Candidates Share Views On Housing, Airport, Water Protection

 CHATHAM – In a mild-mannered candidates’ forum Monday afternoon, the four residents seeking two seats on the Chatham Select Board shared their views on a wide range of issues.

Incumbents Jeffrey Dykens and Michael Schell and challengers Brian Phillips and Stuart Smith spoke before a near capacity crowd at the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House, and while they shared common ground on many topics, some philosophical differences appeared.

 On the issue of housing, Schell acknowledged the debate about whether the town should create apartments for rent or units for home ownership, but said apartments are important. 

 “A rental does a lot of things for younger people getting a start that ownership doesn’t do,” he said. The two Pennrose projects now getting underway are being built at no cost to the town, which actually receives money from the developer, he noted.

 Dykens concurred, saying there is a keen need for rental housing in Chatham. 

 “Folks that work here don’t live here,” he said. The Pennrose developments will help meet that demand, even as the town pursues home ownership units on other, smaller properties. While home ownership is the American dream, “right now in Chatham we need rental housing,” he said.

 Phillips said many of his classmates who grew up in Chatham now live in the CHOP development, an affordable home ownership development from the 1980s, and “a beautiful, vibrant neighborhood.” He favors more developments like that, as well as the use of deed restrictions to convert existing homes to affordable housing “that uses the infrastructure that we already have.” 

 Smith said he doesn’t like the strategy of maximizing the number of apartments on a parcel of town-owned land, as in the case of the Pennrose developments. He said he favors letting young people build families in single-family homes, “something that that family can be proud of that it’s theirs.” A family paying rent would have difficulty saving money for a downpayment on a house, he added.

 Linked to the issue of housing is the problem of water protection. Smith said overdevelopment is a problem, with houses cropping up regularly on lots that seemed unbuildable. “It’s putting an enormous strain on our water source,” straining wells and creating water pollution, he said. The town should find a way to develop a comprehensive, strict zoning bylaw to limit growth, and should focus on acquiring open space, he said. 

 Dykens said it’s impossible to fight “the natural course of development. We’re a very attractive town,” he said. The town needs to ensure that its water infrastructure is adequate and needs to continue to promote water conservation and the use of private wells for irrigation. “It’s silly to take treated town water and throw it on a lawn,” he said.

 It’s important for the town to encourage people to connect to the sewer as quickly as possible, Phillips said, while incentivizing “eco-friendly lawns” that require less water and don’t use fertilizer. The town also needs to pursue more stormwater containment projects to reduce contamination from roadway tire particles, microplastics and PFAS, he argued.

 Schell said the town is addressing its drinking water needs by encouraging conservation and developing new wells, but said housing development can’t be halted. “We cannot simply say we want everything to stop the way it is now,” he said. “The population, as it exists today, doesn’t put enough kids in school” and can’t sustain the economy, he said. The two problems are interrelated and need to be addressed in an integrated way, Schell said.

 On the topic of the airport, Phillips said he is a strong supporter. “I want to keep Chatham Airport exactly as it is,” he said. When he was 18, he was in a motorcycle accident and relied on a MedFlight helicopter to get to a hospital. “Airports help save lives,” he said, and they also provide a base for fish spotters and charitable medical flights.

 Schell said he appreciates the concerns of airport neighbors and has worked to foster a public dialogue on the future of the airport. But as a lawyer, Schell said he believes that whatever action the town takes “has to conform to what the law says, and that’s a really difficult problem, particularly for the people who are upset by the airport.” The airport’s Fly Friendly program has helped reduce noise, and the potential for landing fees could help address additional concerns, he said.

 “The airport’s not going anywhere,” Smith said, so the key is to work to resolve the conflict by getting both sides in a room for a civil discussion, “and if they can’t be civil, they can leave.” The airport is a valued asset to the community, but the problem of increased noise from jets and turbojets is a real one. “We ought to get out ahead of it,” he said.

 Dykens, who has lived near the airport for 49 years, agreed that there needs to be a peaceful coexistence between aviators and neighbors. The airport commission can limit takeoffs and landings at various times, “but let’s be reasonable about it,” he said. “If they go off at six in the morning, fine them for it.” The airport is a critical asset, Dykens added. “Lives have been saved by the use of that airport.”

 Asked about town services to senior citizens, Schell and Dykens said they were strong advocates for a new senior center, but with that proposal rejected by town meeting numerous times, they support the planned renovations to the existing Center for Active Living. They also praised the creation of the center’s new adult day program, Ryder’s Cove Respite. Phillips advocated for the creation of a lunch program providing “high-end restaurant-quality food that meets the dietary needs of seniors.” Smith also supports the renovation of the existing Center for Active Living, but said the project should be funded by an article requiring two-thirds approval at town meeting, rather than using free cash. Using that funding approach will “hold a cloud over that building,” he said.

 All four candidates supported a capital project to repair the leaky roof and siding at the Monomoy Middle School, saying a dialogue needs to be kept open with Harwich officials to ensure the project goes forward. Smith said the condition of the building points out a problem. “We need to be able to catch these things before the roof is leaking and the air quality is in the dumpster,” he said.

 Answering an audience question about whether the candidates support the current administration in Washington and federal cutbacks, Dykens, Smith and Schell said they do not. Phillips was less clear. “Whatever happens, happens, and we really won’t know if it’s a good thing or bad thing until everything’s done,” he said.