PROVINCETOWN — The large, decaying buildings that formerly housed fish-processing businesses, an industrial freezer, a pair of restaurants, and several apartments at 227, 227R, and 229 Commercial St. are mostly just called “the Old Reliable” now — when they are spoken of at all.
Old Reliable Fish House
ON THE WATERFRONT
Old Reliable Plans Take Two Steps Forward
But many steps remain for Christine Barker’s long-delayed mixed-use development
PROVINCETOWN — Developer Christine Barker has won two victories in her years-long attempt to get plans for redeveloping the derelict Old Reliable Fish House property over the finish line.
She has gotten a green light from the Provincetown Conservation Commission by removing a 400-foot walkway and 570-foot floating marina from her permit application. Those elements of the plan are not totally off the table, though, and will be incorporated into future project permitting.
And, after a five-year court battle with abutters, Barker reached a settlement with the last remaining litigant in state Land Court on July 16. The conservation commission approved Barker’s notice of intent related to wetlands issues just hours after the settlement had been reached.
Barker’s proposal calls for construction of two hotels with a total of 50 rooms, 13 residential condominiums, two restaurants, and a conference center with retail space spanning 227, 227R, and 229 Commercial St. The project includes a fixed public pier extending into the harbor.
Land Court Litigation
In late 2019, Barker unveiled her multi-million-dollar proposal to build a mixed-use complex where the vestiges of the Old Reliable Fish House stand at 227R Commercial.
Three abutters opposed the plan and appealed permit approvals given by the planning and zoning boards in Land Court in early 2020. Barker trimmed the footprint while keeping all the original components, satisfying Canteen owner Rob Anderson, who dropped out of the court case in 2021.
Scott Ravelson, then owner of 227-229 Commercial, dropped out in 2022 when Barker purchased his property for $4.6 million. She has since incorporated that site into her proposed development, adding a second hotel, a handful of condos, another restaurant and lounge, and retail space.
Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties, continued with his Land Court appeal and added a new complaint in 2023, claiming that Barker’s proposed pier was going to cross onto land he owned.
Both sides told the court last November that an agreement had been reached on the appeals related to the planning and zoning boards, but the court officially closed the case only on July 16 when the boundary dispute was settled.
Patrick declined to provide details on the settlement this week, but Barker’s attorney told the conservation commission on July 16 that five feet would be trimmed from the width of the pier as part of the final agreement.
Coastal Concerns
Barker’s initial notice of intent filing drew considerable pushback. The conservation commission had received several letters of concern by the time it held its March 19 kickoff hearing.
The Mass. Office of Coastal Zone Management noted that the portion of the target site bordering the harbor lies in the FEMA “velocity zone,” the zone at highest risk of flooding. The landward portion is in FEMA’s “AE” zone, also at high risk of flooding. The agency noted that the project sits on a coastal dune that provides storm damage and flood control.
Conservation commission members raised possible effects on an existing eelgrass bed caused by the installation of piles in the area of the proposed extended pier and floating marina. Commission chair Alfred Famiglietti brought up the 50-foot buffer zone where building has historically been forbidden.
On July 16, Marshall Puffer, Barker’s engineer from Tighe & Bond, addressed concerns about the coastal dune. Planned parking had been moved landward to allow the portion of dune currently under the Old Reliable building to reform. The new building on that spot was to be elevated on pilings, Puffer said, returning the natural flow of the tide underneath. The plan will reduce at-grade development currently in the 50-foot buffer zone by 3,600 square feet.
While the existing buildings at 227 and 229 Commercial also sit on the ground, their proposed replacements would be up on pilings to address sea level rise. The total at-grade coverage currently on the site will be reduced by 8,800 square feet, based on the project plan, which should help reduce flooding on Commercial Street.
Plans for parking had also been tweaked beyond the change of location. Parking will be minimal at the site, Barker said; electric vehicles will pick people up from remote spots. There would not be parking for condominium owners, who will be offered off-site spots. In the event of a significant storm, Barker said, her fleet of electric cars would be moved off-site.
Commissioner Mark Adams called the plan a significant improvement over current conditions. “It’s going to be one less property to fall into the ocean when the big one hits,” he said.
Nathaniel Mayo, who chaired the July 16 hearing in Famiglietti’s absence, was concerned about damage to the seabed caused by removing piles that remain from the original 19th-century pier. Barker’s team said the old piles will be pulled during the dormant season to allow the seabed to settle.
The commission voted unanimously to endorse the project’s notice of intent with some conditions. Those include a requirement that a Chapter 91 license be approved before the start of construction; that the old piles in the water be removed when the eelgrass is dormant; and that a silt curtain be installed to protect the eelgrass during work near the beds. The commission further required that invasive species be removed and native plants relocated or replaced by similar plantings.
Several Permits to Go
In an email earlier this week, Melyssa Millett, Provincetown’s environmental planner and conservation agent, said the proposal still needed to undergo a review by the state under the Environmental Policy Act and the Mass. Endangered Species Act.
At the county level, the Cape Cod Commission will review the proposal as a development of regional impact. “The pier may also need Army Corps approval,” Millett said.
Barker is also in the process of getting her state Chapter 91 waterways license needed for the pier.
While the local planning and zoning boards have approved required permits for 227R (replacing the Old Reliable Fish House with a harborside hotel, condos, restaurant, and bar) project elements proposed for 227-229 Commercial have not yet been reviewed by the boards.
ON THE WATERFRONT
Old Reliable Plan Now Has Longer Pier and Marina
Conservation commission will review Barker’s expanded idea for blighted property
PROVINCETOWN — Developer Christine Barker’s vision for a blighted waterfront property has evolved dramatically since her initial proposal to redevelop the Old Reliable Fish House was unveiled in 2019.
The latest change in Barker’s plan for a luxury mixed-use complex is the addition of a public pier extending 700 feet into Provincetown Harbor, ending in a 570-foot-long floating dock and marina with up to 29 boat slips. With a total length of 1,270 feet from shoreline to tip, the new pier and marina would be similar in size to MacMillan Pier.
Barker’s earlier proposal was simply to replace the 264-foot pier that was once attached to the Old Reliable property at 227R Commercial St. and over time reduced to an irregular trail of orphaned pilings.
“The marina will allow for a reduction in traffic along Commercial Street, by utilizing boats to shuttle people from the Provincetown Ferry landing to the marina,” Barker wrote in her application for a review of the plan by the conservation commission. “It will also provide transient docking space for people visiting this section of Provincetown.”
Barker filed an application for state review of the new pier on Dec. 4. The local conservation commission was scheduled to begin its review this week.
Other components of the project remain essentially the same. They include demolition of the condemned Old Reliable Fish House structure and construction of a new building that would house 31 hotel rooms, four condominiums, a restaurant and bar, and meeting and event spaces at 227R Commercial.
Barker already has the required permits for the redevelopment of the fish house property from the planning and zoning boards and historic district commission. But an appeal filed by three abutters has kept the proposal stalled in state Land Court for the last four years.
Barker satisfied one appellant by reducing the footprint of the building a bit, and she bought out the second appellant, purchasing 227-229 Commercial St. from Scott Ravelson for $4.7 million.
