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housing

    HOUSING

    The View From Harbor Hill

    Provincetown’s market-rate rental tenants talk about ‘a place that feels like home’

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Harbor Hill was built as a time-share complex, to host people enjoying a week or two of vacation. After sitting vacant for years, then being bought by Provincetown’s Year-Round Market-Rate Rental Housing Trust, Harbor Hill now has a very different rhythm to it.

    Its 28 apartments are occupied by 44 adults, 10 children, 6 dogs, and 4 cats. There are families and restaurant workers, business owners and town employees. Some people who live there say it feels like the first home they’ve ever had that was really theirs.

    The Independent talked to several residents of Harbor Hill about the building, the rents, and their experience there. Selections from those conversations follow.

    Emily Sgarlat, launch captain, Flyer’s Boat Rental:

    “I feel like it’s our own little community,” says Emily Sgarlat, who lives in Harbor Hill with her roommate Mikey LaBruna. (Photo courtesy Trevor Pittinger)

    “This is the fifth place I’ve lived in six summers. Almost every year I’ve had to find a new place. Even when they work out, you still feel like you’re in someone else’s living room, tiptoeing around their things.

    “This is one of the first places I’ve lived where we could really make it ours, furnish it from the beginning. The rent is more than I’ve ever had to pay, but I do feel like it’s worth it. One of the huge things, each unit has its own washer and dryer. To not have to spend your day off at the laundromat is major.

    “The view is great, the location is wonderful. It was really easy to make it feel homey and comfortable here. I feel like it’s our own little community — we trade spices and cups of sugar. And it’s just a relief to know we can live year-round at the same price.”

    Chris Kosiavelon, restaurant worker and drag queen, performing as Bang:

    Harbor Hill started out as a time share, but, following a bankruptcy sale, it is now a town-owned market-rate rental complex. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    “It’s nice because it’s more secure. You don’t have to find new housing every six months. I also feel like we got really lucky with this apartment — it’s big and spacious and beautiful. It’s a three-bedroom with vaulted ceilings, and there’s two decks and four bathrooms!

    “I will say, the walls, you can’t hear anything from the apartment next door, they’re solid. The floors though — the people above and below each other can kind of hear everything. It’s been an issue for several different people in this building. When it was time shares, maybe insulation just wasn’t a priority. When you’re here long-term, it’s definitely something you notice.”

    Glenn Koss, bartender, Ross’ Grill and Boatslip Beach Club:

    “Before I moved here, I lived in the same summer place and winter place for three years, moving back and forth. Then I had a year-round cottage, but it was really small. I like how much space I have here. I also really like that the town owns it, and it’s not something that someone can suddenly sell, and turn into weekly rentals. You know how people like to flip homes.

    “I feel really safe here,” says Harbor Hill resident Glenn Koss. (Photo courtesy Glenn Koss)

    “There’s a lot of variation — some of the apartments have pretty new kitchens, and some really don’t. I picked mine because it has a big washer and dryer, and new cabinets that look nice. There’s new carpet and windows in mine too, but they don’t all have that.

    “There’s definitely noise between units. I don’t know if it’s more up and down or side to side, but we can hear each others’ music whenever it’s playing.

    “I feel really safe here. For four years, all my life was in a storage unit in Pennsylvania. Everything is here now, and it feels really good. This place is big, it’s clean, and it’s mine.”

    Trevor Pittinger, co-owner, Provincetown Brewing Company:

    “Even though I’d only been here a year, I really went through the spin cycle, so to speak, of housing. Three of us paid $24,000, up front, for my first summer housing, which was really a glorified bunkhouse. It was a three-bedroom, but it was a bunkhouse, and it wasn’t winterized, so it was really chilly when I first got there.

    “I really went through the spin cycle, so to speak, of housing,” says Trevor Pittinger, who shares his Harbor Hill apartment with João Santos. (Photo courtesy Emily Sgarlat)

    “There’s a huge common deck here that hasn’t really been used yet because of Covid. A couple of grills, and picnic tables. Some folks have started planting vegetables. I believe when the pandemic settles down, this will start to feel like a real neighborhood.

    “To me, it has this Fire Island Pines kind of charm. I feel like I’m on the boardwalk in the Pines when I walk these stairs.

    “It’s still expensive. It’s $2,000 for a two bedroom, and electric on top of that. I’m paying the same amount as I did in New York City. But, for what I have in terms of space, and the view … just to have agency over your own space is a privilege in Provincetown.

    “I would say it’s the first place I’ve lived since I left home for college, that actually feels like my home. I really feel that way. Nothing’s perfect, but I love this place.”

    OP-ED

    Use Rooms Tax Dollars for Housing

    Local governments must intervene to solve year-round rental crisis

    By

    Over the past two decades, year-round rental apartments have all but vanished on the Outer Cape as their owners have discovered how much more lucrative it is to rent their homes and condos to visitors to our beautiful region in the summer and shoulder seasons. The advent of online rental platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway (now VRBO) accelerated the loss of rental housing for people who live and work in our communities year-round.

    A 2018 study, conducted by the Public Policy Center at UMass Dartmouth for the town of Provincetown, documented how workers cannot compete with visitors who are willing and able to pay premium prices for short-term rentals. The simple truth is that property owners stand to earn significantly more through short-term rentals than year-round market-rate rentals.

    The study found that renting a unit on Airbnb every night from May through September could potentially net more than $34,000 annually. Renting that same unit year-round to a local worker for $1,300 per month generates only $15,600 in a year — a difference of $18,400. Even if the property owner rented that unit for only half of the summer season, it would still produce slightly more income than it would if the unit were rented year-round.

    The only way to solve the year-round rental housing shortage is for local governments to intervene and address these market forces. Fortunately, our towns now have an important tool to counter this threat to the future of a viable year-round community.

    The Provincetown Independent reported on Jan. 21 that the four Outer Cape towns collected over $3.8 million in new revenue thanks to the expansion of the rooms occupancy tax to cover short-term rentals of 30 days or less. While it may be tempting for town leaders to use this new revenue to fund growing town budgets, we believe it is critical to dedicate these funds to the creation of year-round rental housing to mitigate the impact short-term vacation rentals have had on the year-round housing market.

    Despite significant challenges in siting and financing new, affordable rental housing, all four Outer Cape towns are working hard to address the lack of year-round rental housing for working families. More resources are needed, however, particularly to meet the needs of our low- and very-low-income neighbors, as well as families that earn too much to qualify for traditional affordable housing but still can’t afford housing prices that have been driven out of sight by the vacation rental market.

    Time is running out for addressing our region’s rental housing shortage — a shortage that threatens the success of local businesses and the health of our year-round communities. We call on municipal leaders to dedicate a minimum of 50 percent of this new revenue for housing initiatives. This new funding stream will allow our towns to partner with developers to address the broad range of housing needs on the Outer Cape and ensure that year-round, affordable housing is available for a diverse populace.

