Hat tip to Josiah for the heads up

http://www.theday.com/article/20131229/NWS05/312299934

http://www.theday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=NL&Date=20131229&Category=NWS05&ArtNo=312299934&Ref=AR&Maxw=475


But that was what I imagined Friday on an oceanside walk in Watch Hill when I came upon the fleet of big earth movers working on the cliff below Swift's mansion, busily, well, rearranging the rocky coastline.

One giant machine, part crane, was lifting big appliance-size boulders up out of the ocean with its mechanical claw and moving them.

"That's completely illegal," said a young man standing next to me, some distance away from the Swift beachfront, on a public promontory.

Looking distraught, he added that he is a surfer and is sure the changes to the ocean bottom will impact the quality of surfing there.

Go to the link and read the whole thing

http://www.theday.com/article/20131229/NWS05/312299934

I think it is a good thing that people who burn $100 bills in their furnaces to heat houses they don't even live in, can do anything they want, regardless of laws or or the effects of their actions on peons like us. If I was rich, you'd never know it. I wouldn't make a f@$^&ing spectacle of myself.

Not illegal.

Like it or not, new hardened structures on the south shore are illegal; maintaining damaged ones is not.

It is explicitly stipulated that this will not impact the ROW, and how it will impact the seafloor and the surf break is beyond me... how does a wave wrapping in from the SE know there is a revetment on the shoreline. Answer... it doesn't...

Doesn't mean I am advocating for hardened structures, as I am not. They clearly have a negative impact on the shoreline (while protecting the property behind) but... not illegal.

You used to be able to walk down that sea wall... Not any more... There are guards there all the time.
Considering how close to the high tide line the walk way is, I wonder if this is worth bringing up to those in control of public access??? People have walked on that sea wall for years.
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Now that she has built a wall I can only image the guys who fish there will be harassed if not turned away even if they walk below the high water line

It also looks like from that picture she has rocks that will make a vertical and impassable area to walk at high water. As well as extending her lot a few feet out into the ocean well below the high water line.
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EB

I,m not sure , but I thought the public access . was just a shade to the N/E of her . between T/S & the hotel .............. walking down the hill , I don,t mean the access by the sand road ????

Just wondering / Might be talking a ride that way today .

I bet the building inspector is invited to the construction company xmas and new years parties, every year.
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I bet the building inspector is invited to the construction company xmas and new years parties, every year.
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Something stinks for sure. That much work with no permit. In Watch Hill no less.
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Something stinks for sure. That much work with no permit. In Watch Hill no less.
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They have a CRMC permit. Town Permit was not needed.

Again, doesn't mean I like it, but this is just a higher profile version of something (repairing/modifying an existing revetment) that happens regularly on the south coast. At least this one is permitted. Many try to sneak one in....

I didn't know repairing meant you could add 5 ft to the front of the wall out into the ocean.

Hell maybe she should just push it out even with the lighthouse.

Don't be surprised when she pushes her yard right out to the water too.
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well you know what the forest people do
down in the amazon @ night

Don't be surprised when she pushes her yard right out to the water too.
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Gazebo.
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B - I was hoping you would chime in. According to the article so far things might smell legal. I am no way well versed enough to know what damage may have occurred to the sea floor just seaward of the wall but sounds like that is where they are grabbing their riprap.

It will probably mess up the fishing and it looks like the wall access is gone in part of there.

I am curious if I had a house in WH would I need extra permits to Excavate in the ocean..

This fall I fished that area in front of her house. The guards were constantly shining their lights at me and other fisherman. I could give a rats a$$ about some celebrity living there. I didn't even know who she was until I looked her up online. I just want to fish. That area has some great offshore bars/holes that I am sure will be impacted by this wall.

The mean high water changes after every storm on that beach. In September/October the sand covered most of the rocks up to the wall. Late October blow washed out a lot of the sand exposing more rocks and bringing the high water line very close to the old wall.

Oh, well. Another reason for me to think that the human race is way overrated.

I think it is a good thing that people who burn $100 bills in their furnaces to heat houses they don't even live in, can do anything they want, regardless of laws or or the effects of their actions on peons like us. If I was rich, you'd never know it. I wouldn't make a f@$^&ing spectacle of myself.

I would make a complete spectacle of my self no doubt
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Keeping my fingers crossed. When I fished there this year, the guards really didn't bother me.

Keeping my fingers crossed. When I fished there this year, the guards really didn't bother me.

They have bothered others.. but maybe they now understand the laws of RI coastal Access…

Maybe she's trying to reconstruct the wall to come out and serenade the surfcasters?

