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Banner file photo
Fisherman’s Wharf get support from selectmen over parking issues. |
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Selectmen take up wharf parking battle
Banner Daily Update Fri. May 9
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN – Selectmen have joined forces with owners of Fisherman’s Wharf to ask the state to rescind its order to cut the number of parking spaces on the privately owned pier almost in half.
Selectmen met Wednesday with Bill Gage from the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs to lobby for Robert and Vaughn Cabral, Fisherman’s Wharf owners. The Cabrals had been ordered by the state Department of Environmental Protection last year to reduce the number of parking spaces from 186 to 110 to stop what the DEP said was an illegal use of the pier.
As part of that settlement, the Cabrals proposed to install filtered catch basins in the parking area to help keep polluted storm run-off from draining directly into the harbor. Wednesday’s hearing was on whether the catch basin proposal would require an environmental impact report.
However, selectmen used the opportunity to present a letter urging the state to let the Cabrals keep the parking lot intact.
“My concern is the purity of the harbor. But another concern is that 75 to 78 parking spaces are going to be eliminated,” selectman Michele Couture said. “The economic impact of not having 78 parking spaces on that pier is significant. It’s important to provide that accommodation to the public.”
“We feel there are ways to mitigate the environmental concerns while not harming the town’s economy,” board of selectman chair Mary-Jo Avellar said.
Parking in the summer is difficult to find in Provincetown, particularly downtown. The town’s municipal parking lot, directly adjacent to Fisherman’s Wharf, is often full by mid-day and the parking lot at Cabral’s “serves the needs of the general public on a daily basis during Provincetown’s busy tourism season,” according to the selectmen’s letter.
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May 8th, 2008