    From the senior struggling to live on Social Security, to the young family with two incomes earning too much for traditional affordable housing, too many of our neighbors who have grown up here or whose families have lived here for generations are now being priced out of the Outer Cape and forced to leave. We have a rare opportunity to make significant investments in the future of our towns by using the rooms occupancy tax revenues to leverage additional state and federal funding, and to bring an end to the housing insecurity that threatens so many residents.

    Jay Coburn is CEO of the Community Development Partnership. Hadley Luddy is CEO of the Homeless Prevention Council.

    HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Is OK’d, but Foes May Appeal

    A bitter controversy will have lasting effects

    By

    TRURO — After more than a year of hearings, on Jan. 14, the Cloverleaf — which will give Truro 39 units of mostly affordable rental housing at 22 Highland Road — received unanimous approval from the zoning board of appeals.

    The decision caps a year of sometimes acrimonious disagreement, confusion, and misinformation spread among neighbors by advocates including Docs for Truro Safe Water (a group of advanced-degree holders who are not hydrogeologists).

    It’s unknown if a group of residents calling themselves the Pond Village Watershed Community will appeal the decision. Their attorney, Jason “Jay” Talerman of Mead, Talerman and Costa in Millis, said his clients “are pretty disappointed” but have not yet called for an appeal. They have 20 days from Jan. 14 to appeal the ZBA’s decision.

    The developer’s rendering of the Cloverleaf affordable housing project on Highland Road in North Truro.

    They had wanted a hydrogeologic study to see where wastewater leaving the Cloverleaf housing would go. And they wanted a back-up system to be in place in case the planned BioMicrobics BioBarrier wastewater system failed.

    Though the approval ended a year of suspense for developer Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource Inc., Malone remained on guard after the vote.

    “It has been a long process,” Malone said. “I appreciate the diligence of ZBA members, chairman, and town staff. And I am hopeful that the final comments of Pond Village community attorney Jay Talerman are an indication that there won’t be an appeal of the decision.”

    Art Hultin, the zoning board’s chair, struck a similarly wary tone.

    “We can only hope there is smooth sailing for the applicant,” Hultin said.

    The Pond Village group includes about 75 people, many with addresses on Bay View Drive, Pond Road, and Twine Field Road. If they do decide to appeal the ruling, they must first prove in court that they have “standing.” Owners of property within 300 feet of a proposed project have an automatic right to appeal; those beyond that distance must show that they face potential harm from the development, Talerman said.

    In this case, Talerman said, the ZBA members have acknowledged the already existing poor water quality in the Pond Village neighborhood, which he believes could give his clients standing.

    Wastewater is what opponents of the project say they are worried about. Some Pond Road properties have wells with low water quality, most likely created by the existence of malfunctioning septic systems and cesspools in the low-lying village. Its residents argue that the area is vulnerable. Some have proposed that the town provide the neighborhood with a municipal water system.

    An independent review of the Cloverleaf wastewater system by Horsley Witten Group engineer Mark Nelson found that the system planned for the development can remove nitrogen from the wastewater to a very low level — 5 milligrams per liter (5 mg/L). A traditional Title 5 septic system treats effluent to a concentration of 35 mg/L, according to Brian Baumgaertel, director of the Mass. Alternative Septic System Test Center in Mashpee.

    A series of conditions regarding monitoring the system are included in the ZBA’s approval. If the treated effluent should exceed 10 mg/L, Malone would have one week to notify the board of health, and then get the system fixed, said Darrell Shedd of the ZBA.

    To answer the neighbors’ call for stricter review of the water quality leaving the site, the developer agreed to install a third monitoring well.

    Given all the work on the wastewater system, Fred Todd of the ZBA said, “We’ve come a tremendous distance … I feel really confident it will perform and I feel very supportive of it.”

    All but six of the 39 Cloverleaf units will be rented to people at restricted income levels. Those income limits were left somewhat flexible in the ZBA’s approved comprehensive permit so that Malone can work with funding sources at the state level. There will be 20 units available to people earning up to 80 percent of area median income (AMI), and eight units for people earning up to 120 percent of AMI. Five were not assigned an income eligibility level pending funding requirements; six units will be rented at market rate.

    The Cloverleaf would be the largest affordable housing development in Truro. Its path so far has been rocky, and the surrounding controversies will have lasting effects. For one, Peter Herridge, a member of the planning board, was censured by the select board in November for deceitful and abusive language, including calling the project developer “a little scumbag.” Herridge agreed to stop talking about the Cloverleaf as a member of the planning board, but he defended his vulgar outbursts and lies on his desire to “preserve Truro from overdevelopment.”

    The select board voted Jan. 12 to place an article on the annual town meeting warrant to pursue an engineering study to investigate the cost of giving residents of Pond Road and Twine Field Road access to the public water supply that is shared by Provincetown and North Truro. The estimated cost of the study is $77,670.

    NATIONAL SEASHORE

    Planning Board OK’s Doane Rd. Project

    Seashore’s position on building size is rejected

    By

    EASTHAM — A plan to demolish three dwellings and a garage in the Cape Cod National Seashore and build a 3,481-square-foot house and garage in their place received site plan approval and a word of caution from the planning board at an Oct. 21 hearing.

    Planning board chair Dan Coppelman noted a July 31, 2020, letter from the U.S. Dept. of the Interior regarding the project at 885 Doane Road, between Nauset Light and Coast Guard Beach.

    “They specifically say if this project proceeds to obtain board approval based on the altered and revisionist accounting of zoning potential by the applicants, moving forward with the project would subject the property to revocation of the certificate of suspension of condemnation,” said Coppelman. “Where does that leave the applicants in this?”

    Both the town’s zoning bylaw for the Seashore district and the Seashore’s use guidelines for private property within the park limit expansion to 50 percent of the habitable square footage on the property as of Sept. 1, 1959. But the Seashore and the town disagree on how many dwellings should be included in the calculation.

    DoaneRd
    The Doane Road property in the Seashore where owners wish to tear down buildings and build a larger house. (Photo Linda Culhane)

    The Seashore has maintained that only the main residence on a property with multiple dwellings should be included. At an Oct. 1 hearing, Eastham’s zoning board of appeals followed town counsel’s recommendation that the square footage of all three dwellings should be included in the calculation and overturned a decision by Eastham’s previous building commissioner that a special permit was required based on calculations using just one of the dwellings.

    “I’m not saying I have a problem with the calculation including three residences,” said Coppelman. “I guess they’re proceeding with full caution, knowing that ultimately if they decided to revoke your approval, then you’ll have to deal with it at that point in time.”

    National Park planner Lauren McKean noted at the Oct. 1 meeting that the town’s zoning needed some revision to agree with the park’s guidelines.

    Attorney Ben Zehnder, representing property owners Jeffrey and Mary McAleney, said he didn’t know whether the Seashore would move to revoke the certificate.

    “We’ll certainly address that question if it comes up,” said Zehnder. “I don’t think it’s a question for this board to consider, meaning you have to work under your own bylaws and either issue or deny approval based on the standards in your own bylaws.”

    “I agree with you that it’s not, in my opinion, part of this board’s purview to shall we say regulate that particular aspect of the project,” said Coppelman. “I’m willing to accept the zoning board of appeals position that the application for the square footage is correct.”