I can't believe the rocks they're pulling up would change (aside from access) things that much, at the least they may move some structure and in doing so create other. Would assume the permit factors in the amount of material in play. If the new wall will help lessen erosion they'd probably see it as a net positive.

-spence

WH is overrated from a fishing point of view, IMO.

I use to fish it all the time and I mean a lot. Took a lot of small fish and quite a few 15 to 20# fish in front of the lighthouse. One good fish in the cove 36#. Never anything of consequence on the beach except Blues. There are better places to fish nearby.

I've fished there for over 50 years. Broke-in my first surf rod there, had a few words with the guards and still plan on going back and back and back!!

I've been hearing about this for awhile but don't know much of the specifics. Sounds much similar to the Cliff Walk but there we have a public easement allowing access to dry land. Are the guards rent-a-cops or Westerly police? If they are a privite hired security force make sure to lodge a complaint with local/state police if they harass you while you're in the littoral zone. Up on dry land there is not much you can do - other than hope for a bigger storm next time - but that would hurt a lot more people.

DZ

Something doesn't seem right about this. They're taking building materials from public land, blocking access to public land, maybe even building on public land and they don't need any permits?

I heard just today on the radio that Taylor Swift is on the list of most generous charity contributors among celebrities, actually coming in at #1 for 2013...... Maybe a letter from a surfcasting/protect shore access group is in order. I'd bet she doesn't have a clue about the issues from the other side of her property lines.

Also sounds as if WH missed out on permit fees. CRMC is the big one that has jurisdiction, but no reason the town couldn't require their own permitting once the CRMC was in place. Up here, we would also have to have the Army Corps of Engineers to sign off as well.

Check out this exercise in futility from Nantucket. There's probably a billion bucks worth of real estate and structures thereupon, waiting to fall into the sea, despite whatever they're doing down below. Because, well, nor'easters and hurricanes are never accompanied by torrential rains that cause erosion from above. :rotf2:

57850

Wow, imaging the sledding after a good snowfall.

-spence

Check out this exercise in futility from Nantucket. There's probably a billion bucks worth of real estate and structures thereupon, waiting to fall into the sea, despite whatever they're doing down below. Because, well, nor'easters and hurricanes are never accompanied by torrential rains that cause erosion from above. :rotf2:

57850

Whats that saying? Play stupid games and win stupid prizes?? What did these morons expect building houses on those bluffs????

Whats that saying? Play stupid games and win stupid prizes?? What did these morons expect building houses on those bluffs????

Yea, it's not like it's Block Island…

-spence

Check out this exercise in futility from Nantucket. There's probably a billion bucks worth of real estate and structures thereupon, waiting to fall into the sea, despite whatever they're doing down below. Because, well, nor'easters and hurricanes are never accompanied by torrential rains that cause erosion from above. :rotf2:

57850

I saw several houses slide down the bluff during my 20+ years in Montauk.

Every coastal region is experiencing the same thing ... in regards to outrageous priced houses on bluffs ... they will all fall in ... as far as Taylor Swift ... Ross may be right on the money, she may have no clue ... but until she changes her attitude, I will hold off on buying any of her albums - be they CDs or on iTunes ... :) ... while it may only be a mere $10-$15 she loses, it only takes one stone to start an avalanche (albeit, the avalanche may be a bit prolonged in coming ...).

I wouldn't mind getting the GC job for that property.... Wonder how that position was filled.

ROSS by the lenght & girth :uhuh:

Yea, it's not like it's Block Island…

-spence

Spence, I forgot all about that picture. Was that 2012?

that project is almost as big as the Hoover dam :hs:
throw in a water slide and you could charge admission
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/ISLAND.png

Spence, I forgot all about that picture. Was that 2012?

Yes, the week after Sandy.
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I saw several houses slide down the bluff during my 20+ years in Montauk.

We have several ready slide down the cliffs in south Plymouth. From the beach, you can look up and see floor joists. The decks and footings have long ago made the journey down the cliff and have been washed away.

I'm told that if you don't tear them down when they've been condemned, you own the clean up costs to remove it if it falls down the cliff.

Projo did a story about the reconstruction in today's paper. CRMC says everything is legit. They (CRMC) mention the existing seawall as being public. Does anyone know who originally built that seawall? More importantly were any federal funds used to build that seawall? If so I think that the public will retain access to the wall.

DZ

today 5 rigs working ..

