To the Editor:

Even though I live almost on the Marion town line, you can bet I’ll be attending next week’s public hearing on the proposed Goodspeed Island Pier.

Scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 16, the hearing at Old Hammondtown School is on the public’s appeal of the Department of Environmental Protection’s approval of the pier plan over town objections.

My interest is two-fold. The general public’s recreational use of the head of Mattapoisett Harbor, for various reasons, should take precedent over an individual landowner’s right to the same territory.

Last fall, I expressed this thought to the DEP. I also noted that there are other embayments in the eastern part of Mattapoisett of which I am familiar where pier construction would interfere with the public’s recreational rights. I specifically mentioned the heads of Aucoot Cove and Hillers Cove. The latter includes a heavily used town beach.

The final decision on the Goodspeed Island Pier will have a lot to say about future pier construction in sensitive areas used by the public at large.

Last week, abutters to private property in the upper reaches of Aucoot Cove were informed by certified letter that the Conservation Commission will hold a public hearing on another pier proposal similar to the Goodspeed Island one. And so we start again with another hearing on April 13.

A big NO from the DEP now might just put an end to this major issue of grave concern to a vast majority of town residents. A town wetlands protection by-law at next month’s town meeting would give legal status for the use of public recreational purposes as good reason for denying any private pier project in the future. And engineering firms in town may get the message.

Brad Hathaway

Aucoot Cove, Mattapoisett