    The planning board approved the plan, subject to conditions including board of health approval prior to issuance of a building permit.

    CO-OWNERSHIP

    New Company Bets on Multiple Owners of Luxury Cape Homes

    Pacaso’s offerings resemble time-shares, but owners have equity

    By

    A new California-based real estate company that packages one-half to one-eighth ownership shares in luxury homes is eyeing Cape Cod as part of its opening strategy, which includes 26 cities in 10 states.

    Pacaso, which was launched three weeks ago by former Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff and former CEO of Dotloop (now owned by Zillow) Austin Allison, identified Barnstable County as one of the top 20 areas in the country in terms of buyer interest, said Katie Curnutte, a company spokeswoman.

    “We have no listings right now on the Cape, but there definitely will be,” she said.

    The model sounds like a time-share: Buyers can purchase a half, quarter, or eighth of a home, and Pacaso offers financing options. Maintenance and property management expenses are arranged by Pacaso, which collects the funds to pay the bills without a markup. For its participation, Pacaso charges co-owners 10 percent of the initial purchase price and, annually, an additional one percent of the purchase price as a fee.

    A one-eighth share gives a buyer six weeks a year.

    The owners of a single home could remain completely anonymous to each other, as Pacaso handles all the furnishings, decorations, scheduling, and sales.

    The difference: co-owners have equity, which is not true of time-shares. And the co-ownership is of a single home, not a condo or hotel room.

    When owners sell their portion, they can earn a profit, as they would with any home in a good market, Curnutte said.

    “The real comparative isn’t time-shares, it’s [with] three families who co-own a house,” she said. “They typically develop an LLC, but they have to decide who pays what, and if one wants to sell, that’s a problem for the others. If you default, the other owners are in trouble. But in this case, Pacaso would take care of the default.”

    The model is meant to address that feeling that you’re wasting your investment when it stands empty 10 months a year, Curnette added.

    If an owner doesn’t feel a property is being fully utilized, they could ask Pacaso to sell a portion of it. These will be high-end properties — at least double the median price of homes in the area — so, over $1 million on the Outer Cape. They must be turn-key in order for Pacaso to be interested, she said.

    Potential buyers can also ask Pacaso to help find them a house, as well as partners.

    “The mission is to democratize second-home ownership, which is pretty out of reach right now,” said Whitney Curry, Pacaso’s chief marketing officer.

    It allows more people into the million-dollar-and-up market and could free up demand for the $500,000 and under homes for local, year-round buyers, Curnette said.

    Local real estate brokers expressed skepticism.

    “I like anything that brings more real estate to the market, but I’m interested in how the details work, given our short seasonal market dynamic,” said Ryan Castle, head of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors.

    Co-owners will be able to reserve holidays, like Christmas and the Fourth of July, on a rotating basis so everyone gets a chance at, at least, one holiday a year. But the company has no plans to address seasonal use, Curnette said.

    Fractional ownership of vacation homes is not new, Castle said. Along with the traditional time-share industry, there are companies such as Lifestyle Asset Group, which is based in Fort Collins, Colo. It’s currently offering shares in a $2.6 million Chatham home: for $515,000, the buyer gets four weeks a year, according to Lifestyle’s website. In that model, the buyers pay a one-time seven percent fee (of the purchase price) and $6,000 a year for “concierge services,” management of the property, accounting, reservations, and reciprocity with other homes — a time-share-type agreement that allows use of other resort properties, said Rich Keith, a senior partner with Lifestyle.

    The property is pre-arranged to be sold in seven or eight years, which, Castle said, addresses the difficult part of fractional ownership — the exit strategy.

    Castle does not think fractional ownership of luxury homes will fundamentally change the real estate market or drive up prices.

    But a 2017 study showed that Airbnb and VRBO raised both rents and real estate prices and harmed the housing market for year-rounders.

    Kathleen Nagle, of Kinlin Grover Real Estate, said co-ownership isn’t as attractive in practice as it sounds.

    “We sell more houses that siblings or friends have bought together, and it just does not work out,” she said. “Often, parents will sell the house prior to dying, because passing it down to multiple siblings can be a problem.”

    WORKFORCE HOUSING

    Dormitory-style Housing Faces ZBA Review

    Neighbors object to scale of building that could house up to 144

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Both supporters and opponents of the dormitory-style housing project scheduled for review by the zoning board of appeals at its Sept. 17 meeting agree on one thing: it’s hugely significant. Given that it could house 112 seasonal workers and 16 to 32 year-round residents, and is 54 yards long, it’s not hard to see why it generates strong opinions.

    Many of the public comments submitted in support of Patrick Patrick’s proposal to build a dormitory on his family’s land cite the dire lack of worker housing.

    “Our town’s viability is at stake,” wrote business owner Julie Knapp. “We need summer staff, and there is just nowhere for them to live. Please consider this project as essential to our survival as businesses.”

    “We agree that the greatest immediate threat to the sustainability of Provincetown is the shortage of housing,” wrote the Provincetown Business Guild. “Worker housing is a number one priority in Provincetown,” the economic development committee wrote.

    Abutters and neighbors of the proposed building speak in equally strong terms about the impact the building could have. The density of people, the traffic, the noise, and the physical scale of the building have sparked outrage in the people who would be living next to it.

    On Sept. 17, or at a later meeting, if the hearing is continued, the ZBA must decide whether to grant three special permits. If it does, the project would then go to the planning board.

    Special Permits

    The ZBA process tends to be highly technical, based on zoning rules. Broader questions, about congestion or noise, are normally deferred to the planning board.

    Of the three special permits Patrick Patrick is requesting from the ZBA, one is to have 20 parking spaces instead of 49, as would normally be required of a development this size. The second would allow him to fully dormer the third story instead of the usual 50 percent under the “two-and-a-half story” formula. The third would authorize a “deviation from scale.”

    At the upcoming ZBA meeting, expect to hear a lot about “scale.”

    Scale is used to quantify a building’s overall “bigness” — its total volume. The zoning bylaw allows a new building to be scaled 25 percent larger than the “neighborhood average.” Anything beyond that requires a special permit. Patrick’s dormitory would be 940 percent larger than the neighborhood average — that is, about 10 times bigger than the houses near it.

    These are the plans for Patrick Patrick’s dormitory housing project, which the ZBA will be reviewing. (Source Provincetown ZBA)

    Special permits are not uncommon. But the people who live nearby expressed shock at a departure of this magnitude.

    John Brady lives in one of the houses next to the project; he hired local lawyer Robin Reid to represent him before the ZBA.

    “Some [ZBA] members were more concerned about, ‘Is there enough bicycle parking?’ ” Brady told the Independent. “And we’re sitting here saying this is 900 percent bigger than any dwelling in the neighborhood.

    “I understand that the town has a problem with workforce housing,” he continued. “I think distributing workforce housing throughout the town is less impactful.”

    John Stafford also lives nearby; he and Brady are both members of the newly formed Shank Painter Heights neighborhood association.