In 2023, Barker unveiled her plan for the Ravelson property, which includes construction of an 18-to-20-room hotel, nine condominiums, and restaurant and retail spaces, built where the 125-year-old former five-story cold-storage building stands. The existing building, which would be demolished, now houses a warehouse, a long-closed restaurant, and nine empty apartments. Like the Old Reliable project, the new building at 227-229 Commercial would be constructed on pilings boosting its height to about 69 feet above sea level.
The “Little Red store” building at 227 Commercial would be renovated to house the Provincetown Bookshop. A small shed behind that building would be demolished and replaced with a glass conservatory accessed through the bookshop.
The Provincetown Historic District Commission issued a certificate of appropriateness for Barker’s architectural plans for 227-229 Commercial, but reviews by the planning and zoning boards have not yet been scheduled.
The third appellant is Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties, which abuts Barker’s project site. Patrick’s appeals are still pending in Land Court. This week he expressed surprise at Barker’s decision to begin the permitting process for the new pier.
Patrick and Barker have reportedly reached a settlement agreement, pending in Land Court, of Patrick’s 2019 appeal of the local zoning and planning board approvals of the project. Patrick said the settlement has been “agreed upon in principle.” An appeal related to the property line, which Patrick filed a year ago, remains unresolved.
“I would like to see us settle the dispute on the property line and then move on, rather than moving forward without settling,” he said.
Barker did not return calls for comment on the potential cost of and timeline for construction.
ON THE WATERFRONT
Old Reliable Plan Now Has Longer Pier and Marina
Conservation commission will review Barker’s expanded idea for blighted property
PROVINCETOWN — Developer Christine Barker’s vision for a blighted waterfront property has evolved dramatically since her initial proposal to redevelop the Old Reliable Fish House was unveiled in 2019.
The latest change in Barker’s plan for a luxury mixed-use complex is the addition of a public pier extending 700 feet into Provincetown Harbor, ending in a 570-foot-long floating dock and marina with up to 29 boat slips. With a total length of 1,270 feet from shoreline to tip, the new pier and marina would be similar in size to MacMillan Pier.
Barker’s earlier proposal was simply to replace the 264-foot pier that was once attached to the Old Reliable property at 227R Commercial St. and over time reduced to an irregular trail of orphaned pilings.
“The marina will allow for a reduction in traffic along Commercial Street, by utilizing boats to shuttle people from the Provincetown Ferry landing to the marina,” Barker wrote in her application for a review of the plan by the conservation commission. “It will also provide transient docking space for people visiting this section of Provincetown.”
Barker filed an application for state review of the new pier on Dec. 4. The local conservation commission was scheduled to begin its review this week.
Other components of the project remain essentially the same. They include demolition of the condemned Old Reliable Fish House structure and construction of a new building that would house 31 hotel rooms, four condominiums, a restaurant and bar, and meeting and event spaces at 227R Commercial.
Barker already has the required permits for the redevelopment of the fish house property from the planning and zoning boards and historic district commission. But an appeal filed by three abutters has kept the proposal stalled in state Land Court for the last four years.
Barker satisfied one appellant by reducing the footprint of the building a bit, and she bought out the second appellant, purchasing 227-229 Commercial St. from Scott Ravelson for $4.7 million.
In 2023, Barker unveiled her plan for the Ravelson property, which includes construction of an 18-to-20-room hotel, nine condominiums, and restaurant and retail spaces, built where the 125-year-old former five-story cold-storage building stands. The existing building, which would be demolished, now houses a warehouse, a long-closed restaurant, and nine empty apartments. Like the Old Reliable project, the new building at 227-229 Commercial would be constructed on pilings boosting its height to about 69 feet above sea level.
The “Little Red store” building at 227 Commercial would be renovated to house the Provincetown Bookshop. A small shed behind that building would be demolished and replaced with a glass conservatory accessed through the bookshop.
The Provincetown Historic District Commission issued a certificate of appropriateness for Barker’s architectural plans for 227-229 Commercial, but reviews by the planning and zoning boards have not yet been scheduled.
The third appellant is Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties, which abuts Barker’s project site. Patrick’s appeals are still pending in Land Court. This week he expressed surprise at Barker’s decision to begin the permitting process for the new pier.
Patrick and Barker have reportedly reached a settlement agreement, pending in Land Court, of Patrick’s 2019 appeal of the local zoning and planning board approvals of the project. Patrick said the settlement has been “agreed upon in principle.” An appeal related to the property line, which Patrick filed a year ago, remains unresolved.
“I would like to see us settle the dispute on the property line and then move on, rather than moving forward without settling,” he said.
Barker did not return calls for comment on the potential cost of and timeline for construction.
ON THE WATERFRONT
Settlement Puts Old Reliable Project Back in View
But it’s not clear who owns the land under the once-and-future wharf
PROVINCETOWN — Just days before the start of a trial on legal challenges to the proposed multimillion-dollar development of the property where the derelict Old Reliable Fish House stands, the two sides filed documents in state Land Court saying a settlement was in the works.
The trial was canceled and the parties given 60 days to complete the terms of the settlement, according to a joint statement issued by lawyers representing developer Christine Barker and abutter Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties.
“Once those documents are finally negotiated, the zoning cases will finally be dismissed,” said the joint statement. “We have no further comments at this time.”
Neither Barker nor Patrick returned calls from the Independent.
Barker’s proposal calls for demolition of the Fish House structure, which was condemned after a fire in 2015, and construction of a 31-room hotel, four residential condos, a restaurant and bar, a meeting room, and limited parking.
The harborside building would sit on a platform 17 feet above sea level because of FEMA regulations, and its highest point would be about 60 feet above sea level. The plan also calls for reconstruction of a 264-foot pier.
Patrick and two other abutters appealed the plan in Land Court after it was approved by the planning and zoning boards four years ago. Some adjustments to the proposal satisfied one neighbor, and Barker bought out the second. Patrick, whose property abuts the target site, has been the only remaining appellant.
A Legal Hurdle Remains
Patrick filed an additional suit in April disputing the property line Barker is using in her proposal. That case is not part of the pending settlement.
In Patrick’s suit, he claims the 264-foot pier, as shown on Barker’s plan, will partially trespass on land he owns at 235 Commercial St., which runs from the street to the harbor.
To make his case, Patrick cites a survey showing property lines drawn in 1948 and registered in Land Court in 1951. Neither side disputes the boundaries on that registered survey.
After 1951, sand deposits gradually added land to each of the properties between their original boundaries and the mean high-water mark.
Patrick contends that a survey done by the owners of the Old Reliable in 1968 incorrectly put a triangular piece of the accreted land that was on his side of boundary onto their side. Instead of simply running a straight line from the original common boundary to the new high-water mark, the surveyor adjusted it to reflect the actual occupation of the property. That adjustment shifted the line to include remnants of the wharf that extended from the Old Reliable site.
Barker’s engineers used the 1968 survey when laying out the mixed-use project, Patrick says, and the end result is that the proposed pier crosses onto his property.
Patrick hired civil engineer William Rogers, who drew up a survey that extends the 1948 boundary straight to the current mean high-water mark. He asked the Land Court to approve a petition to adjust the 1951 registered land plan to include the additional beachfront, using the extended boundary set by Rogers.
