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Photo Vincent Guadazno
The state Dept. of Environmental Protection has ordered the owners of Fisherman’s Wharf to reduce the size of the pier parking lot and increase the amount of public space on the wharf as a requirement for a Chapter 91 license. |
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DEP wants restrictions on Fisherman’s Wharf
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN — The state Dept. of Environmental Protection is taking a hard stance against the owners of Fisherman’s Wharf, ordering them to reduce the number of parking spaces by almost half and devote 50 percent of the commercial pier to public use
Wharf co-owners Vaughn and Robert Cabral have been negotiating specific restrictions for several months with the DEP in order to reach a settlement that would win them a Chapter 91 state waterways license, a requirement for all waterfront properties in Massachusetts. The dispute is over the 186-space parking lot on the wharf, which services both pier and non-pier customers.
According to Chapter 91 requirements, all activity on a pier stretching out over Commonwealth tidelands, as Fisherman’s Wharf does, must be devoted primarily to water-dependent activities, either commercial or recreational. The parking lot, which is used largely by tourists driving into town, is only licensed for five spaces and the Cabrals have illegally expanded the size of the parking lot over the past several years, according to Ed Coletta, a DEP spokesman.
“They have been utilizing these parking spaces without a permit. They’re allowed five spaces under the current permit. That’s why we’re in negotiation,” Coletta said.
The DEP’s current settlement offer would reduce the 186-space parking lot to 100 spaces and turn 50 percent of the pier into pedestrian walkways, according to Vaughn Cabral. The walkways would be 10-feet wide, increasing to 19-feet around the fish off-loading area, and encircle the entire wharf, he said.
“The DEP wants physical obstructions [to mark the pedestrian paths], not just painted walkways. We won’t be able to offload fish or the lobster guys won’t be able to load their traps. They’ve got to have access to the edge of the wharf,” Cabral said.
The DEP also wants the Cabrals to pay $25,000 in fines, $10,000 of which would go to the state and $15,000 into the local harbor gift fund, where it would be used to improve public access to the Provincetown waterfront.
Cabral said he and his father have spent approximately $150,000 in legal fees negotiating with the DEP. In addition to a significant drop in income if the parking lot is reduced to 100 spaces, Cabral said local businesses would suffer because parking in the summer is so limited in town, where the municipal lots often fill by late morning on busy weekends.
“It’s going to affect every business on Commercial Street. It’s going to affect the whale watching boats. That’s a lot of people who won’t be walking around town. They’ll be driving around town and when they can’t get a parking space, they’ll leave and tell everyone not to come to Provincetown,” Cabral said.
State Rep. Sarah Peake, (4th Barnstable), wrote a letter to the DEP arguing that Fisherman’s Wharf does provide the public access the state agency wants. The pier is open to pedestrians, fishermen and bicyclists, she said, and the building on the end of the wharf often hosts public events.
Peake said she also talked about the town’s need for parking in her letter to the DEP. However, her efforts do not seem to be working, she said.
“I’m afraid we’re not having much success. I don’t think we’re making any headway,” Peake said.
The Cabrals ran up against the DEP approximately three years ago when they permanently docked the Provincia at the wharf. As part of an investigation into reports of people living on the boat and retail food service on the top deck, Coletta said the DEP checked the permits in place and discovered that the existing permit only allowed five parking spaces at the land-end of the pier before it extends out over the water. As a result of the investigation, the food service operation was ordered closed, the Cabrals were not allowed to live year-round on the boat and negotiations for the Chapter 91 license began after that.
The new restrictions proposed by the DEP will result in a significant revenue loss for the owners, which Vaughn Cabral said “is vital to maintaining the pier.”
“If you start taking revenue away from us, how are we going to take care of the pier,” he said.
The restrictions and resulting loss of income might also scare away potential buyers of the pier, which has been on the market for $8 million for over two and a half years.
If a settlement cannot be reached between the Cabrals and the DEP, the state agency would likely issue an enforcement order requiring the restrictions to be implemented. The enforcement action could be appealed by the Cabrals first to the DEP, then to Superior Court if an agreement cannot be mediated.
psowers@provincetownbanner.com
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May 31st, 2007