    “This building is so proportionally out of scale to why we all chose to live in this neighborhood,” said Stafford. “This is an 80 percent owner-occupied year-round neighborhood. We are all in our 50s and 60s and 70s and 80s. … We are year-round residents with the notion that for the next 40 years we are going to be year-round residents.”

    John Crowley lives in the house next door to Brady’s; he grew up in Provincetown and has worked at Spiritus and Bubala’s for nearly 30 years. It took him five years to build his house on an empty parcel of land he bought in 1995.

    “We have rules,” said Crowley. “You can read the rules and anticipate what can be around you. This isn’t something I ever imagined.”

    The Zoning Map

    The ZBA calculations compare the scale of Patrick’s proposed building to abutting residences — but Patrick’s lot isn’t residential. It’s beyond a line that separates the “general commercial” zone around Shank Painter Road from the “residential 1” zone around Ship’s Way.

    Stop & Shop, Cumberland Farms, Mac’s Fish House, and the Province Landing affordable housing development are all nearby in the general commercial zone. The bylaw explicitly lists dormitory or employee housing as a permitted principal use in the general commercial zone.

    The land where the Patrick Patrick dormitory housing project would be situated, as viewed from the Ship’s Way neighborhood. (Photo Paul Benson)

    Patrick’s proposed dormitory would have a volume of 203,192 cubic feet. An existing building on Patrick’s property — a warehouse with artists’ studios — has 150,000 cubic feet. But “neighborhood average” calculations always discard the largest and smallest nearby structure: in this case, the warehouse and another nearby residence. Thus, the “neighborhood average scale” is the average of two nearby houses, 21,632 cubic feet.

    These are the rules, but the ZBA can issue special permits that deviate from them.

    Brady, Stafford, and Crowley each said they do not dispute Patrick’s right to use and make money from his property. They agree that the land is zoned for commercial use. Stafford noted that other neighboring commercial properties don’t generate much noise at midnight or later, when seasonal work shifts might end. Though public comments to the ZBA have mentioned density, congestion, light pollution, and noise, those are typically planning board issues.

    Stafford also questioned whether high density housing makes sense in a pandemic or post-pandemic world. The 28 dorm rooms, accommodating 112 people on two floors, share one common kitchen, and Patrick’s diagrams don’t show much usable outdoor space.

    “That is something we will certainly get into with more detail and finesse as we get into site plan review [at the Planning Board],” Patrick told the Independent. “We do have a landscape architect coming on board, who has done designs for workforce housing before. They will work on things like visual screening, acoustic screening, making it look pretty. The fact that the patio is 10 feet below grade, you’ve already done a ton of acoustic screening, just using the terrain.”

    Communications between Patrick and the neighborhood association have been almost entirely conducted through lawyers since sometime in February or March, according to Patrick. The ZBA’s decision, when it comes, could be contested by either party in land court. In that case, we may not know about the project’s prospects for quite some time.

    PRESERVATION

    A Cottage in The Colony Is for Sale

    With death of longtime owner come fears for future of Wellfleet landmark

    By

    WELLFLEET — A home listed for sale off Chequessett Neck Road has raised the blood pressure of preservationists because it is part of a cottage colony that has for 72 years attracted famous tenants and is considered the jewel in the crown of Wellfleet’s midcentury modern properties.

    A duplex cottage at The Colony. (Photo courtesy Cape Cod Modern House Trust)

    The house at 25 Way #055, on the market for $625,000, is among the 14 original buildings designed by socialite and architect Nathaniel Saltonstall and architect Oliver Morton in 1948. Named the Mayo Hill Colony Club, and now known as The Colony, it has been a summer haven for such culturati as Lionel and Diana Trilling, Faye Dunaway, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, publisher Alfred Knopf Jr., New Yorker editor Robert Gottlieb, and Sears, Roebuck heiress Adele Rosenwald and her husband, child psychiatrist David Levy.

    This pedigree was cited in a 2004 application to the Cape Cod Commission to designate The Colony as a District of Critical Planning Concern and to have it listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

    That process was never completed, said Sarah Korjeff, historic preservationist at the Cape Cod Commission. It got started in 2001, when another of the original cottages was sold and the owner, Edith Keyes Harris, had demolition plans. The effort ended when Harris’s plans changed, Korjeff said.

    That now leaves the seven remaining rental cottages in a precarious position, though Jeffrey Stefani, who inherited The Colony from his mother, Eleanor, told the Independent on Monday that he has no intention of selling off the entire property without trying to preserve it.

    “I’m not rushing into anything,” Stefani said. “I grew up here and I’ve been here since 1963. I have a strong desire to preserve this place.”

    Along with the cottage, Stefani is selling a 0.7-acre parcel of undeveloped land for $399,000 as a three-bedroom lot, according to the real estate listing.

    Peter McMahon, founder of the Cape Cod Modern House Trust, is concerned.

    “I’m trying to see if there is a way to get some sort of protections on [The Colony] before it gets whittled away,” McMahon said.

    This building in The Colony, the only one visible from the street, was originally a gallery and is now a home. The owners plan to add a second story to the back. (Photo courtesy Cape Cod Modern House Trust)

    The units are mini relics — 400 to 800 square feet each — of the Bauhaus movement. Tucked into the pines of Chequessett Neck, all that’s visible from the road is a sand-colored cement bas-relief wall by Xavier Gonzalez and an accompanying flat-roofed cottage. This building, now occupied by Jeffrey and his wife, Mihae, was originally an art gallery for the glamorous guests who were coaxed to stay in the cottages by Saltonstall, an openly gay Boston Brahmin who championed modern art and architecture.

    “As both architect and proprietor, Saltonstall used his social network to entice wealthy patrons of contemporary art — and artists themselves, if they could pay — to little-known Wellfleet,” wrote McMahon and Christine Cipriani in Cape Cod Modern: Midcentury Architecture and Community on the Outer Cape.

    The cottages are still for rent. Aside from Jeffrey Stefani’s home and the one that’s currently for sale, the others are seasonal only, and all have fireplaces, Stefani said.

    After Saltonstall, The Colony had been owned and run by Eleanor Stefani since 1963.

    Unlike Saltonstall, she did not require social or bank references, but, Jeffrey Stefani added, “She put people through an interview process, because she wanted to like her guests.”

    Eleanor fought to preserve the cottages with period art and furniture. Jeffrey and Mihae Stefani have done their best to continue. But the reality is that there has been a good deal of deferred maintenance, and “the place could absorb $1 million and you wouldn’t even notice it,” said McMahon, who led the movement to preserve Wellfleet’s stock of Bauhaus-inspired houses.

    The sale of the two-bedroom, two-bath cottage with two fireplaces would not change the rental of the other cottages, Stefani said. But change is definitely underway.

    The Wellfleet Historical Commission on May 6 granted approval for the Stefanis to add a second story to their home, the former art gallery.

    The historical commission members, and McMahon himself, agreed that the addition’s design and materials by architect Sibel Asantugrul, designer of Whaler’s Wharf in Provincetown, would blend well with what’s there. The two-story addition would be visible from the road, but would be constructed on the garden side, giving much needed kitchen space and a new bedroom to the former gallery.

