Politics & Government

POLL: Saving The Yacht Haven Marina

"This is the beginning of a fight to preserve the boatyard," Board of Finance candidate Joe Tarzia said.

Board of Finance candidates Joe Tarzia and Bob Kolenberg are spearheading a campaign and fighting city officials to save the main boatyard of Stamford's Yacht Haven West, which will October 31st.

"In the 1800's, that was the gateway to Stamford," Joe Tarzia said, while pointing to one of the marina's dock gates.

In addition to suggesting that the Yacht Haven boatyard would soon become an area for residential construction if it were closed, Tarzia and Kolenberg stated that such a land conversion plan would be motivated by profit.

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"This is the largest working boatyard in the Northeast. We cannot allow it to be destroyed by greedy developers. We're asking the mayor to take a tough stance in saving the boatyard," Tarzia said.

"We've got to hold people accountable for this," Kolenberg said.

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"It's creating a disruption for the boat owners and people who rely on the marine services on the site," Mayor Michael Pavia said, referring to closure of the Yacht Haven boatyard.

While Tarzia and Pavia don't deny that the marina at the foot of Washington Blvd. is good for the local economy and is one of Stamford's great historic landmarks, Pavia believes that the land has better uses.

"The demolished boat yard will be replaced with a new one," Pavia said. "It was owned by several companies that used the site for various 'fill' operations. Right now, it's going through a planned remediation to clear out pollutants from the soil and the Long Island Sound."

"Yesterday, they [local government] got approval from the Department of Environmental Protection, and as part of their cleanup plan, they're going to put a membrane down and put four feet of fill over the top," Kolenberg said. "They want to bring the zone to residential standards, which to me, is an alarm button. Why would they want to bring the area to residential standards unless they had a plan for residential housing?"

A 2007 zoning board agreement states that while other areas of Yacht Haven could be used for filling and construction, the boatyard could only be used for marine purposes. Allegedly, that agreement is void in the event that YHW closes, and it will.

Pavia affirms that Tarzia, Kolenberg, and others may only be "speculating" into the city's plan for the Yacht Haven boatyard. "I have not seen any plans, or heard any further discussion on anything except a new boatyard. There are specific uses for the land under the Coastal Area Management Plan," Pavia said.

According to Tarzia and Kolenberg, the petition to save the boatyard already has well-over 1,000 signatures, and more are signing the petition each day.

"This is the beginning of a fight to save the boatyard, and we're not giving up," Tarzia said.


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