Barker’s attorneys say the 1968 plan they used to lay out the proposed project is valid. As for the accreted land, they contend it would be part of the Province Lands and therefore owned by the Commonwealth, making the state a party of interest in the case.
Following a status hearing on Nov. 8, the entry by the court stated that the parties in the case had not pointed to a law establishing the boundary of the Commonwealth’s interest, whether that would be the historic mean high-water mark or the current high-water mark. A status conference was set for Dec. 15.
DEVELOPMENT: LATE NEWS
Old Reliable Trial Is Canceled With Settlement in the Works
Lawyers say agreement on luxury waterfront complex is coming within 60 days
This article was updated on Thursday, Nov. 9.
PROVINCETOWN — A multi-million-dollar proposal to build a luxury mixed-use complex where the ruins of the Old Reliable Fish House now stand won the enthusiastic support of town officials and the business community when it was presented in 2019 by developer Christine Barker.
Abutters have kept it tied up in legal challenges since then, but court filings entered late Tuesday this week indicate that a settlement of the dispute is in the works. A trial in state Land Court on zoning issues that had been scheduled for Nov. 13 has been taken off the calendar.
“The parties are working through the settlement details in settlement documents that we expect to complete in the next 60 days,” read a statement issued this week by lawyers representing Barker and abutter Patrick Patrick. “Once those documents are finally negotiated, the zoning cases will be finally dismissed. We have no further comments at this time.”
Barker’s proposal calls for the demolition of the Fish House structure, which was condemned after a fire in 2015, and the construction of a new 31-room hotel, four residential condos, a restaurant and bar, a meeting space, and limited parking. The new building would sit on a platform about 17 feet above sea level on the harbor side because of FEMA requirements, and its highest point would be more than 60 feet above the beach.
A special permit to allow the building to exceed the town’s height limit of 33 feet was granted by the planning board in March in an exchange allowed under the town’s inclusionary zoning and incentive provisions. Barker was supposed to build one offsite affordable housing unit in return for the privilege. That permit is was part of the appeal that would have been decided at trial.
Barker also plans to reconstruct a 260-foot pier at the site.
Both the zoning and planning boards approved Barker’s initial proposal in early 2020, but three neighbors appealed the decisions in Land Court: Canteen owner Rob Anderson; Scott Ravelson, who at the time owned 227-229 Commercial St.; and Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties.
Anderson dropped out of the suit in 2021 when Barker trimmed the footprint of her project a bit. Barker bought Ravelson’s property for $4.6 million in 2022, thereby eliminating the basis for his appeal.
That left Patrick, under his corporate name MARSPEC, as the only remaining appellant.
The Land Court judge, Jennifer S.D. Roberts, was to determine whether the two boards’ approvals for the project should be upheld or reversed.
Even though the matter of the local permits was at the center of the case, the town’s lawyer wrote in an Oct. 31 joint pretrial memorandum that the planning and zoning boards intended to leave the active defense of their decisions to the attorneys hired by Barker and H. Bradford Rose, who is still the owner of the Old Reliable property. Barker’s deal to buy the property is contingent on the resolution of the lawsuits.
The two boards intended to participate in the trial only if they were ordered to do so by the court or if they determined that their presence was needed to protect their interests.
Town Manager Alex Morse said he hoped the judge would uphold the boards’ decisions.
“Town boards have reviewed and approved this inclusionary project which, in addition to adding a deed-restricted, affordable housing unit to the town’s year-round housing stock, will provide much needed hotel rooms, a restaurant, meeting spaces, and a rebuilt pier with public access,” said Morse in an email. “We hope to see this project move forward as soon as possible to revitalize a deteriorating property on Provincetown’s waterfront and help further our goals of building a vibrant year-round economy in town.”
Access and Other Issues
Access has been a point of contention. The Old Reliable property has no frontage on Commercial Street, and the only access to the proposed development would be an easement on a narrow alley bordered by Marine Specialties and the property Barker purchased from Ravelson.
The alley is about 19 feet wide where it meets Commercial Street but narrows to about 13 feet as it nears the proposed complex.
Permit conditions prohibit delivery trucks from using the alley, so all goods would need to be brought in on handcarts. Hotel guests and restaurant patrons would be directed to parking lots offsite. Vehicle traffic in the alley would be limited to shuttles dropping patrons off and the condominium owners who will have onsite parking spaces, according to the plan.
Patrick’s lawyer, Gregory Boucher, has argued that the access doesn’t meet the state’s fire safety standards and will result in a risk to the public and to neighboring businesses, which are tightly packed in the commercial center.
In a letter to the planning board during the initial permitting, Fire Chief Michael Trovato conceded that the proposed access to the Old Reliable property “is not an ideal situation for us,” but in its current condition, the property has been a major concern for the fire department “and we would like to see this property renovated.”
The fire chief provided the planning board with some ways to address the poor access, which the board incorporated into its decision, including installation of a sprinkler system and fire alarm system; conversion of the parking spaces across from Seamen’s Bank to a fire lane; and no parking allowed anywhere along the alley.
“We will need unobstructed access to the property at all times for a fire engine or an ambulance,” Trovato said in his letter. “For us to have to back a fire apparatus out from an incident is not an ideal situation, however, in this situation it is the only way for us to operate.”
Trovato is among those who were expected to testify on behalf of the town concerning fire safety conditions during the trial.
Patrick hired engineer Daniel Merriken, who produced a report on the project’s shortcomings. Merriken was to serve as Patrick’s expert witness during the trial.
Merriken analyzed the proposed stormwater management system design and concluded in his report that it does not comply with local requirements or state standards. He concluded that the design of the parking lot does not allow for proper circulation or room for turning around. Merriken also questioned the plan’s compliance with local setback requirements.
Barker had her own experts set to refute Merriken’s conclusions. Her list of expert witnesses included architect Jeffry Burchard, engineer Raul Lizardi-Rivera, and traffic engineer Keri Pike.
Neither Barker nor Patrick responded to requests for comment for this story.
DEVELOPMENT
Patrick Files Suit Disputing Old Reliable Property Line
He claims the planned new pier will be on his land
PROVINCETOWN — Businessman Patrick Patrick and developer Christine Barker each have surveyor’s drawings showing the line between their waterfront properties on Commercial Street. But the two drawings show different locations for that line.
Patrick, who owns the Marine Specialties store next door to the former Old Reliable Fish House — the site Barker proposes to redevelop — filed a complaint in state Land Court on April 25, asking a judge to settle the boundary dispute.
The case has become the latest roadblock to progress on Barker’s plans to construct a 31-unit hotel, four residential condominiums, a restaurant, bar, and meeting space, with ground-level parking and a pier.
Patrick’s claim is that the project will result in a 264-foot pier partially trespassing on land he owns at 235 Commercial St., which runs from the street to the harbor.
To make his case, Patrick cites a survey showing property lines drawn in 1948 and registered in Land Court in 1951.
Barker, who has a purchase-and-sale agreement for the Old Reliable site with owner H. Bradford Rose, relied on a 1968 survey drawn on behalf of the Rose family in laying out her project.
No one disputes the boundaries shown on the registered 1951 survey. But in the years following its registration, sand deposits along the harbor gradually added about 82 feet of beach to each of the properties between the original boundary and the mean high-water mark.