    These plans for an addition were submitted to the Wellfleet Historical Commission. They show the current design on the right and the proposed addition on the left. The drawings at top are what would be seen from the road.

    In the long term, Stefani said, he is trying to figure out how to preserve The Colony. Renting probably isn’t realistic as the complex needs so much maintenance, McMahon said. Stefani is considering a condominium conversion in which preservation of the original designs could be deeded and enforceable, he said.

    “With a condo conversion I can write in the rules,” Jeffrey said. “But it’s complicated and there are only so many attorneys who do this kind of work.”

    If it were added to the National Register of Historic Places, that would prevent demolition but not modest changes, Korjeff said. And it would not stop the property from being subdivided, which, McMahon said, would be a shame, because the cottage colony as a whole is so special.

    Korjeff said that Wellfleet could use Community Preservation Act funds to buy the property and then sell it off with restrictions. This has been done elsewhere in the state, she said. Essentially, public funds pay the difference between the price for a home with architectural restrictions and one without.

    McMahon said he is trying to bring in the nonprofit Trustees of Reservations for help in explaining the tax benefits of adding preservation covenants to property sales. Such restrictions could be a model for other town properties.

    “When owners become elderly, that’s the time to put in preservation restrictions,” McMahon said.

    DEVELOPMENT

    More Condos, Less Impact

    Klink’s Route 6 development in Eastham won’t exit via Wiley Lane

    By

    EASTHAM — There’s been a meeting of the minds between Tim Klink and the residents of Wiley Lane, the cul-de-sac behind the Route 6 property he wants to develop.

    Rather than using Wiley Lane as an outlet for his condominium project, Klink, the founder of Coastal Companies, has worked out an access point from the state highway with a hammerhead turnaround for fire vehicles.

    “I commend you guys for working closely with the neighbors and trying to find something that worked well,” planning board vice chair Lauren Barker said at the board’s June 17 meeting. At that session, Klink withdrew his original proposal and invited comments on the latest iteration of the plan. Formal action by the board is expected at its July 15 meeting.

    The redrawn borders combine the first planned location, a wooded lot at 4615 Route 6, just north of the Shell station, with a developed property to its north at 4655 Route 6; both would be cleared in the new plan. Klink had planned another development for the latter, a mix of commercial and residential units that might have included a coffee shop. Following review by the board of health regarding the septic system at 4655, however, he decided to combine the lots into one condo project. The original plan’s 16 units have been increased by four, and a swimming pool has been added.

    When the board reviewed the original proposal on March 18, members of 8 of the 12 households on Wiley Lane called in to protest.

    “I think housing is important, but to open up Wiley Lane for traffic, to a shortcut away from Route 6, would be an inconvenience for any of us living here,” Evelyn Mullen said that night. The closest abutter, Debbie Canyock, objected to the introduction of “a significant amount of traffic” from the proposed complex, “more than double what we have” on the street.

    Developer Tim Klink wants to increase Eastham’s housing inventory with 20 new market-rate condos on this wooded Route 6 site north of the Shell station. (Photo Ed Maroney)

    Zoning maps show a potential extension of Wiley Lane to Route 6 that has never been completed. Klink’s ownership of 4615 Route 6 gave him the right to make the connection, but in March, board chair Art Autorino asked him to “seriously consider” the criticism of the Wiley Lane outlet. “If you eliminated that,” he said, “most of the abutter dissent would go away.”

    At the June 17 meeting, Klink said that installation of the hammerhead turnaround “eliminates the possibility that Wiley will ever be developed out to Route 6.” The new plan shows an extension of privacy plantings “way down past Wiley Lane,” he added. “There are some trees there that we will leave as well. We also extended a fence along the westerly property line to provide some buffer between our proposed development and the Canyocks on the other side.”

    The developer said he hopes his market-rate townhouses will attract buyers eager to downsize from large homes that now have an “empty nest” feel, though the townhouses will not be age-restricted.

    “We’re hoping this project becomes a model,” Klink said. “It’s really the first proposal under the new [zoning regulations for the district]. We’ve been working on this about two years. We hope it will be seen as the basis for going forward with other development in town.”

    Board member Jim Kivlehan asked about accommodations for pedestrians. “I walked the sidewalk on Route 6,” he said. “Cars are flying down that road. This property has a nice location relative to Ben & Jerry’s and the restaurants across the street. If a walking path from the street in the middle of the development to the southeast corner [could be made], you don’t have to walk that Route 6 sidewalk. Then you’re over by the gas station and there’s plenty of room.”

    Klink said he plans to create a berm between the property and the state highway using the fill from digging cellar holes for the units. Earlier plans had called for an internal pathway, and he said he’ll “make sure to put that back in.”

    Town Planner Paul Lagg said Eastham is working with the state dept. of transportation on traffic and safety upgrades for Route 6.

    “Eventually, we do expect that the sidewalk will be fixed up, widened, and be on both sides,” he said. “We’re trying to also consolidate curb cuts. Tim is consolidating two curb cuts in this area, and we’re looking at how we can align them at 90-degree angles.”

    “It looks like a great project,” Barker told Klink. “It’s a beautiful design and fits the standard well.” Noting the development’s potential to attract those downsizing from large homes, she said, “I think it’s really important, ones like this, to get the market moving again.”

    AT RISK AT WORK

    Six People, 12 Jobs, One Bathroom

    Dense seasonal housing presents a new hazard

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — Short-term rentals bring in visitors and help pay the town’s bills. Year-round rentals are the endangered species that we keep trying to preserve and expand. Seasonal rentals are a sort of middle child — rarely the center of attention.

    Seasonal rentals, which are used by seasonal workers, are supposed to be registered with the town, certified, and inspected for safety. Not much of Provincetown’s seasonal inventory is actually registered, though. And this year, in addition to the normal concerns about smoke alarms, fire exits, and safe occupancy levels, there’s something much more serious afoot.

    “Our health department knows how interconnected things are here,” said Steve Katsurinis, chair of the board of health. “People are coworkers and friends and housemates. The coronavirus could ripple through that matrix and impact business in a big way, and somewhat randomly.”

    Staff bikes on a rack echo the shoulder-to-shoulder mode of working and living in Provincetown during the summer. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Many seasonal workers live in two-, three-, or four-bedroom residences. A three-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment is not uncommon, and it can legally house six people. In a normal season, most of those six people would be working double shifts at two or even three different local businesses in the course of a week.

    That means if one person in that household were infected and possibly asymptomatic, there’s a real risk of it spreading to the other five. There could be a wave of temporary closures as a result.

    The point of contact tracing, as the Independent reported last week, is to stay ahead of these scenarios. And the point of workplace rules, social distancing, and protective gear is to make sure that an asymptomatic customer or employee isn’t in sufficiently prolonged contact with anyone to result in a workplace transmission. But what about transmission where workers live?

