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, June 20
- Board of Assessors, noon
- Historic District Commission, 3:30 p.m.
- First Time Homebuyer Workshop Series, 5:30 p.m., Veterans Memorial Community Center
Monday, June 24
- Select Board, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, June 25
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m.
Wednesday, June 26
- School Committee, 5 p.m., School Library
Thursday, June 27
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Walk Zone Public Hearing
The June 24 select board meeting will include discussion and potentially a vote on a “Walk Only Zone” that would include Commercial Street between Center Street and Masonic Place. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, all riders of bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and “wheeled or electric-powered devices of any kind” would be required to dismount and walk on that part of Commercial Street, which is about 530 yards long.
Pedestrians, cars, and electric wheelchairs would still be allowed, according to the public hearing notice.
“Everyone gets heated about this subject, but I really don’t think the problem is that big,” said select board member Erik Borg on June 10. The town’s existing traffic rules, which allow bicycles, but not electrified vehicles, to travel both ways on Commercial Street “have worked for many decades,” Borg said.
“I think there will be more people at this hearing than there were for pickleball,” said select board member Leslie Sandberg.
Stellwagen Bank Visitor Center
At their June 10 meeting, select board members said they wanted to revisit plans for the Stellwagen Bank Visitor Center, which is slated to be built at the base of MacMillan Pier inside the footprint of the municipal parking lot.
The visitor center would have almost 10,000 square feet and would include public bathrooms, meeting spaces, and interpretive displays about the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, which protects an underwater glacial rise just north of Provincetown that is a rich feeding ground for many kinds of marine life.
The visitor center would displace about 60 town-owned parking spaces, and plans to add new parking in the median of Route 6 precipitated the board’s conversation.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is the principal funder of the project and announced a $15-million allocation in August 2023.
That is not expected to cover the entire cost, however, and Town Manager Alex Morse said that a fresh presentation on the project from NOAA and town staff would be arranged. —Paul Benson