In 1968, the Rose family’s survey extended the property line from the 1948 boundary to include the newly accumulated land. But instead of simply running a straight line from the original common boundary to the harbor, the surveyor adjusted the boundary to reflect the actual occupation of the property. That adjustment shifted the line over the extended beachfront to include remnants of the wharf on the Old Reliable property.
Additional land deposits since 1968 have raised the total of accumulated beachfront even higher, to about 154 feet.
Patrick contends the 1968 plan incorrectly put a triangular piece of his land onto the Rose side of the property line. He argues the boundary line should have extended from the end of the 1948 boundary straight to the mean high-water mark in the harbor.
Patrick hired civil engineer William Rogers, who drew up a land survey based on the 1948 plan and has used Rogers’s survey as the basis for his lawsuit.
Cape & Islands Engineering, the firm Barker used for her proposal, used the 1968 survey for its layout of the Old Reliable site.
According to state Land Court documents, Patrick’s attorneys Alan Lipkind and Peter Vetere of Boston firm Burns & Levinson are asking the Land Court to declare that the beachfront gained since 1948 should be automatically registered to Patrick’s land “based on the true location of the boundary line.”
The attorneys are also asking the court to approve a petition to adjust the 1951 registered land plan to include the additional beachfront, using the extended boundary line set by Rogers; to order the Old Reliable property owner to remove a fence that the attorneys claim currently encroaches on Patrick’s land; and to prohibit future encroachments.
A request that the Land Court judge allow Patrick to record his claim regarding the boundary dispute with the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds, a step that would place a cloud on the Old Reliable property’s title, will be considered at a hearing on May 8.
In a phone interview, Patrick said he has disputed the boundary line since Barker first presented the proposal in 2019. “It’s not a new issue, but it’s remained unresolved,” he said.
The redevelopment proposal for 227R Commercial St. has been held up in Land Court since 2020, when Patrick and two other abutters appealed permits for the project granted by Provincetown’s planning and zoning boards. The other abutters reached agreements with Barker, and Patrick is now the sole appellant in those cases.
While Patrick said he couldn’t discuss the details of settlement talks that have been ongoing with Barker, he said he remains open to settling all the litigation.
Barker said Patrick may have brought up the boundary issue in 2019, but he first produced a survey sometime last year.
“It’s not our intention to build anything on Mr. Patrick’s land,” Barker said. “We have multiple surveyors who disagree with the position he has put forth.”
ON THE WATERFRONT
Old Reliable Project Gets Permit to Go to 3 Stories
Barker trades one off-site affordable unit to get building height bonus
PROVINCETOWN — Developer Christine Barker secured a special permit from the planning board on Feb. 23 for the 31-room hotel, restaurant, bar, and residential condominium project she plans to construct on the harborfront property where the dilapidated Old Reliable Fish House now stands.
The project has received both zoning and planning board approvals in the past, but those decisions have left the project tied up by appeals in Land Court. This time, Barker proposed to forgo a zoning bylaw variance she received in 2019 and instead tap provisions in the town’s inclusionary zoning and incentive bylaw to allow for the nearly 60-foot height of her proposed mixed-use development.
As required under the bylaw, Barker committed to building or buying a one-bedroom unit of affordable or community housing at an off-site location that will be similar in square footage to the four market-rate condominiums that are part of the harbor proposal.
Although the planning board ultimately gave its unanimous approval to the special permit allowing for the exchange, its decision won’t necessarily bring her closer to building the project.
Some special permits from the zoning board remain and are still being appealed. And an appeal of this latest special permit from the planning board could be added to those already filed in Land Court, based on the opposition expressed at the meeting by one abutter, Marine Specialties owner Patrick Patrick, and his lawyer.
Patrick argued that Barker was using the inclusionary bylaw provisions in a manner that wasn’t intended by town meeting voters. There was no publicly discussed intent that inclusionary zoning would apply to large commercial developments with a small housing component, he said.
“This is an attempt to take advantage of a perceived loophole in the inclusionary zoning bylaws,” said Patrick. “Providing a single off-site affordable unit in exchange for the ability to site a new project with a mass larger than the Ice House is unfair to the entire town.”
The Ice House is a 23-unit condominium complex in a renovated cold-storage plant at 501-503 Commercial St.
Peter Brooks, Patrick’s attorney, argued that the inclusionary bylaw provision allowing for a special permit to exceed height was for residential development projects only. “This is in no way a residential development,” he said.
Eliza Cox, Barker’s attorney, quoted sections of the inclusionary bylaw that state a development that results in a net increase of two or more dwelling units qualifies. “Under the terms of the bylaw, this is considered a residential development,” she said.
Regarding the reason Barker would prefer the special permit over the variance she already had from the zoning board, attorney Amy Kwesell of KP Law, who represents the town’s boards in the previous appeals, told the planning board that a special permit might be easier for Barker to defend in Land Court, should Patrick appeal it.
“A special permit is a little bit more discretionary than a variance,” Kwesell said, “so under case law and statute, they would have a better fight if they had the special permit.”
Patrick remains the only appellant of the previous planning and zoning board decisions.
Both the planning and zoning boards approved Barker’s initial proposal in 2019 and early 2020 respectively, but Patrick and two other abutters appealed those decisions in Land Court: Canteen owner Rob Anderson and Scott Ravelson, who owned properties at 227 and 229 Commercial St.
In 2021, Barker returned to the two town boards and secured approval for a project with the same components but on a smaller footprint, satisfying Anderson, who then withdrew from the suit.
Last summer, Barker bought Ravelson’s properties for $4.7 million to get him to drop the case. The purchase gives Barker ownership of the alleyway between Commercial Street and the Fish House site, which will provide access and was a point of dispute between Barker and Ravelson.
In December, the Land Court allowed the case to be put on hold while Barker requested the special permit to exceed the town’s maximum height of 33 feet based on provisions in the inclusionary bylaw adopted last April.
In her special permit request, Barker said she would buy or build a one-bedroom affordable or workforce housing unit off-site, so the project would have four market-rate units on-site and a single affordable unit off-site.
All other components of the project remain unchanged from the plan approved in 2021. Plans also include reconstructing the old pier to a length of 264 feet, which awaits approval by the state Dept. of Environmental Protection. Barker has said the fact that the new pier would be open to the public is one of the major community benefits of the project.
While Barker had already been granted the height variance from the zoning board for the project in both 2020 and 2021, one of Patrick’s complaints is related to those decisions. Now that she has secured the special permit to allow the project to exceed the town’s height limit from the planning board, she will no longer need the variance from the zoning board that is under appeal.
Conditions attached to the board’s previous approval of the project remained the same. With the new permit, three new conditions were added: that the affordable or community housing unit be integrated with the rest of the neighborhood so that it is indistinguishable from other housing there; that the details of the planned affordable unit be submitted to the town’s community development dept. for review; and that the last certificate of occupancy for the market-rate units is not issued until the off-site affordable unit has been issued its certificate.
Once the decision is filed with the town clerk, Patrick may choose to file an appeal with the Land Court. Gregory Boucher, a Boston attorney who also represents Patrick, wrote to the planning board before the hearing to say a major dispute over property boundaries has not yet been resolved.
