The Village has an extensive coastline that generally borders on the Hempstead Harbor (Hempstead Bay) to the east and the northeast, the Manhasset Bay to the south and west, and the Long Island Sound to the west, northwest, north and northeast.

The waterfront and coastline of the Village is an environmentally sensitive area and one of the most important natural resources of the Village.

The Village Board hereby finds that for ecological, public enjoyment, public navigation, aesthetic, visual and public health, safety and welfare reasons, the coastal areas of the Village must be protected.

The shores on the open waters of Long Island Sound and the mouths of Hempstead Harbor and Manhasset Bay are typically lined with continuous, sandy beaches, as compared with the harbor areas of Hempstead Harbor and Manhasset Bay in the southeast and southwest portions of the Village, generally south of the Village Club and Barkers Point, respectively, where beach areas are largely discontinuous or absent.

The Village's shorefront on Long Island Sound serves as an important public resource for various recreational activities such as walking along the beach and the enjoyment of visual and aesthetic features on the shore and out into the adjacent coastal waters.

Long Island Sound is a high-energy environment, as attested by the designation of Sands Point as a VE flood zone, with base flood elevation as great as 23 feet, by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The inner harbors of the shore line of the Village are generally better protected and calmer, as the available fetches are shorter.

Chapter 70 of the Village Code, as currently enacted, does not adequately protect the existing, sweeping and unobstructed views of and public access along the waterfront of the Village's Long Island Sound shorefront, and does not consider the differences between the protected waters of Hempstead Harbor and Manhasset Bay compared to the higher energy environment of Long Island Sound; and also does not sufficiently take into consideration that the construction of docks can result in significant impacts with respect to important public coastal resources, particularly visual and scenic quality and physical access to the shorefront in the coastline along Long Island Sound, and that there is a potential for property damage resulting from storm-generated debris if new docks are installed in the high-energy environment of Long Island Sound.

The coastal area of the Village between Barkers Point to the west and the westerly boundary of the Village Club to the east, except for a short segment of the shoreline in Half Moon Bay containing a small cluster of existing docks, is currently devoid of docks and associated Structures and is primarily characterized by a wide, publicly accessible intertidal beach, and the areas of the Village's coastline that border Manhasset Bay and the Hempstead Harbor are more fully developed and more appropriate for docks and related Structures.

The unrestricted construction and maintenance of docks and related Structures in the shorefront and coastline along Long Island Sound would irreversibly alter the essential character and nature of the area and adversely affect the intrinsic qualities which contribute to its resource value and its ability to serve for public use and enjoyment.

The preservation of the shorefront and coastline along Long Island Sound in its natural state is essential to maintaining the character of the Village.

The desire for the construction of docks and other Structures must be weighed against the environmental value and sensitivity of the waterfront and against the rights of the community and public to walk along the shorefront and the rights of the community and public to be protected from visual pollution.

The Village Board also finds that private rights should not supersede those of the public and that an appropriate balance must be achieved between property owner desires to access the water and protection of the public trust relating to the enjoyment of waters and foreshore in the Village.

It is for these reasons that the Village Board creates and establishes two coastal overlay districts known as the Long Island Sound Overlay District and the Harbors and Bays Overlay District.

There are hereby created two coastal overlay zoning districts, respectively known as the Long Island Sound Overlay District and the Harbors and Bays Overlay District. These overlay districts shall be in addition to the existing underlying zoning that they overlay, and the regulations of these overlay districts shall supersede any inconsistent or less restrictive provisions of the existing underlying zoning.

Long Island Sound Overlay District. The Long Island Sound Overlay District shall include all lands, parcels and lots in any zoning district of the Village, located between the Mean High-Water Line of the Long Island Sound, extending 1,000 feet out into the water to the Village boundary. The westerly boundary of the Long Island Sound Overlay District shall be Barker's Point, which is located approximately 300 feet to the west of the parcel designated as Nassau County Land & Tax Map Section 4, Block C, Lot 60, extending in an easterly direction to the westerly boundary of The Village Club of Sands Point, designated on the Nassau County Land & Tax Map Section 4, Block B, Lot 146, which shall constitute the easterly boundary of the district, excluding the areas from the northernmost extent of the parcel designated as Nassau County Land &Tax Map Section 4, Block A, Lot 29 and its intersection with the coastline, extending in a southerly direction to the southernmost extent of the parcel designated as Nassau County Land &Tax Map Section 4, Block A, Lot 55 and its intersection with the coastline.

Harbors and Bays Overlay District. The Harbors and Bays Overlay District shall include all lands, parcels and lots in any zoning district in the Village located between the Mean High-Water Line of the Manhasset Bay extending 1,000 feet out into the water to the Village boundary, and the Mean High-Water Line of the Hempstead Harbor extending 1,000 feet out into the water to the Village boundary. In those areas of the district bordering the Manhasset Bay, the easterly boundary shall be the Village boundary with the Incorporated Village of Manorhaven extending in a westerly direction to Barkers Point, which is located approximately 300 feet to the west of the parcel designated as Nassau County Land & Tax Map Section 4, Block C, Lot 60. In those areas of the district bordering the Half Moon Bay, the westerly boundary shall be the northernmost extent of the parcel designated as Nassau County Land & Tax Map Section 4, Block A, Lot 29 and its intersection with the coastline, extending in a southerly direction to the southernmost extent of the parcel designated as Nassau County Land & Tax Map Section 4, Block A, Lot 55 and its intersection with the coastline, provided however, that any proposed dock at Lot 55 must be a minimum of forty (40) feet from any adjacent easement area to the south while still complying with all other limitations in Chapter 70 of the Village Code. In those areas of the district bordering the Hempstead Harbor, the westerly border shall be the westerly boundary of The Village Club of Sands Point, designated on the Nassau County Land & Tax Map as Section 4, Block B, Lot 146, extending in an easterly direction to the Village's boundary with the Town of North Hempstead.

A map showing the location of the Long Island Sound Overlay District and the Harbors and Bays Overlay District is attached to and made a part of this chapter.[1]

No docks, floats, ramps or boat lifts shall be constructed or installed on any waterfront property or in or upon any body of water adjacent thereto in the Long Island Sound Overlay District. Any dock in existence in the Long Island Sound Overlay District at the date of the enactment of this article shall be considered a preexisting, nonconforming use, that may be maintained under the provisions of Chapter 70 of the Village Code and in accordance with the requirements, limitations and restrictions of this chapter applying generally to nonconforming uses. No replacement or substantial repair shall be made to any existing dock in the Long Island Sound Overlay District unless a permit application is approved therefor under Chapter 70 of the Code.

Moorings.