Last Pandemic Parking Space Eliminated In Downtown Chatham

CHATHAM – The last of the downtown parking spaces reserved for take-out delivery during the pandemic is being eliminated.

 The select board voted unanimously April 15 to direct the department of public works to remove restricted parking from in front of 513 Main St.

 The spaces restricted parking after 3 p.m. to those picking up takeout from Bluefins Sushi and Sake Bar or dropping off restaurant patrons. It was one of a number of Main Street parking spaces that were cross-hatched and reserved for use for vehicles short-term parking for picking up takeout orders from downtown restaurants during the pandemic. Most of the spaces were eliminated over the past few years.

 Joan Craig, chair of the town’s parking study committee, requested that the space be removed last September. The select board referred the question to the traffic group, which voted on Oct. 18 to recommend that it be removed.

 Select board member Jeff Dykens said it was time to “level the playing field” for downtown restaurants and other downtown businesses by eliminating the restaurant’s exclusive use of the spaces.

 “It’s a matter of parity and fairness,” he said.

 However, having strategically placed short-term parking for pickup and dropoff areas along Main Street is not necessarily a bad idea, Community Development Director Kathleen Donovan said. She suggested waiting until an ongoing study of downtown traffic and parking by the Cape Cod Commission is completed. 

 Board chair Michael Schell noted that the committee for people with disabilities has for some time requested a drop-off space in front of the Chatham Orpheum Theater.

 “There seems to be a fair amount of sentiment that that is something that would make life a lot easier for folks with disabilities who want to go to the Orpheum,” he said.

 That would be something to consider in conjunction with the Cape Cod Commission study, Donovan said. She anticipates the study to be completed by late April or early May.