Patrick hired local land surveyor William Rogers, who has prepared a plan that shows Barker’s proposed commercial development encroaching on property owned by Patrick, the attorney said. Patrick will file a new Land Court action related to the property line dispute, Boucher said.
REDEVELOPMENT
Negotiations Over Old Reliable Project Break Down
Developer will seek new permit under inclusionary bylaw
PROVINCETOWN — A proposal for a major mixed-use development on the former Old Reliable Fish House property, which was embraced by permitting boards as well as the public, is entering its fourth year of litigation in state Land Court because of appeals by abutters.
Negotiations between the parties have broken down, according to project developer Christine Barker and abutting property owner Patrick Patrick. Now Barker has asked the court to let her return to the Provincetown Planning Board to seek a new special permit under the town’s inclusionary and incentive bylaw that could make the existing variance from height requirements that she received from the zoning board of appeals last year unnecessary.
The judge granted her request, and the project should be returning to the planning board for the third time in just a few weeks.
Barker’s proposal calls for the demolition of the existing building at 227R Commercial St., which has been vacant for years and was condemned after a fire in 2015. In its place, she proposes to build a 31-room hotel, four residential condominiums, a restaurant and bar, a meeting space, and some parking underneath the building. The three-story structure would be elevated out of the coastal floodplain according to FEMA standards, with its lowest beams about nine feet above ground level at the site, and the property’s derelict pier would be reconstructed to a length of 264 feet.
The zoning board of appeals approved Barker’s proposal in December 2019 and the planning board in January 2020, but three abutters appealed those decisions in Land Court: Canteen owner Rob Anderson; Scott Ravelson, who owned buildings at 227 and 229 Commercial St. at the time the suit was filed; and Marine Specialties owner Patrick Patrick.
Barker has spent a great deal of money over the last three years to persuade two of the three appellants to withdraw from the suit. Anderson backed out in 2021 after Barker revised her plans, keeping the components the same but putting them on a smaller footprint. To accomplish that, she had to bring the project back before the planning and zoning boards for new permits, which were granted.
Last summer, Barker bought Ravelson’s two properties for $4.7 million to get him to withdraw from the case.
The Old Reliable property at 227R has no frontage on Commercial Street. Access to the new development from Commercial Street was through a narrow easement over Ravelson’s property. Ravelson said that alleyway could not support the traffic the project would generate, an objection he maintained until Barker bought his properties.
Since then, negotiations had been ongoing with the final appellant, Patrick Patrick. “Despite extensive settlement discussions, I have not been able to come to an agreement,” Barker said in a recent phone interview.
Patrick told the Independent he could not talk about the specifics of the negotiations, saying only, “I’m disappointed and surprised that we ended our settlement discussions.”
A New Strategy
Barker’s request that the case be remanded to the planning board for a new hearing has been granted by the judge.
Barker’s variance from the town’s height requirements is part of what Patrick is appealing in Land Court, along with other permits from both the planning and zoning boards. Barker declined to comment on how a new special permit might affect the court case.
The inclusionary bylaw’s provisions would allow Barker to exceed the town’s maximum allowable height of 33 feet in exchange for creating affordable housing either within the project or at another location in town. The planning board is currently considering an amendment to the inclusionary bylaw that would allow the inclusion of workforce housing units to trigger the bylaw’s incentives as well.
Barker’s proposed building is 38 feet high, measured from the bottom of the first floor to the top of the third floor. Two gabled elevator shafts rise another 10 feet. The first floor is 11 feet above ground level at the site, in accordance with FEMA rules, and ground level at 227R is eight feet above official sea level (although only four feet above mean high tide).
In her request to the court for a return to the planning board, Barker said that affordable and workforce housing would be built on some other site, rather than on the Old Reliable property. Asked by the Independent whether she plans to build those units on the adjacent property she purchased from Ravelson, Barker replied that she had no details on what’s going to be proposed to the planning board. She declined to provide specifics related to her upcoming submission.
“There is very little I can say because there is still a pending lawsuit,” she said.
The judge has ordered a stay on the appeal of the project’s approvals while the planning board considers Barker’s new request.
Barker has until Jan. 30 to file an application with the planning board, which will then schedule a public hearing. The board will have no more than 90 days after the close of the public hearing to file its decision.
Patrick will retain all his rights to move forward with appeals of both the planning board and zoning board’s approvals.
WATERFRONT
Old Reliable Project May Soon Move Beyond Appeal
But a court decision calls waterfront plans into question
PROVINCETOWN — The plan for a luxury harborfront development where the derelict Old Reliable Fish House unsteadily stands is finally poised to move beyond an appeal that’s tied it up in state Land Court for the last three years.
Negotiations with abutters have slowly advanced the plans of Christine Barker, developer of the ambitious project. At the same time, a recent state Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) decision affecting 17 towns’ harbor plans — including Provincetown’s — may present new legal obstacles.
Barker’s proposal calls for the demolition of the fish house structure at 227R Commercial St., which was condemned following a 2015 fire, and construction of a 31-room hotel, four residential condos, a restaurant and bar, a meeting space, and some parking, along with reconstruction of a 260-foot pier.
Two Steps Forward
The fish house property is owned by H. Bradford Rose. Barker has a purchase-and-sale agreement to buy it when she has all permits in place.
The project won enthusiastic support from the planning and zoning boards in early 2020 but was quickly appealed in state Land Court by three business owners with nearby properties.
Barker tried to satisfy their concerns — about scale and access — last year with a new plan that offered the same components as the original on a slightly smaller footprint. The changes were enough to persuade Rob Anderson, who owns the Canteen at 225 Commercial St., to drop out of the suit.
But Scott Ravelson, owner of 227-229 Commercial St., and Patrick Patrick, who owns Marine Specialties at 235 Commercial, continued with their court case.
The Old Reliable property lacks frontage on Commercial Street, and access is provided via a narrow easement that runs between Ravelson’s and Patrick’s properties. Ravelson argued that the easement wasn’t sufficient for a project the size of Barker’s.
Last month, Barker ended Ravelson’s opposition by purchasing his property, which is about a third of an acre, for $4.7 million. That’s double the town’s appraised value. Now Patrick is negotiating with Barker, and according to the latest joint status report filed at Land Court, the two sides are close to a settlement.
In a text message to the Independent on Monday, Barker was enthusiastic about the progress she has made. She plans to go forward with the plan that was approved in 2021. Barker didn’t say how her purchase of Ravelson’s property will affect the project.
“Analysis for the recently acquired property is underway,” she wrote, “and I hope to be before the boards with an exciting plan that complements the beachfront building sometime in the fall.”
But while the Land Court appeal may be soon settled, there has been another legal development that could affect Barker’s plan. It comes in the form of a recent state Supreme Judicial Court decision in a case called Armstrong v. Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
A Harbor Plan Hitch
The SJC ruled that state law doesn’t allow the Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) to delegate the review and approval of municipal harbor plans to the secretary of energy and environmental affairs — a task the secretary has handled since 1990.
The decision, that such plans must be handled by the DEP, invalidates the approvals of plans previously reviewed by the secretary.
