1 Photo
Governor Kathy Hochul signed a pair of consumer- and flood-protection bills last week. FILE PHOTO
It was “Climate Week” in New York State last week, and Governor Kathy Hochul marked the occasion by signing a pair of consumer- and flood-protection bills of local interest.
One amends current state law to direct the Department of Environmental Conservation to “prioritize nature-based solutions to stabilize shorelines,” and another requires home-sellers to disclose flood risks to potential buyers.
Jessica Ottney Mahar, New York policy and strategy director for The Nature Conservancy, said in a statement that Hochul’s shoreline-stabilization bill “recognizes the importance of working with nature — from beaches and dunes to freshwater wetlands and salt marshes — to protect people, wildlife and infrastructure in our changing climate.”
The Peconic Estuary Partnership notes, “Living shorelines are a beneficial alternative to hardened shorelines. These ‘soft’ shorelines use native plants, shellfish, and other natural features such as rocks, sand, wood, coconut fiber, and shells to stabilize and protect coasts and decrease direct wave energy. Living shorelines are designed to mimic the natural environment and provide ecological benefits.”
The Town of Southampton is already hot on the trail of finding ways to enhance its natural shorelines.
Earlier this year, town and Sag Harbor Village officials offered a plan that would see the natural shoreline on Round Pond in Sag Harbor restored, with the removal of a hardened-structure bulkhead there.
That project was promoted as a pilot program of sorts by Town Trustee Ann Welker, who said back in February that removing the bulkhead could be seen as a pilot project for environmentally sensitive ways to reduce road runoff.
“There aren’t many bulkheads that are removed in the Town of Southampton,” she told The Sag Harbor Express, “and this can set an example of what it looks like when you remove a bulkhead and create a natural shoreline.”
Hochul’s other bill aims to protect homebuyers from hidden flood risks.
Assemblyman Steven Otis, who represents flood-prone shoreline communities in Yonkers and Westchester, was a cosponsor of that bill and said the flood risk “right-to-know” bill will provide greater transparency to would-be home buyers.
Previously, he notes in a statement, sellers could “opt that the buyer get a $500 credit at closing, and the disclosure requirement was waived.” The new legislation eliminates that so called “credit provision” disclosure loophole and requires the disclosure of information concerning “flood risk, flood history, and flood insurance on real estate transactions.”
Southampton Town Councilman Rick Martel applauded the governor‘s effort to provide greater transparency to would-be homebuyers. Given an already pricey real estate market, he said, a homebuyer shouldn’t have to deal with “hidden costs or unknowns” at closing about how much they’re going to be paying for flood insurance.
