The ‘Docs’ and the Cloverleaf
To the editor:
The article about the May 10 Truro Planning Board election in the April 14 edition of the Provincetown Independent [“Planning Board Hopefuls Both Say They Favor New Housing,” page A6] misrepresented what I said during an interview with a reporter.
I am running for planning board in Truro. I had been asked what I thought of the Docs for Truro Safe Water. My response was that I felt that they educated the community about our water supply, and as a result of community involvement, the project resulted in a better plan. I also said that I felt that it led to community awareness of the cesspool problem impacting our water supply, which is now being addressed by the town.
I was never asked about the Cloverleaf lawsuit. But the Independent wrote that I said it was the lawsuit that resulted in a better plan and raised the town’s awareness of water problems.
This is completely untrue. The editor and reporter have acknowledged that I never said that I supported the Cloverleaf lawsuit. I have never read the lawsuit and am quite unfamiliar with it. I never was involved in nor supported any lawsuit against the Cloverleaf project.
After the editor and I emailed back and forth, he did make changes to the online version of the article and promised to publish a correction in the next issue. I still do not agree fully with the correction, but I had to accept what was offered.
Steven Stahl
Truro
No Variance Needed
To the editor:
Last week’s letter to the editor from Dan Katz titled “Special Permits for Sale?” is a screed of misinformation.
The High Dune Craft Cooperative members have not applied for a variance from the Truro Zoning Bylaw or from any other land-use regulation. They have applied to the Truro Planning Board for site plan review, pursuant to sections 70 and 100 of the zoning bylaw.
The Craft Cooperative’s marijuana cultivation use is allowed by special permit in the residential district. The use does not require a variance. The zoning board of appeals is the grantor of special permits and variances, not the planning board, as the letter writer suggests.
It should be noted that a special permit from the zoning board of appeals, as well as site plan review by the planning board, will be required of the High Dune Craft Cooperative.
As a participant in the mediation that took place between the owners of the “Kline House” and the town of Truro, I can attest that the town never said the property owners were “just paying a fine.”
Perhaps Mr. Katz lives in a community, Westport, Conn., where regulatory laws are “up for sale to the highest bidder.” Fortunately, Truro is not such a community.
Bob Weinstein
Truro