Municipal harbor plans, which have been adopted by several coastal communities including Provincetown, offer some alternative standards, specific to their respective waterways, that deviate from the regulations in Chapter 91, the state’s Public Waterfront Act.
The recent SJC ruling was in a case involving the 2018 Boston Planning and Development Agency’s Municipal Harbor Plan for the Harbor Garage and Hook Wharf. But the judges’ decision invalidates all 17 municipal harbor plans approved over the last 30 years.
In Provincetown, Barker’s project’s harbor location, as well as its pier reconstruction element, require her to secure a Chapter 91 license from the DEP. Chapter 91 regulates both water-dependent uses, like piers, and other uses, including hotels. One purpose of the regulations is to maintain some waterfront benefit for the public.
In its 2018 municipal harbor plan revision, Provincetown included a couple of the amendments relating to Barker’s project as substitutions for requirements in Chapter 91.
One amendment would allow a building at 227R Commercial St. to extend slightly into the zone along the shore that is restricted to water-dependent uses. In Barker’s case, the water-dependent zone would be reconfigured to accommodate the building layout but would remain equal in square footage to what is required in state law.
A second amendment requests an alternative standard for a requirement for at least 40 percent exterior open space. Alternatives would include public amenities and programing on the pier that would make it a public destination.
Ginny Binder, vice chair of the Provincetown Harbor Committee, hopes for some resolution to the dilemma towns with municipal harbor plans now face because of the state Supreme Judicial Court ruling.
The town’s harbor plan is 140 pages long. “I don’t think they will want to throw the baby out with the bath water,” said Binder last week. “There will probably be some kind of review, but I can’t imagine they’ll make us start from scratch.”
In an email to the Independent, Barker’s attorney, Sarah Turano-Flores, said, “We are in the process of applying for Chapter 91 approval and are examining whether the decision in Armstrong will impact the project.”
The state is currently looking at “various options” to address the impact of the SJC ruling on the municipal harbor plans adopted by several coastal towns, Turano-Flores said. “For now, we are waiting to see how it will play out.”
The DEP is already in the process of drafting regulations to address the legal issue raised by the court.
Spokesperson Fabienne Alexis provided the following statement: “The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection remains committed to making any necessary changes to the municipal harbor plan approval process to continue a decades-long process of engaging in cooperative harbor planning.”
UNRELIABLE
Fire Strikes Again at Derelict Restaurant Site on Waterfront
No clear path to secure the abandoned Old Reliable Fish House
PROVINCETOWN — At midday on Sunday, April 24, a fire in an abandoned car at the Old Reliable Fish House property at 227R Commercial St. sent clouds of dark smoke over the waterfront.
The fire was doused quickly, with no injuries, when firefighters responded within two minutes of the alarm, said Fire Chief Michael Trovato.
Trovato suspects a smoldering cigarette butt caused the conflagration. The chief, other town officials, and neighbors were not surprised that another fire broke out there. The last one occurred seven years ago, inside the former fish house. Rob Anderson, an owner of the Canteen next door at 225 Commercial St., said two broken vehicles on that lot have been there since he opened his restaurant 12 years ago. The lot, the derelict restaurant, and an adjacent rundown red clapboard building owned by Scott Ravelson, he said, attract vagrancy.
“People have been living in the red building, the Old Reliable, and the cars,” Anderson told the Independent. “We have alerted the town over and over again to let them know people have been living here. We want to be sensitive to the fact that people need a place to live. But it is extremely dangerous. There have already been two fires there. This is not a question of if but when.”
Between one and five people are currently homeless in Provincetown, said Mackenzie Perry of the Homeless Prevention Council, which offers services through a contract with the town.
After the 2015 fire, the health dept. condemned the Old Reliable building and ordered owner Bradford Rose to keep it sealed and unoccupied. But Rose has been “unresponsive” since about 2016, said Assistant Town Manager David Gardner.
The Independent could not reach Rose at his Belchertown address. Rose has not paid taxes on the property or complied with orders to keep the building securely locked, Gardner added. Every spring, said Gardner, doors and windows are pried open, presumably by people wanting to take shelter.
On Sunday, at 12:50 p.m., Anderson’s husband, Loic Rossignon, heard breaking glass from their living room above the Canteen. Anderson went outside and saw “the whole space fill with black, billowing smoke and really aggressive pulsating flames licking through holes in our fence. I was waiting for it to hit the red building that is on our property line,” he said. “I was a minute away from grabbing my things and running out, when I heard the sirens.”
Trovato said he and about 10 others were there in under five minutes and were able to stop the fire before it got to the outdoor dining area at the Canteen. “The fire dept.’s response saved my property,” Anderson said.
After dousing the flames, the firefighters were left staring at old vehicles and piles of debris, bottles, and clothes. One of the abandoned trucks on the property “had been there so long, a tree was growing up in it,” Trovato said.
“We have been saying for a long time that this is an accident waiting to happen,” the chief added.
Who Is Responsible?
For years, town officials have tried unsuccessfully to get Rose, whose father, Henry, bought the 106-seat Old Reliable Fish House in 1965, to clean up that area, Gardner said.
In 2016, developer Christine Barker secured a purchase-and-sale agreement with Rose for the property. But the sale is contingent on approval of her plan to raze the building and put up a 31-room hotel with a bar, restaurant, four residential condominium units, and meeting space. Barker got all the necessary permits, including a variance to exceed the town’s 33-foot height limit with a building that is 48.7 feet above natural grade, according to the zoning board of appeals decision in the case.
But three abutters, Anderson, Ravelson, and Patrick Patrick, sued her and the town’s regulatory boards more than two years ago, stalling the sale. Barker has since settled with Anderson and recently agreed to purchase Ravelson’s property. That leaves Patrick, the owner of Marine Specialties, who told the Independent on April 25 that Barker’s proposed hotel “is bigger than what is allowed in every direction and in every way.”
Rose is responsible for keeping the Old Reliable property secure, Gardner said. Ravelson owns the building that houses the Life Is Good retail shop on Commercial Street and the empty red building behind it. Gardner said Ravelson’s property, though it is in poor shape, is locked — except for a broken window — and has a fire alarm.
Barker has been paying Rose’s back taxes for five or six years, even though she does not yet own it, Gardner said. But she is not on the hook to maintain it.
“As I do not yet own the property,” Barker told the Independent, “I have no rights to remove other people’s vehicles or belongings from the property or to actually do any improvements. My hands are tied until ownership transfers.”
At the April 25 select board meeting, Gardner said he spoke with the town’s attorney, who explained the quickest resolution would be for the lawsuit to end. Other ideas, such as constructing a fence at the town’s expense, could make the town liable for future problems and probably would not work anyway, Gardner said.
Anderson and Patrick, however, both say the town could do more.
Anderson said he spoke to an attorney who is researching legal action to force Rose, Barker, Ravelson, or the town to make the area safe. He said the property should have a fence around the perimeter and be guarded.
Patrick said the last time he spoke with Rose — about two years ago — Rose had no objection to someone else cleaning up the property.
In fact, the town was able to clear the vehicles and other debris after Sunday’s fire and board up the Old Reliable’s doors. The cleanup will cost taxpayers $7,000, Town Manager Alex Morse told the select board. Before the most recent blaze, the town could not clear the debris without a court order, Gardner said. A post-fire order from the fire chief, however, obviated the need for a court order.
