CCOM has consistently opposed expanding ferry service between Montauk and Connecticut beyond what the Viking Company has been operating for years. When it was first learned in 1997 that discussion had taken place between the Duryea family and Cross Sound Ferry CCOM was instrumental in forming the Stop The Ferry Coalition, which in turn influenced the Town to adopt laws preventing high speed, high capacity ferries from operating in the Town of East Hampton. There are several reasons for why CCOM supports the Town’s position.
New nautical technology has made it possible for ferries carrying 300 or more people to travel as fast 40 knots. This would mean that the trip from New London, CT to Montauk could be run in less than half an hour. There could be as many as seven round trips in any given day bringing thousands of tourists from the gambling casinos in Connecticut to Montauk. Residents of Hartford could reach Montauk faster than people from New York City. While this might appear to be an economical bonanza, the negative impacts of such an inundation far outweigh the short-term monetary gains.
Traffic in Montauk would dramatically increase. Montauk’s road system and intersections are already stressed during peak summer months, and an increase of volume like what would occur with high speed ferry service from New London would cause gridlock. Furthermore, traffic through the other East End towns would increase as Montauk became a well known transit port. Montauk’s public beaches and related parking facilities are already over-burdened.
New York State, Suffolk County, and the Town of East Hampton have spent millions of New York taxpayer dollars preserving open space and creating parks in Montauk’s fragile environment. An invasion of New Englanders hiking, hunting, surfing, and fishing in these “saved” areas would be destructive of the lands so many have worked so long to preserve.
The argument that passenger - only ferries would not increase traffic is quite meaningless when one considers that passengers have to get to and from the boats one way or another. And passenger only ferries carry more people and require larger parking facilities than ferries that service cars and trucks.
Other arguments for increasing ferry service between Montauk and Connecticut have focused mostly on the benefits of more convenient travel from the East End to New England. But it is not hard to see that the threat represented by millions of New Englanders who can suddenly reach Montauk’s limited beaches, parks, and roads far outweighs the modest benefit gained by relatively few people traveling to Boston.
Incorporation
On at least three occasions some residents of Montauk have attempted to have the hamlet gain independence from East Hampton Town by incorporating as a village. CCOM has consistently opposed these efforts because the goal of those supporting incorporation has always been greater commercialization, and less restrictive zoning for Montauk.
While Montauk has many problems that are unique to this hamlet, East Hampton Town has done a good job, albeit not perfect, in supporting Montauk. For example, Montauk has benefited tremendously in the amount of open space preserved through Community Preservation Funds (CPF). Montauk also has an extensive road system to be serviced, an active harbor to be managed, and beaches to be controlled.
Furthermore, in contrast to the incorporation plans for Montauk, successful villages, including the Village of East Hampton, have consistently required tighter zoning, and more services such as police. This has meant higher taxes than what residents had been subject to, but because of new well thought out zoning regulations and improved services citizens felt the cost was worth it. In contrast, all of the Montauk incorporation initiatives were all headed in the opposite direction, less zoning and more commercialization.