    Early in the pandemic, when tests weren’t readily available, the whole household would have been quarantined together for 14 days, explained Sarah Endres, the director of public health at the Visiting Nurse Association, a longstanding nonprofit that is managing most of the Cape’s contact tracing efforts. Now, with rapid tests available in Hyannis, it’s more likely that contact tracers would direct everyone in a house to isolate until their test results came back in 24 to 48 hours. At that point, a quite frequent result is that the household is split — two members in one bedroom test positive, and the others all test negative. What happens then?

    People who test negative can still go to work, said Katsurinis. The sick people in the household would be ordered to self-isolate from the well people as best they could, said Endres. Transmission in these circumstances is somewhat lower than one might imagine, both Katsurinis and Endres pointed out. “Transmission has been sometimes but not always when it comes to sharing a kitchen or a bathroom,” according to Endres.

    “Sometimes but not always” is not exactly a reassuring formula for the well person, her coworkers, her employers, and her customers — or her sick housemates, for that matter. So, what if the well people wanted to move out and give their sick housemates space to recover?

    “When people say, ‘Should I go live at my mom’s?’ or ‘Should I go stay with a friend?’ Sure!” said Endres. “If you have that option, and you have to work, and you’re in the service industry, it’s not a bad idea. We do try to teach people what isolation is, and how you can do it in your home without the dramatic move-out-of-the-house stuff. We try to help people through the process without those drastic measures.”

    The last time Provincetown faced multiple cases, though, it was during the April stay-at-home orders. Most businesses were closed, and few people were working. In a reopened economy, going to work every day while also living with a person with coronavirus puts many more people at risk.

    “We are going to have to work with people one-on-one to evaluate the options,” said Katsurinis. “I don’t have a good answer for you on how that’s going to be handled. We have been working on this problem for about three weeks. We have identified some options, [but] we have not figured out how we’ll pay for them, or if they’re even viable. But we do see the problem, and we will try to come up with solutions.”

    “The town has a community support liaison,” said Town Manager Robin Craver, “who helps connect people to the services they need, whether it is looking for housing, health services, or basic needs such as finding food pantries or getting a meal from SKIP. The liaison also has a ‘participant need fund,’ and this is money that can go directly to help those in need.

    “We are taking a good look at what role town government might have in this situation,” Craver added. “There are so many variables. It will depend on the circumstances and the scope of the problem.”

    SELECT CANDIDATES

    Incumbent Wants a Larger Vision for the Town

    Louise Venden’s priorities are meeting housing needs and future costs

    By

    PROVINCETOWN — After three years on the finance committee and three years on the select board, Louise Venden is running for a second term. Venden owned a nine-room guest house in Boston before moving to Provincetown full-time, and she worked in real estate financing as well. She describes herself as focused on housing issues, municipal finance, and long-term planning.

    “I think I’ve gained the confidence of other board members in my observations about financial matters,” said Venden. “We need to make sure the budget and other policies we pass conform to a larger vision of where the town is going, what the needs are.”

    Venden cited the town-owned market-rate housing at Harbor Hill as an example of this focus. She joined the board of the Year-Round Market-Rate Rental Housing Trust last year because she was concerned about the project’s long-term financing. Making sure Harbor Hill is sustainable is a prerequisite for other housing efforts, said Venden.

    “We have very dramatic housing needs that are not going to be met by the marketplace here,” she explained. “I am concerned with where we are going on housing in the next three years, and making sure we have the resources to expand housing. Maushope is looking at an expansion — that’s low-income senior housing. We need to move forward with affordable housing at the V.F.W. As a community, we owe it to ourselves to make Harbor Hill work.

    “But we need to make sure this project is healthy, that the numbers are reliable, and that townspeople have confidence in the way we’re going about this,” she added. Venden pushed for a capital needs assessment for the property, to make sure future costs were better understood. She is also interested in finding out if there can be an infusion of private capital while maintaining the existing rental rules.

    Louise Venden. (Photo courtesy Louise Venden)

    A chain of other expenses also concern Venden, including the ill-fated police station plan. “We need to reform a committee of architects, engineers, Chief Golden, and people who have recently built police stations on the Cape, and see what we can come up with,” she said. “I thought the location was a good one,” she said of the site between Jerome Smith Road and Route 6. “The cost was not out of line, if you look at other stations that have been built on the Cape,” she argued. That proposal was sidetracked by a discussion of the V.F.W. site, she said. “I was really disappointed by that — it obscured the issue.”

    Venden wants to see a new police station proposed soon, because a new DPW facility is in line behind it.

    “Truro has a $20 million proposal for a DPW garage, and we have a $14 million DPW proposal,” she said. “I realize it flies in the face of some longstanding traditions, but I would like to see us collaborate on some of these things. I would hope that we could figure out a way to make that work.”

    Long-term planning is Venden’s recurring theme. “We need to make sure we focus the staff on not just this year or next year. We need to think about where to spend our money for the future of this town. We need to support a more diverse and resilient economy. A larger vision of where the town is going — that’s the select board’s role.”

    currents

    This Week in Eastham

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Go to eastham-ma.gov/calendar-by-event-type/16 and click on the meeting agenda for information about how to view and take part remotely.

    Thursday, June 4

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5 p.m.

    Tuesday, June 9

    • Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.

    Wednesday, June 10

    • Board of Cemetery Commissioners, 10 a.m.
    • Finance Committee, 5 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of June 1, the number of active Covid-19 cases in Eastham was 10.

    Chief Expresses Sympathy, Promises Respect

    In a Facebook post, Police Chief Adam Bohannon offered his prayers “for peace and justice — for George Floyd, his family, friends, and the entire city of Minneapolis.” He wrote that the “actions of several Minneapolis police officers,” which led to Floyd’s death, “have again tarnished the badge that most police officers work so hard to hold to a high standard.” Bohannon promised that his department “is committed to treating everyone, no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or any other background, with the utmost respect, fairness and civility.”

    Big Turnout for Uncontested Election

    Although there are no races for offices at the June 23 town election, more than 443 applications for mail-in ballots have been returned to the town clerk. “I think we’re going to have the highest turnout ever for an uncontested election,” select board chair Eckman said Monday. The polls will be open for in-person voting on June 23, but the town is encouraging citizens to cast their ballots via mail.

    Experience Counts

    With planning board chairman Art Autorino joining the select board after the June 23 election, Craig Nightingale agreed to serve an additional special term. Former chairman Dan Coppelman also said yes to a return engagement. Both were appointed to three-year terms Monday. William Craig, who previously served on the South Burlington, Vt., planning commission, was named an alternate.

    With the resignation of David Schropfer, the town’s member of the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority Advisory Board, the select board appointed Roz Diamond to the post. Her experience includes work for the New York City Dept. of Transportation and New Jersey Transit’s planning department. —Ed Maroney

    Select Board Takes Interest in Teardowns

    Prior to the planning board’s May 20 review of three teardown and rebuild projects, select board member Jamie Rivers read a statement from her board about the demolition of old houses, construction of larger houses and merging of lots. “It is the belief of the select board that several of these proposed building projects and projects in the not distant past do not line up with the content of the strategic plan,” Rivers said.

