Government

Flyboarding in Southold Town may require trustee approval

The town adopted regulations for flyboarding (pictured) at a meeting on March 18. (Credit: Paul Squire)
Flyboarding may require trustee approval in Southold Town. (Credit: Paul Squire, file)

The Southold Town Trustees are asking that Town Board members consider legislation that would require any business proposing flyboard operations in town waters to first get approval from the Trustees. 

Trustees president John Bredemeyer said concerns were raised after his board learned of a business that received conditional approval from the Greenport Village Planning Board to operate a flyboarding business in the harbor there. Should that business, or any other, look to do something similar on Southold Town waterways, he said, the Trustees should have the authority to determine deeper areas where the activity would be appropriate.

“[Flyboarding] has the potential to cause some damage to our creek bottoms,” Mr. Bredemeyer said.

He said the activity should be banned in certain waterways and examined on an individual basis in other areas for better local control.

The Town of Riverhead passed regulations earlier this year mandating that all flyboarding operations take place more than 300 feet from the shoreline, effectively banning the activity along the Peconic River.

Shaka Flyboarding is expected to operate from Preston’s Dock in Greenport this summer. The business owner said he will mostly operate in waters at least 300 feet out.

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