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Photo Pru Sowers
MacMillan Pier is dealing with a petition asking for changes on the pier. |
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Photo Pru Sowers
The floats can only be rented to “for hire” boats, blocking the lucrative pleasure boat rentals. |
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Petition points to possible pier inequities
By Kevin Mullaney
Banner Correspondent
PROVINCETOWN — Should the town allow pleasure boats to dock on MacMillan Pier? Is there so little demand for commercial boat space that not allowing recreational boats presents a hardship to the float owners on the west side of the pier? Does the town hurt the float owners by letting charter fishing boats use the cheaper spaces on the east side of the pier?
These are questions raised, and allegations made, in a petition the MacMillan Pier Float Owners Association has presented to the Provincetown Public Pier Corporation, the municipal corporation created by the state Legislature to run the pier.
In the petition, the owners of floats on the west side of MacMillan Pier are demanding that the Pier Corp. consider: changing the policy that forbids them from renting to non-commercial boats; to stop allowing charter boats to pick up their customers at the courtesy float, which is free; and to not allow charter boats spaces on the east side of the pier, which is reserved for working fishermen.
The petition, signed by nine of the 10 float owners, asks that they be allowed to rent their berths to “not for hire” as well as “for hire” sub-tenants. “We … believe the current ‘for hire’ policy of the Provincetown Public Pier Corporation is unrealistic as there simply is not the demand to fill our berths,” the petition states. “Allowing charters to use the courtesy float and [the] discounted rates does a disservice to the town and its taxpayers.” The discounted rates refers to the $3,000 fee for the east side of the pier, compared to the $8,000 annual fee for the west side. In a letter presenting the petition, Candace Nagle, a float owner, mentioned also that the Pier Corp. does not require the same liability insurance from charter businesses they rent space to on the east side.
Pier Manager Rex McKinsey said the recreational use of MacMillan Pier is an issue they’ve wrestled with for years, going back to before the Pier Corp. was created and the licensing board governed the wharf. The process is the same, he said, and the Chapter 91 conditions were negotiated and agreed to by the town when the pier was rebuilt. Chapter 91 of the Mass. General Laws attempts to ensure public access to state-owned waterways, and all waterfront property west of Howland must go through a lengthy Chapter 91 licensing process with the state Waterways division. (Chapter 91 regulates activities on both coastal and inland waterways.)
The issue here, he said, is that the float owner, meaning Nagle, is not running a commercial, water-dependent business as are other float owners, such as those of the whalewatch boats and schooners Hindu and the Bay Lady. “They don’t need tenants,” McKinsey said of these businesses. “Their business model is not predicated on renting out to a tenant.”
Nagle owns only the float license which, he said, can be renewed indefinitely and can be sold. “They’re making money on a public piece of property,” he said. Concerning the town allowing non-commercial boats space on the east side of the pier, McKinsey said defining what is and isn’t commercial is not that simple. The town goes by the fishing licenses held by the boat owner. “There are a number of valid issues to work with them as a group and we probably could find some consensus,” he said of helping a tenant and still making money for the town. “Giving away the candy store is not good for the town. If we allow them to rent to recreational, what does it do to the town? If there were easy answers, we’d do it. There are not easy answers.”
Pier Corp. trustee George Hitchcock says that the commercial or for-hire requirement is contained in the legislation that created the Pier Corp. and is part of the pier’s Chapter 91 license.
“We’re supposed to be helping fishermen,” he said. “There’s nothing about allowing recreational boats.”
He also mentioned the private ownership of public space and feels that the float licenses should be part of a bidding process. Hitchcock said that amending the Chapter 91 license would be a long process and he doesn’t think the state would allow the non-commercial use.
Chair Len Clingham noted that there is nothing new contained in the petition but that the Pier Corp. does take the points seriously.
“There are legitimate concerns,” he said, adding that he was surprised to receive a petition. “This is the first time someone has made a concerted effort to get us to address things. … We try to accommodate the legitimate concerns of everyone.”
The Pier Corp. will place this as an agenda item on their meeting, the week after Thanksgiving, when the full board is present, he added.
“[They] want pleasure boats, but that’s not the function of the pier. That’s not what our charter says,” he said.
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Nov 1st, 2007