Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Wellfleet are remote only, but some are held in person. Go to www.wellfleet-ma.gov/calendar and click on the meeting you want to watch, then follow the instructions on the agenda.
Thursday, Sept. 19
- Council on Aging Advisory Board, 9:30 a.m.
- Board of Registrars, 10 a.m., Town Hall basement conference room
- Commission on Disabilities, 3 p.m.
- Energy and Climate Action Committee, 7 p.m., Adult Community Center and online
Monday, Sept. 23
- Natural Resources Advisory Board, 4 p.m., Town Hall basement conference room and online
- Shellfish Advisory Board, 4 p.m., Adult Community Center and online
- Affordable Housing Trust, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 24
- Nauset Regional High School Council, 4:15 p.m., NRHS admin. conference room
Wednesday, Sept. 25
- Board of Health, 5:30 p.m., Adult Community Center and online
Conversation Starters
Where to Put the Pantry
The Wellfleet Food Pantry is holding a meeting at the library on Sept. 26 at 6 p.m. to discuss its plans to relocate to town land next to the Adult Community Center. The pantry wants to raise $1.5 million by April 2026 for a permanent structure. The use of town land will be on the warrant at the Oct. 21 special town meeting.
Meanwhile, the pantry is still searching for a temporary home by the end of the year.
Squaring ADU Rules
The planning board got into the weeds at a Sept. 4 meeting on what a new state law on accessory dwelling units (ADUs) will mean for Wellfleet.
The state law, which the Healey-Driscoll administration unveiled last month as part of a $5-billion bond bill aimed at addressing the housing crisis, will allow property owners to build, by right, single ADUs of up to 900 square feet. The law’s provisions go into effect on Feb. 2.
Wellfleet’s ADU bylaw, on the books since 2021, is even friendlier than the state regulations. Here, the maximum square footage is 1,200, and homeowners are allowed to build more than one ADU on their properties as long as zoning and health regulations are met.
“The state is saying one by right, second by special permit. Can we overrule that? I don’t really know,” chair Gerry Parent said. He also wondered whether maximum square footage would have to shrink from 1,200 to 900 under the new law.
Board member David Mead-Fox wondered if the town should start planning amendments to the bylaw or “wait a little bit and see if more clarification comes out.” He worried that the discrepancies leave room for lawsuits.
Parent told the board that he was in contact with Town Counsel Carolyn Murray to sort out these questions. —Sam Pollak
