South Boston beach set to reopen Tuesday, at last

It won’t be long until people can finally put their toes in the water at Southie’s L Street Beach.

The beloved beach will reopen Tuesday, three years after it closed to make way for the $31.2 million renovation of the Curley Center. Piping plovers, a threatened beach-nesting bird species, caused further delays, but officials say the chicks have fledged, meaning they can sustain flight.

Southie residents and Curley Center members will get the chance to cool down next week after the Conservation Commission on Wednesday approved an operations and maintenance plan, which outlines conditions the city needs to take for access not to have an adverse effect on the piping plover.

Boston Centers for Youth and Families opened the Curley last month, and some city officials and dignitaries became skeptical that the piping plover was the reason behind the prolonged beach closure.

MassWildlife determined earlier this month that beach access would not harm the threatened piping plover as long the city meets the conditions outlined in the management plan.

“BCYF is excited to welcome South Boston residents back to the BCYF Curley Community Center beach,” a city spokesperson said in an email to the Herald Thursday evening. “BCYF is working to get the beach in top shape as soon as possible. We’re thankful to our partners at the state and local level who helped us come up with a plan that protects the threatened piping plover birds while letting our residents enjoy Boston’s coast.”

One condition in the beach management plan features “a qualified shorebird monitor” regularly monitoring the presence of the piping plover from April 1 through Aug. 31, with the areas of habitat delineated with fencing and warning signs by April 1.

Piping plover fledges and adults may remain at the site, feeding before their long migration, but the city says it will make sure the birds are protected as it follows the management plan and existing state and federal guidelines.

At the next-door M Street Beach, signs from the state Department of Conservation and Recreation outline why the chicks “didn’t cross the street.” The beach features coconut-filled coir rolls which serve as a barrier for the baby piping plovers.

“By taking these measures, DCR is facilitating the recovery of this threatened species,” a sign reads. “Please help DCR care for these birds by avoiding the coir rolls and fenced-off areas.”

The reopening of L Street Beach will not impact the neighboring shoreline.

Some of the outcry from the community included a letter from State Sen. Nick Collins, Rep. David Biele, and City Councilors Erin Murphy, Michael Flaherty and Ed Flynn urging “expeditious action” from the city to submit the beach management plan to the state by June 21. Officials missed that deadline, eventually sending it on June 30.

“While State officials are committed to supporting the City of Boston if any assistance is needed, on-site signage falsely suggesting that the state is somehow holding up the process should be removed,” the letter reads. “Regardless, the ball is in the City’s court.”