Sandwich Considers Jet Ski Ban on Peters Pond

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SANDWICH – In advance of the upcoming Sandwich Special Town Meeting, the town’s Department of Natural Resources and harbormaster will hold a public meeting Wednesday to outline an article banning the use of jet skis on Peters Pond.

The article is a scaled-back, revised version of a previous draft that called for the banning of all watercraft above 25 horsepower on Lawrence Pond, Spectacle pond, Snake pond and Triangle pod, according to Department of Natural Resources Director David DeConto.

“We’ve since received quite a bit of negative feedback on that portion of it,” said DeConto.

“So we eliminated that portion of it. The only change we’re going to propose would be to eliminate jet ski personal watercraft on Peters Pond.”

Jet skis are already prohibited on the other ponds, leaving the 120-acre Peters Pond as the only one remaining that currently permits the vehicle.

DeConto said that the town has both safety and ecological concerns that have lead them to suggest the potential ban. 

“We just feel that the pond is too small. It’s a safety concern we have. We have 50 complaints a year ranging from just bad  behavior to speeding and reckless operation with personal watercraft, and we’ve had unfortunately half a dozen near-misses just this past summer,” said DeConto. 

DeConto added that jet ski use also disturbs the silt and sand on the bottom of the pond and lowers the water quality, which also impacts the trout stocking efforts for the area. 

He said jet ski use also accelerates coastal erosion along the pond.

The public informational meeting will be hosted at the Hamilton Hall (Oak Crest Cove) meeting room at 5 pm. 

Written comments will also be accepted by the town for the next two weeks.

The Sandwich Special Town Meeting will be held on November 15. 

About Grady Culhane

Grady Culhane is a Cape Cod native from Eastham. He studied media communications at Cape Cod Community College and joined the CapeCod.com News Center in 2019.



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