Due to the pandemic, meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.
Thursday, May 20
- Board of Health, 4 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.
Monday, May 24
- Select Board, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 25
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m.
Thursday, May 27
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Another OK for Old Reliable
The planning board unanimously approved the special permits required for a mixed-use development on the Old Reliable Fish House property, with a single change in the attached conditions: that the site offer two electric vehicle charging stations instead of one.
At a May 13 meeting, planning board members heaped praise on Christine Barker’s proposal.
Barker sought the same special permits she was granted early last year for her initial plan that had a slightly larger footprint than the one reviewed last week. Barker had done the downsizing in the hope of satisfying three abutters, who had appealed the project approvals in Land Court.
But while town boards have been effusive in their support for Barker’s plan, only one of the abutters, Canteen owner Rob Anderson, was satisfied with the changes and withdrew from the suit.
Scott Ravelson and Patrick Patrick, through their attorney, have made it clear they will pursue the court case, which has been on hold while town boards considered a revised plan.
Barker’s proposal for the Commercial Street property calls for the demolition of the existing structure, which was condemned after a fire in 2015, and construction of a new 31-room hotel, four residential condos, a restaurant and bar, a meeting space, and some parking, along with reconstruction of a pier.
The tweaked plan had already received the necessary permits and variance from the zoning board.
Regarding complaints at the recent zoning board meeting about the condition of the target site, which is currently overgrown and covered in detritus including rusting vehicles, attorney Jeannie Kampas told the planning board that Barker “doesn’t own and doesn’t have the legal authority” to clean up the property. The best way to get the property cleaned up, the attorney said, was to approve the project.
During the zoning board hearing, Ravelson had questioned Barker’s right to use the easement along an alley he owns as the sole access. He had argued the easement was for limited use, not for the foot and vehicle traffic the project would generate.
Kampas told the planning board Barker has the right to use the alley. “The property has exclusive easement rights in connection to the conduct of business and use of the wharf,” she said.
Prior to the vote, planning board member Steven Azar called it a “fantastic project — one that Provincetown desperately needs, especially in this location.”
Board alternate Mia Cliggott-Perlt asked Barker for a guarantee the hotel would be year-round, and therefore provide year-round jobs.
Barker responded, “That’s absolutely the intention.”
Board alternate Paul Kelly called it “a quality project, supported by good architecture and planning.”
The Land Court appeal of the project by Ravelson and Patrick will now resume and must be settled before the plan can move forward. —Christine Legere
