Today, Feb. 21, the Peninsula Community Planning Board will be taking a landmark vote that could change the face and economy of Shelter Island. The vote will entail changing the land-use designation of the Kettenburg property from marine industrial to commercial/residential. This issue is being put before the board so that one developer can build 47 townhomes with 3 commercial spaces. It is a monstrous, overwhelming development that fills the entire block.
I attended the [PCPB’s Project Review] Committee meeting last Wednesday, where I was stunned by what I heard and witnessed from this developer in his push to win over the PCPB. His speech was full of misinformation and he made claims that would have angered many who make their living in the marine industry.
He stated that the marine industry does not need to be on Shelter Island and that marine vendors would do better in East County. He also made the statement that, when the city designated the Kettenburg block as industrial, it made a mistake, that the city had not intended it to be anything other than commercial/residential. There was much more.
If this development is approved, it will be precedent to push other marine business out of the area. If it is built, as drawn, there will be less parking for everyone “” workers, customers, restaurants and vendors. There will be more traffic without any pedestrian safety improvements added. All for the profit of one developer and 47 private homeowners.
Please come to the PCPB meeting tonight, Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the [Hervey]/Point Loma Branch Library and show the board members that the marine industry is, and always should be, a major part of what makes Shelter Island and Point Loma so wonderful.