Condos Versus Rentals
To the editor:
Re “Developers Propose 40 Condos, 30 Below Market” [Dec. 26, front page]:
Conversion to condo is a terrible idea, particularly with regard to the resale restrictions. Paul Benson reported that the units at 26 Shank Painter Road would have deed restrictions that “prevent the resale prices of the units from accelerating at market rates.”
In administering Chapter 40B projects, we have found that the affordable units are hard to find buyers for, since most people want to make some money on their units. In some 40B projects, such a unit can be sold at market rate, which I think is crazy.
A rental project is much better for people where affordability is concerned, and obviously the seller will do much better as a condo project.
Also, I am not clear what legal framework they are using, just that it’s not Chapter 40B. The select board is always trying to put its nose into land use projects, and we have a planning board and a zoning board of appeals whose job that is.
Bill Cadogan
Townsend and Provincetown
The writer is chair of the Townsend Zoning Board of Appeals.
How to Create Change
To the editor:
Bravo for Edward Miller’s letter from the editor “Cultch Clash” [Dec. 26] and his raising the issues of what free speech means and its incumbent responsibilities.
The Jude Aherns of the world often engage in doggedly meticulous research and point out fixable problems that require us to work together, sometimes outside the box.
But often, the manner and style in which the Aherns offer their critiques raises hackles and get in the way of any meaningful fix-it dialogue.
Having watched ACT UP in New York City in the 1990s achieve certain results during the AIDS crisis, I acknowledge that there are different ways to go about creating change. But eventually people need to talk with each other. If Larry Kramer and Anthony Fauci could do it….
Just some honest conversation.
David Ricketts
Wellfleet
‘Misfeasance’
To the editor:
Regarding Stan Bratskeir’s Dec. 26 letter to the editor berating the Truro Select Board for being too forthright and analytical regarding the town manager’s performance [“A Firing Squad in Truro”], I say kudos to that board for trying to expose a bit about the misfeasance of Mr. Tangeman.
My personal experience is that the town manager is always “out of the office” when called, does not return phone messages, and does not bother (perhaps selectively) to respond to emails.
Dan Katz
Truro and Westport, Conn.
Finding Helltown
To the editor:
Thanks for the interesting piece about Helltown [“In Search of Helltown,” Dec. 26, page B8].
The 1880 Atlas of Barnstable County shows two groups of small buildings labeled “Fisherman Hos.” in the Herring Cove area. The larger, more northern group of 11 shacks seems to be the best candidate for the legendary settlement.
As an amateur historian, I have found this atlas to be very detailed and presumably accurate, even showing the exact footprints of individual buildings.
Chris Brown
Wellfleet
Tide Mill History
To the editor:
As someone interested in Outer Cape history, I greatly enjoy your end-of-year nostalgia issues. In this year’s edition, I turned immediately to the article on windmills, “A Relic of a Bygone Age” [Jan. 2, page A19].
For the last several years, I have studied the mills and milling culture of this area, with an emphasis on the tide mills. The article mentions that “a few towns, including Wellfleet, had a ‘tide mill’ — a kind of water wheel powered by the changing tides.”
In fact, tide mills played an important part in the economies of all the Outer Cape towns except Provincetown. Since they drew their power from the tides, these mills were highly reliable and could grind grain in low wind conditions when windmills could not.
The tide mill in Truro operated from about 1790 to 1860 on what is still known as Mill Pond. Wellfleet had a tide mill on Mill Creek (near the Herring River) and two on Blackfish Creek — one at Loagy Bay and the other near the head of the creek. At least one tide mill operated in Eastham and as many as five in Orleans, according to one source.
Those who would like to learn more about tide mills on the Outer Cape might be interested in my article on the Truro tide mill, which appeared in the December 2022 issue of the journal International Molinology.
Many thanks for making the Independent such a valuable part of our community.
Tim Richards
Truro
Stayin’ Alive
To the editor:
Many thanks to Paul Benson for “Even on a Tuesday in Winter, Piggy’s Was Packed” [Jan. 2, page B11].
The ’70s Led Zeppelin rocker is somehow now 67 years old. Somewhere there is a picture of me around 1976 standing in front of Piggy’s with a bandanna, wide-collared shirt, puka shells, ripped blue-jean bell bottoms, and clogs.
Travolta got nothing on me.
Peter Cutting
Wellfleet and Hyannis
The Keeper’s Daughter
To the editor:
I’m enjoying the Nostalgia issue of the Independent very much. Regarding the Billingsgate story [“How the Sea Turned a Bountiful Fishing Colony Into a Shoal,” Jan. 2, page A14], I was told that my aunt Carolyn Stubbs played with the lighthouse keeper’s daughter as a child. This must have been the Bailey family mentioned in the article.
Carolyn was born in 1903 and shared our summer cottage and then the retirement home she and my parents built in 1970 and in which I now live. She worked at the Harvard Business School and was a beloved fixture of my childhood here on the Cape.
Carol Magenau
Wellfleet
Painting for Peter Hunt
To the editor:
Stephen Orr, who wrote “The Washashore Fabulist” in your Jan. 2 Nostalgia issue [page B2] and other readers may be interested to learn that my father, George Yater, painted for Peter Hunt. Bruce McKain worked for him for many years.
Those who own some of the earlier Peter Hunt pieces may have something done by these artists.
Marjorie Yater
Truro and Pomfret Center, Conn.
Letters to the Editor
The Provincetown Independent welcomes letters from readers on all subjects. They must be signed with the writer’s name, home address, and telephone number (for verification). Letters will be published only if they have been sent exclusively to the Independent. They should be no more than 300 words and may be edited for clarity, accuracy, conciseness, and good taste. Longer pieces (up to 600 words) may be submitted for consideration as op-ed commentary. Send letters to [email protected] or by mail to P.O. Box 1034, Provincetown, MA 02657. The deadline for letters is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.