ON THE WATERFRONT
An Abutter Will Sell, Easing the Way for Luxury Development
After the sale, Ravelson will drop out of appeal of project permits
PROVINCETOWN — Developer Christine Barker’s plan to demolish the Old Reliable Fish House, replacing its ruins with a luxury hotel, restaurant, and condo development, has been stalled for the last two years by a suit brought by abutters in state Land Court.
In what could be a giant step forward for the project, Scott Ravelson, who owns two properties abutting the development site and is one of the plaintiffs appealing permits granted by the town’s planning and zoning boards, has agreed to sell his holdings to Barker.
Ravelson owns 227 and 229 Commercial St., assessed by the town at just under $2.3 million.
The fish house property has no frontage on Commercial Street. Sole access from the street is via a narrow easement through an alleyway owned by Ravelson, who has argued that the proposed use would overburden the easement. Barker’s purchase of Ravelson’s land would clear that obstacle.
In a Dec. 28 court filing, attorneys for Barker and Ravelson asked that the appeal of the Old Reliable project be put on hold until May 30 to allow time for the sale of the property to be completed.
Once that happens, Ravelson would bow out of the lawsuit, leaving Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties at 235 Commercial St., as the sole appellant in the case.
All parties involved in the suit will have a conference with Land Court Judge Michael D. Vhay on Jan. 10 to discuss the motion to put the case on hold. Patrick was given until Jan. 6 to weigh in. Patrick, whose family has operated Marine Specialties for the last 60 years, said this week that Barker has not offered to buy him out.
Patrick said he wrote to the Provincetown Planning Board and to Barker during the permitting process in December 2019, arguing that the project encroached on his land.
“We haven’t had any discussions that answered all the issues this suit brought up,” Patrick said. “The most obvious issue is it needs to not be built on my property. The planning board said it wasn’t their problem; it was a civil matter. And I never got a firm response from Barker.”
Barker told the Independent on Tuesday that it was “way too early to comment; there’s a lot still to figure out.”
Ravelson returned a reporter’s call only to say he had no comment on his agreement with Barker.
Attorneys Sarah Turano-Flores, who represents Barker, and Peter Freeman, who represents Ravelson, did not respond to requests for comment.
Barker is looking to demolish the fish house structure, which was condemned after a fire in 2015, and construct a new building for a 31-room hotel, four residential condos, a restaurant and bar, a meeting space, and some parking. The plan also calls for reconstruction of the ruined pier.
The proposal was generally well received when Barker submitted it to the town in 2019, but Ravelson, Patrick, and Rob Anderson, who owns the nearby Canteen, filed the Land Court suit shortly after the permit approvals, seeking to annul them.
The judge put the case on hold last March to allow Barker an opportunity to tweak her original proposal to make it more palatable to the abutters. Barker’s revised plan, approved by the planning and zoning boards last summer, contained essentially the same components as the original but eliminated a 28-foot-deep section on the northwest corner of the three-story building and a handicap ramp, and reduced parking from 14 to 13 spaces.
The changes were enough to satisfy Anderson, who dropped out of the suit, while Ravelson and Patrick returned to Land Court to continue their appeal.
OLD RELIABLE
Hotel Project Back in Court and Likely Headed to Trial
Legal action could keep it stalled for years
PROVINCETOWN — Christine Barker’s proposal for a mixed-use waterfront development on the former site of the Old Reliable Fish House is once again mired in Land Court, with two of the three abutters who had opposed the original project submitting amended complaints on her recently tweaked and approved plan.
The court schedule will be set during a conference on Aug. 6. It will likely lead to a trial in the next year, since other options, such as mediation and a bid for a slightly scaled-down proposal for the site, have not been successful. The project could be stalled even longer if appeals are filed.
Barker is looking to demolish the fish house structure, which was condemned after a fire in 2015, and construct a new building for a 31-room hotel, four residential condos, a restaurant and bar, a meeting space, and some parking, along with reconstruction of the old pier, now in ruins.
Submitted in November 2019, Barker’s original proposal was generally well received by townspeople and the business community, and it won approval from the planning and zoning boards.
But abutters Scott Ravelson, who owns 229 Commercial St., Rob Anderson, owner of the Canteen, and Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties, filed suit in Land Court shortly after the approvals to annul them.
A judge put the cases on hold last March to allow Barker an opportunity to tweak her original proposal to make it more palatable to the abutters. Barker had to then return to the town for approval of the new plan, which contained essentially the same components as the original but eliminated a 28-foot-deep section on the northwest corner of the three-story building and a handicap ramp, and reduced parking from 14 to 13 spaces.
Once again, the planning and zoning boards enthusiastically gave Barker the necessary approvals.
The changes satisfied Anderson, who has withdrawn from the suit; but Ravelson and Patrick have now filed amended complaints in Land Court against the tweaked proposal’s approval, a move that once again activates the case.
The defendants include the planning and zoning boards, Barker, and H. Bradford Rose, the current owner of the Old Reliable property. While Amy Kwesell, the attorney from KP Law who is representing the town, did not respond to requests for comment for this story, she said in a past call that Barker is the main defendant in the case, since she holds the permits. Kwesell said she planned to monitor the case, since the planning and zoning boards are defendants, but the town is not required to file legal responses to the complaint.
Barker and Rose are represented by attorney Jean Kampas, who did not respond to a request for comment.
Once again, the businessmen have asked the Land Court to annul the variances and special permits granted by the planning and zoning boards, and to issue a permanent injunction that prevents Rose or Barker “from overburdening or interfering with the easements” owned by Ravelson. The injunction would restrict use of the easements to those specified under the 1950 deed for the property.
In the suit, Gregory Boucher, the attorney for Ravelson and Patrick, focused on the lack of adequate access to the target property. The fish house site has no frontage on Commercial Street. Sole access from Commercial is via a narrow alleyway easement through land owned by Ravelson.
“It would be overburdening what the easement was intended for,” said Boucher in a phone interview. The Old Reliable Fish House would have generated far less foot traffic than a 31-room hotel, four condos, and a restaurant, he said.
One of the conditions included by the permitting boards in their latest approvals requires some improvements to the alleyway by Barker, which Ravelson’s attorney argued were improperly ordered, since Ravelson, and not Barker, owns the alleyway.
Public safety issues related to the limited access were raised in the amended complaints, with the plaintiffs arguing the access does not satisfy the state fire safety regulations “and will create a public safety issue that is a substantial detriment both to the general public good and to the property owners who own structures in close proximity.”
As in the suits on the original plan, these latest filings argue that the town boards improperly gave the plan the status of a continuation of a nonconforming use, based on the fish house building. That building was condemned in 2015 and was not replaced within the two-year time frame allowed under the town’s zoning law to benefit from continued nonconforming status, argued Boucher. Without nonconforming status, the proposed building should be required to meet the town’s height and setback requirements, and maximum lot coverage rules.
The plaintiffs also claim the new plan will alter one or two sand dunes on the fish house property, which “might increase the potential for flood damage,” which is a violation of the town’s bylaws.