I'd like to see if there was an actual survey preformed for this work. How else would anyone know where the boundaries are. Based on the money, I would think they did do a survey and specific regulations have been met. The town not requiring a permit smells like low tide, but I am not familiar with Westerly's planing and zoning regulations or Rhode Islands coastal laws. Based on a public right of way being an abutting property, the town in my opinion should have issued a permit so that the "Site Plans" were available to the public since they have an express interest in that piece of land, which dates further back then Ms. Swift's existence. Oh well, the guards have been nice to me, Taylor's presence adds humor, and we'll just have to fish some new structure... or get in trouble-ouble-ouble.

[QUOTE=Finaddict;1026664]Every coastal region is experiencing the same thing ... in regards to outrageous priced houses on bluffs ... they will all fall in ... as far as Taylor Swift ... Ross may be right on the money, she may have no clue ... but until she changes her attitude, I will hold off on buying any of her albums



What exactly is the problem with Taylor Swift's attitude ?

What exactly is the problem with Taylor Swift's attitude ?
Pretty sure she was an Obama supporter...not that there's anything wrong with that.
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Pretty sure she was an Obama supporter...not that there's anything wrong with that.
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She's on record as being Republican.

http://www.tmz.com/2013/12/31/taylor-swift-seawall-wall-westerly-rhode-island-permits/

She's on record as being Republican.

False.
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was on good morning america today

I'd like to see if there was an actual survey preformed for this work.

You really think there wasn't?

There was a permit, granted by CRMC. The town permit wasn't needed...

You really think there wasn't?

There was a permit, granted by CRMC. The town permit wasn't needed...

An engineer can go to the town clerk's office and find a survey map on record, then make a plan showing proposed work, which would allow for permits to be obtained. My question would be to see if the property's actual boundary was marked out on the ground by a surveyor. If it has been, I don't see why people are complaining, and from the "news" articles I've read there is no mention of the boundary being marked out. Again, I am not familiar with Rhode Island's boundary laws, or the town of Westerly's codes, setback lines, etc. So I am only speaking from what I know about properties and typical rules/limitations for improvements. I also think if it wasn't a celebrity this likely wouldn't be much of a story.

After Hurricane Sandy I think the rules for refurbishing shorelines were "eased" for lack of a better word because time was of the essence. Wait times for approval were shortened as areas that needed reinforcement were time critical. Just look how quick the Matunuck, Block island, and Sachuest Point projects were approved - that process normally would have taken years. This project as Bryan mentioned was approved by CRMC and most likely had a public hearing or two when objections could have been raised.

As much as I feel this does (more accurately did) not pass the smell test, it sounds like this was not what we originally thought - a Celebrity circumvention of the rules and our access. The initial reporting was borderline but much of what I have seen doesn't promote foul play.

It may not be what we would all like but it does not seem to be bad either. If those rocks the excavators are grabbing are the fallen riprap from the previous state of seawall then this is not unreasonable.

We will need to challenge access where it is hindered but this seawall recovery does not seem to be a negative thing.

Anyone with twitter? If this house is owned by Taylor Swift and she is the most charitable...maybe someone can tweet her the link to the article and the access concerns maybe she will respond. I believe her twitter handle is "taylorswift13"

Not sure it is any of the articles posted here but I read someone from CRMC defending the work - specifically the movement of rocks that were in the water back onto the seawall - which was not contemplated in the original plans - they did that at the request of CMRC - I agree with JohnR seems legit . . . access issues aside.

Sounds like a lot of jealousy here and even some schadenfreude . What kills me is all you self proclaimed non-rich folks who lose their house to a storm are the first to look for public money to rebuild because you did not have your own flood or storm insurance. At least they are protecting their own property. Poor folks wait till it falls in then look to the public for assistance because they feel some hardship and entitlement.

The taxes on that home esp in RI must be mind-numbing. IMO let her do whatever the hell she wants to her own property as long as she pays for it. (Her property boundary may even go out into the ocean. I know a lot of people in MA that pay taxes on "land" that is underwater)

Out here on east chop (which is a private part of the town ) the folks are looking to the state and feds to fix the erosion to the NE facing shoreline so the road does not fall off the cliff. Costs are big, millions. But as I said in a meeting some time ago, as a taxpayer I am pissed because I don't want my tax $ going to fix your private property problems. Guess what...the feds denied them. They now want to reluctantly donate the land to the government so it becomes their responsibility to maintain it.
My attitude is : you own it you protect/maintain it.

I don't think it is jealousy Jim, I think people are legitimately concerned about access. In this case, things were handled on the up and up.

As far as the rest... adaptive retreat needs to be part of the solution.....

It's sad that they don't have to include a pathway in the rocks for those passing through