Letters

That question — “What could be the possible harm in doing this the right way?” — refers reasonably to following the usual process of planning, zoning and environmental review that anyone contemplating this ill-considered project would be forced to follow.

Unusually, there is a simple answer to this simple question: This overblown project could never be built if there were an honest process of evaluation by the usual standards we all must follow. So, Mr. Van Scoyac and Mr. Lys must continue to refuse to commit to the normal review process, and, worse, evidently plan to change the parcel’s zoning to achieve their desires, residents be damned. I guess their background on planning and zoning prior to election didn’t take.

Put aside the rigged process and tortured explanation of declaring that a grossly oversized commercial facility would have no impact on the area; the lie that went into funding agencies with the SEQRA that was submitted, from which Jeff Bragman, the board’s only attorney, abstained, since the negative declaration was bogus; and don’t wonder at the year-long development process from which directly affected residents were deliberately excluded, despite Mr. Lys’s promises.

Ignore the project’s ridiculously low cost/benefit ratio, and that its vaunted water quality improvement justification is, at best, negligible. Don’t ask how many shellfish grown two years to adulthood, if they survive, equal the water quality improvement of replacing one old septic system in the Harbor Overlay District. (The $5 million “grant,” our tax dollars, could really make a dramatic difference in water quality.) Overlook the petition signed by 99 percent of directly affected resident on Gann Road and Babes Lane — now more than a hundred signatures and counting from local family boating and fishing enthusiasts, neighborhood residents, and Springs residents at large who use the Gann Road dock.

Also, pay no attention to the recently revealed reservations of Councilwoman Kathee Burke-Gonazalez. (Sylvia Overby? What’s got into you?)

Instead, consider the arrogance behind dog-whistling for opinions of paying aquaculturists at the expense of the rule of law, and ignoring lawful process mandated to protect all of our property values, health, safety and the quiet enjoyment of our adjacent homes.

This project, especially the zoning change required to make it happen, a terrible precedent to set, is a page from the Trump playbook, not what is expected from a Democratic Town Board. Simple.

Ira M. BarocasPresident

Duck Creek Farm Association

East Hampton