“They don’t challenge there being a project there, they just challenge the size,” Boucher said during the interview. “We see this now as heading for trial. If it doesn’t go our way, we would consider our appellate options, which could delay the project another year.”
Barker did not respond to requests for comment.
CURRENTS: THIS WEEK IN PROVINCETOWN
Another OK for Old Reliable From Planning Board
Meetings Ahead
Due to the pandemic, meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.
Thursday, May 20
- Board of Health, 4 p.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.
Monday, May 24
- Select Board, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, May 25
- Licensing Board, 5:15 p.m.
Thursday, May 27
- Planning Board, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Another OK for Old Reliable
The planning board unanimously approved the special permits required for a mixed-use development on the Old Reliable Fish House property, with a single change in the attached conditions: that the site offer two electric vehicle charging stations instead of one.
At a May 13 meeting, planning board members heaped praise on Christine Barker’s proposal.
Barker sought the same special permits she was granted early last year for her initial plan that had a slightly larger footprint than the one reviewed last week. Barker had done the downsizing in the hope of satisfying three abutters, who had appealed the project approvals in Land Court.
But while town boards have been effusive in their support for Barker’s plan, only one of the abutters, Canteen owner Rob Anderson, was satisfied with the changes and withdrew from the suit.
Scott Ravelson and Patrick Patrick, through their attorney, have made it clear they will pursue the court case, which has been on hold while town boards considered a revised plan.
Barker’s proposal for the Commercial Street property calls for the demolition of the existing structure, which was condemned after a fire in 2015, and construction of a new 31-room hotel, four residential condos, a restaurant and bar, a meeting space, and some parking, along with reconstruction of a pier.
The tweaked plan had already received the necessary permits and variance from the zoning board.
Regarding complaints at the recent zoning board meeting about the condition of the target site, which is currently overgrown and covered in detritus including rusting vehicles, attorney Jeannie Kampas told the planning board that Barker “doesn’t own and doesn’t have the legal authority” to clean up the property. The best way to get the property cleaned up, the attorney said, was to approve the project.
During the zoning board hearing, Ravelson had questioned Barker’s right to use the easement along an alley he owns as the sole access. He had argued the easement was for limited use, not for the foot and vehicle traffic the project would generate.
Kampas told the planning board Barker has the right to use the alley. “The property has exclusive easement rights in connection to the conduct of business and use of the wharf,” she said.
Prior to the vote, planning board member Steven Azar called it a “fantastic project — one that Provincetown desperately needs, especially in this location.”
Board alternate Mia Cliggott-Perlt asked Barker for a guarantee the hotel would be year-round, and therefore provide year-round jobs.
Barker responded, “That’s absolutely the intention.”
Board alternate Paul Kelly called it “a quality project, supported by good architecture and planning.”
The Land Court appeal of the project by Ravelson and Patrick will now resume and must be settled before the plan can move forward. —Christine Legere
DEVELOPMENT
New Plan for Old Reliable Wins ZBA Approval Again
On a smaller footprint, people see a project that will ‘bring a place to life’ or ‘erode its character’
PROVINCETOWN — The zoning board of appeals has approved both special permits and a height variance needed for a major mixed-use development on the former Old Reliable Fish House property, but that action doesn’t clear the way for the project, due to a pending Land Court suit.
Developer Christine Barker’s proposal calls for the demolition of the existing structure, which was condemned after a fire in 2015, and construction of a new 31-room hotel, four residential condos, a restaurant and bar, a meeting space, and some parking, along with the reconstruction of a pier.
Both the zoning and planning boards approved Barker’s initial proposal for the property in early 2020, but three neighbors appealed both decisions in Land Court. The case was recently put on hold to see whether Barker could satisfy the abutters’ concerns with a new plan that offers the same components but on a smaller footprint.
The new plan required Barker to once again go before town boards.
In a letter sent to the zoning board, attorney Gregory Boucher, who represents two abutters opposing the development, urged it to require cleanup of the property prior to consideration of any permits. The property is owned by H. Bradford Rose but under agreement to Barker, pending the granting of permits.
“It is unconscionable to allow the applicant to create a public health and fire hazard while at the same time seeking discretionary relief from the town boards,” said Boucher. “The property is in shambles with overgrown shrubs, abandoned automobiles, garbage, and sleeping bags. Neighborhood complaints have not been addressed, and the applicant has refused requests to clean it up.”
Jeremy Callahan, chair of the zoning board, agreed the property was a mess but said he didn’t believe it was a subject for his board. Matters such as trash were up to town hall staff to address, Callahan said.
Town Manager Alex Morse said Tuesday that he had walked the Old Reliable property and saw the blight first-hand. “We are sending notice to the property owner to clean it up,” he said. “The town is looking into enforcement actions. If the property owner does not respond, we will look at other actions like liens.”
Scott Ravelson, owner of an abutting property on Commercial Street, told the zoning board last week that Barker’s tweaks had not addressed his concerns. He and Patrick Patrick, owner of Marine Specialties and another abutter, intend to continue their lawsuit.
Sole access to the Old Reliable property is via a narrow alley off Commercial Street owned by Ravelson. Easement rights that run with the Old Reliable site allow use of the alley.
But Ravelson has argued that the easement provides limited access rights that aren’t sufficient for the kind of development Barker plans and wouldn’t provide public access to the pier.
“I still can’t figure out how people can get to this pier over our right-of-way,” he said. “How can you have a public pier without public access?”
Town Counsel Amy Kwesell told the zoning board that its job isn’t to determine Barker’s easement rights. Those, she said, are a “private party issue.” The zoning board’s role was to consider whether it should approve the special permits and variance, she said. “We’re not looking at this as whether we are going to stop litigation,” Kwesell said.
Rob Anderson, owner of the Canteen and the last of the three who filed the Land Court appeal, was satisfied with Barker’s changes and has dropped out of the suit.
Written comments to the zoning board were evenly divided.
John Yingling, owner of several Commercial Street properties, called the area of the site “basically a wasteland.”
“This project would bring it to life,” Yingling said, would raise property values in that area, and make it safer.
Resident John Swanson, also an enthusiastic supporter, said Barker has shown grace while “trying to appease abutters and pitchfork-wielding non-abutters,” who, he believes “will never be satisfied.”
In her letter of support for the project, Gina Longo, who worked at the Fine Arts Work Center and at Outer Cape Health Services as development director, expressed her admiration of Barker. “I firmly believe that Christine will create a beautiful space that will benefit the town and tourists for decades to come,” she wrote.
In opposition, Commercial Street resident Peter Petas said Provincetown is expected to be “overrun” this summer and businesses are struggling to find workers. “At some point, the relentless drive to bring more people to town has to stop,” he wrote, warning it risks “severely eroding the character of our seaside village.”
In his letter, Ted Jones asked, “Does this project reinforce what we love about Provincetown and Cape Cod, or does it seem like a fancy taste of the large cities that many of us have actively chosen to avoid by coming here?”
Zoning board members endorsed the new proposal on May 6, just as they had approved the one offered in 2019, granting the special permits and height variance by unanimous votes. The approval, along with a list of the same conditions that accompanied the 2019 proposal, will be written up and put before the board for its final signoff at a future meeting.
The project is set to be considered by the planning board at its May 13 meeting.
