Beach erosion threatens Copiague woman's yard

A Copiague woman worried about the Great South Bay taking over her yard is being stymied in her attempts to stop the eroding beach next door because no one has taken ownership responsibility.

Donna Sala, 44, and her husband Philip, 43, have lived for 10 years on a street that dead-ends at the bay. Philip Sala's grandfather built the house in 1955. A year later, the beach next door, technically 480 East Dr., was deeded to the Bay Oak Gardens Civic & Beach Association through a will. The deed states that the association will pay the taxes and "all present and future maintenance and repairs thereon, including the necessary bulkheading."

But the bulkheads have decayed, Donna Sala said, and water once held off by sand now laps at the fence in her backyard.

"It's not even property anymore, it's shoreline, and it's getting worse," she said of the patch of land that once measured 150 feet by 155 feet. It's now just a sliver at high tide, she said, adding, "When there's a storm, that water comes like a rolling ocean wave onto the street."

The civic association stopped collecting dues years ago, Sala said, and when she tried to contact it, the group had only an inactive post office box.

Babylon Town spokesman Tim Ruggeri said taxes on the property have not been paid since January 2008. The association has been billed $855.89 in taxes since then, he said. He said the town would take action only if the flooding causes the road to be structurally unsafe.

Vacant and commercial property with unpaid taxes becomes a lien, said Diane Stuke, Suffolk deputy treasurer. The county purchases the lien, and if it is not redeemed within a year, the county can start foreclosure proceedings. The lien redemption period expired on the Copiague property last month, she said.

Stuke said when notification is complete, she expects to issue a tax deed for the property, probably in April. The civic association owners would then have another six months to pay the back taxes. Otherwise, the county could transfer the property to the parks department or sell it at auction.

"If somebody paid the taxes, we'd stop the process," she said. "We don't really care who pays them, as long as they're paid."

Neither the town nor county had information on association members.

Doug Woelk, 57, who lives on the same street as Sala, said he is the group's treasurer. He said the association is in disarray and he hasn't collected dues because enough had been taken in to pay the taxes for five to six years.

"I have to catch up," he said. "I'll probably pay them in the next month or two."

When told the county could soon foreclose on the property, he said he would pay the taxes Monday.

"The beach has been neglected for years," he said. "But I don't think we're ready to abandon our property rights there."

Repairs are another matter. "The problem is, nobody wants to kick up the kind of money it would take to restore it to its glory days," he said.

Woelk said the beach used to be a centerpiece of the community, a spot for sunbathing and annual parties where residents would clear brush and roast corn.

Sala said she wants the association to be active again. "Everyone in this just seemed to drop the ball," she said.

She plans to host a meeting to try to revive the group.

"I have an interest because it's right next to my property, so I'm going to try to do whatever I can," Sala said. "But it's also a preservation issue. We're losing our beach."