    The town’s five-year strategic plan includes efforts to offer financially attainable housing for people of all ages, supporting development that is appropriately located and scaled, and to improve conditions of existing properties that are deteriorating.

    “When we tear down affordable homes on sensible sized lots and approve merging of properties to build homes that are not in line with the current community character, we restrict access and affordability of housing,” Rivers said.

    Planning board chair Art Autorino said “Unless you are going to come up with a bylaw that limits the size of the building you can put on a piece of property —it’s difficult for us to say, ‘That house is too big.’ ” —Ryan Fitzgerald

    DEVELOPMENT

    ZBA Backs Commissioner’s Duplex Ruling

    A builder argues that his Route 6 project is really townhouses

    By

    EASTHAM — Developer Tim Klink of Coastal Companies failed to persuade the zoning board of appeals on May 7 to overrule the building commissioner’s decision that Klink’s proposed 16-unit Route 6 project should be considered duplexes and not townhouses.

    At the meeting, held virtually, Klink withdrew his proposal to construct a new mixed-use development at 4655 State Highway but asked to have his proposed housing development at 4615 State Highway be defined as townhouses.

    The project, first brought to the planning board in March, is in the Transitional Commercial District, in which duplex construction requires a variance while townhouses do not.

    The ZBA sided with Building Commissioner Tom Wingard in a 5-0 vote.

    Klink said in a May 11 email that he’s changing the project to combine the 4655 and 4615 parcels into one development and is consulting with his attorneys on his options for appealing the ZBA decision or possible litigation.

    “This is not the route I want to go but the ZBA did not conduct the hearing in a fair and equitable manner,” Klink wrote. “I was unable to present my position and discuss the facts.”

    The developer wants to build 16 units in eight buildings. The buildings would be separated by connectors made of noncombustible materials. Klink argued that the design fits the definition of townhouses in Eastham’s zoning bylaw.

    The town’s bylaw states that a townhouse is a single dwelling unit that is not above or below another unit and is separated from other dwelling units by a fire wall or party wall (another type of dividing wall).

    But Wingard determined that, based on the architectural layout of the development, the units should be considered duplexes under the state building code, which specifies that townhouses have three or more units in a building.

    ZBA chair Ed Schneiderhan said the connector design may have just been a way to try and turn the duplexes into townhouses when they aren’t by definition.

    “To me,” Wingard said, “a duplex is a duplex and townhouses, which often are not thoroughly defined, have three or more units by tradition and by building code and by conceptual design.”

    The zoning bylaw defines a duplex as a building containing living quarters for not more than two families, having not less than 1,000 square feet of floor area under a common or connected series of roofs, and containing in each dwelling all the requirements for a one-family dwelling.

    Klink said his project would have one- or two-bedroom units designed for singles or seniors and would be sold at market rate. He said townhouses with three or four units in each building would be too massive for the character of the town, and that there’s a limited market for that kind of development.

    “If I were to connect these buildings and make them conform to the townhouse building as per the building code, they would then be three or four units or more, all connected in one building,” Klink said. “I just felt they’re out of character for the look of Eastham and what we’re doing here.”

    Bob Bruns of the ZBA said he appreciated Klink’s effort but chose to stick with Wingard’s definition.

    “That particular district has been zoned for less massing,” Bruns said.

    Klink said more consideration should be given to allowing duplexes in the district.

    “I respect the building inspector and his interpretation of the building code,” he said. “The issue at hand was why duplexes are not allowed in the district and how to address that.”

    “I think the intent was to allow more density,” said Town Planner Paul Lagg. “We were more concerned with the building forms less than the use. So the townhouses made sense — build more of what we thought would be a village center style.”

    Lagg said revisiting the issue at town meeting may be necessary, given Klink’s comments that there may not be a market for such a development in this area of town.

    AFFORDABLE HOUSING

    Town Meeting Delay Stalls Housing Progress

    Water main upgrade, a first step, needs voter approval

    By

    WELLFLEET — Officials are pumping the brakes on the 95 Lawrence Road affordable housing project due to the delay of town meeting.

    The use of town-owned land at that location, surrounding the baseball field across from the Wellfleet Elementary School, for affordable housing was approved at town meeting last year. A task force has been working on a request for proposals to build 46 units of affordable housing on the site. But building there will require an upgrade to the town’s secondary water system for an expected cost of $3.5 million, which the town plans to split between bonds and a MassWorks Infrastructure Grant.

    The state has not yet released the grant application, but Wellfleet could have begun the project with a town meeting vote on authorizing bonds to get it started. Now, with town meeting delayed due to the pandemic, the project must be postponed for several months.

    The original water main system was installed in 1989 to serve about 40 properties near the transfer station. It has three wells near Coles Neck Road.

    The pipes were made intentionally small to cut costs, according to select board member Kathleen Bacon.

    A new main with larger pipes connected to wells on Old Kings Highway was installed in 2009. The new system took the role of the primary water main, while the original main from 1989 was demoted to secondary.

    That secondary system can pump 40,000 gallons of water per day, which is fine for the current usage, according to water commission chair Jim Hood, but not for the added housing.

    The chances of getting the MassWorks grant to pay for half the costs are good, said Carl Sussman of the Lawrence Road Project Task Force. But with town meeting delayed, voters cannot approve the bond until October.

    Without a way to guarantee developers that the new water main will be paid for and installed, town officials decided not to put out the request for proposals.

    “Uncertainty attracts fewer developers, potentially less qualified developers, or maybe no developers,” Sussman said.

    The delay is a disappointment for those working to bring Wellfleet closer to the state’s 10 percent goal for affordable housing. Last year, only 1.9 percent of the town’s year-round housing was affordable, according to McIlroy, though thanks to organizations like Habitat for Humanity, that number is now up to 2.45 percent.

    “The more we can do to encourage people to live in this vibrant town, the better,” said Sarah Pechukas Slivka, a member of the Wellfleet Housing Authority.

    She said she and many friends who have raised children in town are troubled by the fact that, once grown, their children cannot afford to stay. “It’s nice to think of a community where people can afford to buy homes. I can’t think of anything more important for the town.”

    HOUSING

    Mixed-Use Developments Planned for Route 6 in Eastham

    Neighbors want to prevent access via Wiley Lane cul-de-sac

    By

    EASTHAM — Two projects have been proposed for the Transition Commercial District, designed for small-scale commercial and residential development on Route 6 outside the Core Commercial Area. But neighbors have raised objections to allowing access via nearby Wiley Lane.

    CEO Tim Klink of Coastal Companies wants to develop two properties south of his 4665 Route 6 office. First, he would demolish two dilapidated buildings immediately to the south and build a mixed-use retail and residential building with four one-bedroom apartments on the second floor and a possible coffee shop on the first.

    Residential project
    Coastal Companies, with offices at right on southbound Route 6 in Eastham, wants to develop an adjacent property (the boarded-up building at left) as a mixed-use commercial-residential project and another property further south as a townhouse development. (Photos Ed Maroney)

    South of that, on a heavily wooded lot at 4615 Route 6, Klink wants to build 16 townhouse units in eight buildings. The one- and two-bedroom units would be condominiums, priced from the high $300,000s to high $400,000s.

