder what this place will look like in 10 years."
Eldridge wonders that, too. He's back in his truck, taking a slow spin around Codfish Park. In the early 1990s, a series of nor'easters rolled in, eating up close to 200 feet of beach and dune. Even more dramatic was the toll it took on a row of beachfront houses, forcing their removal, and in one unforgettable moment taking one home out to sea before dispensing with it. A few of Eldridge's childhood friends lived in those houses, and he slows his truck down to a crawl as he nears their former sites. "It's so weird," he keeps saying.
On the road out of Codfish Park, he stops and motions to a tall cedar-shingled house just to the right. On its side is a sundial that his father, a local volunteer fireman, rescued years ago when the building that had stood here burned to the ground. When the home was rebuilt, Eldridge's father surprised the owners with what he'd salvaged.
"It's little pieces that make up the whole community," says Eldridge. "I'm not trying to belittle the homeowners up on the bluff; their memories of 'Sconset and their lawn parties and everything else are very important. It's all part of the tradition, and memory, and history. Unfortunately, some board somewhere has to make a decision as to which is more important -- whose memories are more important, whose way of life is more important."
On a late afternoon in autumn, a modest assortment of residents, town officials, and outside consultants file into a small auditorium in Nantucket High School. The meeting, a public hearing between SBPF's hired team of engineers and scientists and the seven-member Conservation Commission, is the third of many. What the commission decides will determine how and when the Baxter Road residents may move forward to secure local and state permits.
That's assuming, of course, that the nourishment project even happens. High respect for nature on Nantucket is matched by an equally skeptical view of any attempt to manipulate it. "It's sort of an old battle," says Peter Brace, a reporter for the Nantucket Independent. "[Out here] we're so close to the elements and so close to the ocean and the environment that we're all environmentally aware. Everyone has an opinion."
That certainly extends to the 'Sconset project. On this night, unconvinced residents fire away at the SBPF team. The largest contingent consists of Josh Eldridge and a dozen or so other fishermen, who sit in the back, with arms folded, as they take turns castigating SBPF on its fish-research methods and projections. "At the end of the day," one fisherman says, "you only came up with the worst proposal." Their reactions mirror those of most year-rounders, who argue that the logical solution is for the homeowners to just move their houses.
"[We'd] be the immediate beneficiaries of this, but the long-term benefit [would be] for the island," counters Sam Furrow, who recently paid $200,000 to move his second Baxter Road home. "We protect every other element of the island, but we're ignoring the shoreline. People say our effort is wrong, but to preclude this effort is very shortsighted if your true love is Nantucket and your intent is to pass it on to people better than you received it."
Reader Comments
Comment from chet holmes on September 13, 2008
hello, read the article on the erosion problem in nantucket,im afraid there fighting a losing battle,and that mother nature will prevail, i for one would like to see a moratorium on any more building on the coast? other than state and federal parks so everyone can enjoy the coast,i remember when they ran the poor portugese fisherman out of new bedford and put in dockominiams, for the select few that could afford them,wazzup with that? gloucester and cape ann is starting the same thing, owell tyme will tell i imagine cheers chet ps i love your magazine
Comment from Steve Merrill on October 22, 2008
I will never understand the building of homes and the thought process of government leaders/elected officials that allow these actions to take place.the New England way of life is disappearing fast.As a recreational fisherman I can empathise with Mr.Eldridge and others who appreciate the wondrous beauty and the bounties that nature has to offer.Ecological destruction,let's be honest, that's really what it is, on the coastlines and inland in forests change this planet forever.I am amazed at the silence most times of environmental groups,some of which I am a member and/or contributor to.I wonder at times when I see mansions or developments built what contributions were made by these folks to environmental groups for there "silence".Pristine coasts and forests where access was available to all,shut out forever for the few to enjoy.People have a right to develop their land but that right stops with me when it becomes a detriment to others.But what do I know.I am not a bleeding heart liberal or right wing.I am just a working stiff who is amazed at the wonder and power of mother nature everytime I go to the sea and forests to fish or take a walk.i pray the stripers are there 100 yrs from now in 'sconset for all to fish and enjoy and the cobble not destroyed for the sake of a house.
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