Revere resident chirping mad over bird sanctuaries

REVERE – Revere Beach Boulevard resident Toni Seolaro said at a City Council meeting Monday night that she will not continue to pay the high property taxes to live on Revere Beach unless the size of bird sanctuaries on the beach are reduced.?Residents are practically raped by the federal government,” Seolaro said. “This past year, the beach is disgraceful. How much does a little bird need to nest?”Seolaro went on to say that if visitors to the beach can?t come down to relax on the sand without the view of “stakes, rocks and grass,” they will not return, and restaurants along the beach will suffer.Seolaro spoke at the podium at the City Hall Council Chamber after Councilors John Correggio and Robert Haas made a motion for a meeting with both city and state officials to discuss the staked-off areas of the beach for a species of endangered birds while they are nesting.Correggio called the sanctuaries “a disgrace” and “out of control” at the meeting. “This is a major problem for Revere Beach,” he said. “The birds are ruining the beach. I?m not against bird sanctuaries, but this is overkill. No one can really use that part of the beach.”Correggio speculates the bird sanctuary was introduced this year, because he doesn?t remember it being a problem last year. He said that it already takes up “a quarter” of the beach, and there is more area that is being staked off all the time. His main concern is that the clean-up crew that clears the seaweed from the beach is unable to clear the large quantity taken up by the sanctuaries so the birds aren?t disturbed. Parking has also become an issue, as beachgoers are forced to park far from the beach to avoid the sanctuaries.Correggio said he spoke with some “environmental people” and they said there are only about 40 birds in the sanctuary. Correggio said all he, and the residents of Revere Beach, are looking to do is reduce the birds to “one designated area.”Councilor John Powers agreed that some of Revere?s highest taxpayers who live on the part of the beach where the birds are “have just as much of a right to the beach as the birds do.”Powers said the Department of Conservation (DCR) and Recreation, which, according to Powers, seems to agree with the Audobon Society to protect the birds, needs to “condense where (the birds) are.”?To stake off the entire beach ? definitely something has to be done,” Powers said.Councilor Anthony Zambuto warned other councilors that the DCR probably won?t be helpful in reducing the area, since it is federal law that protects the creatures. He called the meeting in which the councilors spoke to the DCR “discouraging at best.”?I don?t want anyone to think you?re going to get a lot of help on this,” said Zambuto. “I?m not very comfortable that there?s going to be any operation on this.”Zambuto compared the space given to the birds to “half a football field around every nest ? There?s a 50-foot circumference every time they see a bird.”The motion was passed unanimously to schedule a meeting with Congressman Marey?s Staff, as well as “Senators Kerry and Brown, along with Senator Petruzzelli, Representatives Reinstein and DeLeo and a representative from Governor Patrick?s Office,” as presented in the meeting agenda. The meeting is planned to be set in a “convenient location” so Revere Beach residents can attend.Correggio said the meeting?s intention will be to “investigate what we can do to reduce the amount of bird sanctuaries” and to get communication going with federal officials.Kait Taylor can be reached at [email protected].