    The developer is proposing that the homes be accessed from Route 6 southbound via a single curb cut shared with his 4655 property. To limit left-hand turns in or out by northbound traffic, the development would open at its southwest corner into a cul-de-sac at the end of Wiley Lane, which feeds into Massasoit Road.

    “We have rights to develop Wiley Lane all the way out to Route 6 … but it’s not in the best interests of the neighbors or of the town,” Klink said by telephone at a planning board hearing on March 18. Still, he said, “people living in this development should have the right to come and go with an access not on Route 6.”

    Also on the telephone for the remote meeting were representatives of 8 of the 12 households on Wiley Lane. All were opposed to use of the cul-de-sac.

    “I think housing is important, but to open up Wiley Lane for traffic, to a shortcut away from Route 6, would be an inconvenience for any of us living here,” Evelyn Mullen said.

    Debbie Canyock, who said her house is “right next to the property to be developed,” protested the introduction of “a significant amount of traffic, more than double what we have. It’s a quiet residential street. Most people bought their property for that reason. We have a daughter in a wheelchair we like to bring on street walks.”

    “The development in and of itself seems appropriate and appealing for the area,” said Mike McCarthy, but access through Wiley Lane “will change the character of the neighborhood drastically.”

    Driveway in Wiley Lane
    A proposed driveway in the Wiley Lane cul-de-sac would provide access to Massasoit Road for townhouse residents.

    Jane Whitney said she wouldn’t have bought her corner lot on Wiley and Massasoit if Wiley were not a cul-de-sac. “In the summer, Massasoit is backed up all the way to Route 6 by the Wellfleet movie theater,” she said. “There’s not a possibility this driveway will not be used as a cut-through.”

    Klink said alternatives had been explored, but it’s important “that people in the neighborhood have a safe way to get to Massasoit Road without going to Route 6.”

    Stephen Woodard said he couldn’t imagine why “anybody on the board would think this is a good idea. We started out with a representation that it would be senior housing [via age restrictions that were later dropped]. Then it’s not 100-percent owner-occupied; [they] encourage summer rentals.”

    Before hearing from the public, planning board members had praised the project and questioned some elements of it. Noting attractions such as Ben & Jerry’s and Dunkin Donuts down the street, Board Member Jim Kivlehan suggested “extending the sidewalk down to the traffic light” for pedestrians. Klink said he would consider a sidewalk connection to the proposed coffee shop.

    Vice Chair Lauren Barker said the development “accomplishes what we’re looking for overall: infill of empty spaces. The landscaping and architecture are really top-notch.” She approved the absence of age restrictions. “With our housing needs, there are single people of all ages,” she said. “These would be perfect for working people on the Outer Cape.”

    Asked by Barker how he would “prevent use of these as summer rentals,” Klink countered, “We would encourage it…. Some rentals are critical to our economic environment.”

    Chair Art Autorino asked Klink to “seriously consider” testimony regarding this “through way on Wiley Lane. If you eliminated that, most of the abutter dissent would go away.”

    “We’ll take a look at it,” Klink said. Both projects were continued to the board’s April 15 meeting.

    IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK

    Our House Was a Very Fine House

    In a place of long memories, a house forgotten

    By

    Ken Fulk speaks of his loving restoration of the Vorse House in Provincetown — a house, he says, that “we couldn’t afford to lose.” I write of one that was lost.

    When my husband, Kurt, and I bought the house at 244 Commercial St., in 1958, it was still a remarkably intact 18th-century building. We always spoke of it as the Pfeiffer house, after its previous owner, the artist Heinrich Pfeiffer, but it should more properly have been called the Chapman house, for Samuel Chapman, the earliest owner I could trace.

    Samuel’s life offers a revealing view of Provincetown history.

    244 Commercial St.
    244 Commercial St. (Photo courtesy David W. Dunlap/Building Provincetown)

    He was born in Pennsylvania, but joined and then accepted a commission in the British Army in 1776. In 1780, he was captured aboard a privateer and taken to Massachusetts. There, having been attainted of high treason in Pennsylvania, and found “particularly obnoxious as an officer of a corps employed to harass the inhabitants in stealing horses and similar offenses,” it was requested he not be exchanged in the ordinary way, but kept in custody. The ship must have been taken near our shores, though I have not yet been able to verify how it was that he was held in Truro. He was tried in 1781, and much to the disappointment of many, acquitted.

    Samuel Chapman’s custody in Truro did not prevent him from marrying Elizabeth Lombard, a local girl. As many Tory sympathizers did, the two left for Chester, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, where a son, Abraham, was born in 1790. The family returned to the Cape the following year, where another two sons and a daughter were born. In an ironic tit for tat, young Abraham, having adopted his generation’s American allegiances, was captured during the War of 1812 and taken to Dartmoor Prison in England.

    Cape Codders have long memories. We run into Abraham Chapman again in Nancy Paine Smith’s The Provincetown Book (1922), where he is part of an 1838 town meeting debate on a proposal to build a sidewalk.

    “When it was apparent how close the vote would be, someone challenged Mr. Abraham Chapman (a sidewalk man) as not an American citizen. Full of indignation, Mr. Chapman demanded an explanation and was told that his folks were Tories during the Revolutionary War, that they had gone from Town to Nova Scotia, where he was born; that he was 6 months old when he came to the U.S., and not entitled to vote. But his vote was admitted.”

    And the first plank sidewalk was built.

    One hundred twenty years later, we bought the Chapman house from Heinrich Pfeiffer’s widow. To restore the original footprint, we removed a small building adjacent to the main house, discovering in the process its construction date, June 16, 1866, on a board of the west wall under the clapboard siding. In 1916 it had been assessed to Mary E. Crowell as a store and dwelling. And later, Mr. Pfeiffer had used it as a studio and shop selling his etchings of local scenes.

    For nearly 200 years, little had been done to update the main house. Still in place were the nine-over-six original windows, the original fireplaces and mantles, all the interior doors and cupboards with H hinges, a “snug harbor” (a small enclosed space adjacent to the chimney for drying wet boots or clothing), a steep staircase to the two rooms on the upper floor, the pine flooring, and pine paneling that included one single board measuring 28 inches wide. We retained all these features, though we did replace the individual windows on the front of the house with larger ones more suitable for our shop.

    There we ran the Old Village Store, our version of a country store, until 1967.

    When we decided to sell the property, we vowed to sell it only to someone who would respect and maintain the building. We thought we had found that buyer, a family that included an artist and an architect. But right away the house was divided into two shops. Shortly afterwards, the building was raised and two more shops appeared beneath it. I have no idea of what, if anything, remains of the original interior.

    The late Josephine Del Deo commented on the house in a note to David Dunlap, for his book Building Provincetown: “This iconic landmark of Provincetown… was the key that turned the lock and opened my awareness to the danger of development uncontrolled….”

    So 244 Commercial St. is lost and, sadly, there is no way to bring it back.

    Irma Ruckstuhl is the author of Old Provincetown in Early Photographs and A Lady Buys. She lives in North Truro.

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