Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Provincetown are held in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you want to attend on the calendar at provincetown-ma.gov for a link to an agenda and details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise noted.
Thursday, May 9
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Monday, May 13
- Select Board, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 14
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m.
Wednesday, May 15
- Historic District Commission, 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 16
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starter
Going Both Ways
At its May 13 meeting the select board will discuss what rules should prevail for two-directional traffic on Commercial Street as well as whether the licensing board should add new rules for the scooter rental companies that it regulates.
The select board has frequently had informal discussions of whether more rules on rental scooters are warranted, including the possibility of speed limits in certain areas.
The owners of the two rental companies in town, Coast Provincetown and Storm Scooters, have said that their rental fleets include geofencing software that allows them to designate speed limits in various places that their scooters are then unable to exceed. As of last summer, however, that software could not be used to enforce one-way traffic patterns on their scooters — which has also been a frequent topic at the select board.
The town’s traffic and parking rules already require motorized bicycles and scooters to travel only one way on Commercial Street. They also require all operators, including those of privately owned vehicles, to be at least 16 years old and to wear helmets. Nonmotorized bicycles are allowed to ride both ways on Commercial Street.
The town does not have regulations on electric skateboards and other small personal vehicles.
In addition to new licensing rules, the select board will discuss whether the town needs updated general bylaws for Commercial Street that would be binding on all riders, not just those on rented equipment. —Paul Benson
