Editor: 
Kudos to The Chronicle for your coverage of the congestion and pedestrian/traffic safety issues along Shore Road at the fish pier. Several of the stories have suggested reducing speed limits along Shore Road as a potential part of the solution. Which caused me to notice the following: 
As you approach Shore Road from Route 28 southbound, the speed limit drops from 35 to 30 to, just before Old Harbor Road, 15 mph. However, once you pass the light at that corner, there is a yellow "advisory" sign saying "Thickly Settled, 30 mph." According to the MassDOT website, such advisory signs "are not enforceable since their intent is to advise motorists of an appropriate speed, not regulate it." From there to the corner of Main Street, there is not a single speed limit sign, although Google Maps says the speed limit on the southbound side of Shore Road is 15 mph.
As you approach Shore Road from the Lighthouse, the speed limit on Main Street appears to be 30 mph (according to Google Maps anyway), and then there is another "advisory" sign saying "Thickly Settled, 30 mph" at the start of Shore Road. According to Google Maps, the speed limit on northbound Shore Road is 30 mph, twice the legal speed limit of the southbound side. This makes little sense, given the bulk of the pedestrian traffic and parking issues are on the east side of the road.
Ignoring the larger issue that Chatham has far too many speed zones (including a completely irrational 45 mph section of Route 28 between Old Harbor and Stony Hill roads, it seems like a good first step that Shore Road would have a 20 mph speed limit in both directions and remove the "advisory" sign that advises people to drive twice the supposedly "posted" limit. Maybe add a couple of "advisory" signs saying 15 mph from the fish pier to just past CBI.

Bill Imbergamo
Chatham

Editor:
In both Brewster and Orleans there was a presentation to their respective select boards by the assessors office outlining various tax options which were accompanied by full discussion, financial costs and public input. Where was that presentation, discussion and public input in Chatham? Where were the financial breakdowns for the cost of the systems, additional staffing and any potential budget overlay expenses to implement the Chatham Select Board’s decision on a residential tax exemption?
None of that mattered to the Chatham Select Board. Instead the sentiment was that summer residents can’t vote so they don’t answer to or owe them anything. It is very clear to this summer resident that what we hear at the annual summer meeting of the summer residents committee on how they are an integral voice in Chatham is clearly a false statement. I want to thank the chair of the summer residents committee who spoke valiantly on behalf of his constituents. Summer residents have no voice in the management of Chatham, but now we are being asked to carry more of the financial burden. How is that fair?
Summer residents have always felt the unfairness of taxation without representation, but there was a shared burden with our neighbors. We knew that they would be our shared voice to vote accordingly for what was most cost effective and right for Chatham for all residents. Was the goal of the select board to create this divide so that they could move more of their budget decisions forward with less resistance? That by giving this benefit our neighbors won’t care as much about cost because the burden to them is not as great?
Whatever the rationale, this select board has made it clear their opinion of summer residents, you don’t get to vote so pay up! What an unwelcoming sentiment, but at least now we know where we stand.

Suzanne Miska
Fairfield, Conn. and Chatham

Editor:
On behalf of Namequoit Sailing Association, I would like to thank the Friends of Pleasant Bay for their generous grant. This grant allowed a few Cape Cod public school children to attend the NSA Junior Sailing program this past summer who could not afford the lessons. This opportunity allowed these local students to learn how to sail and learn about the fragile waters of Pleasant Bay and the need to protect them.

Eileen Smith
Namequoit Sailing Association
Orleans

Editor:
It is encouraging to see that the initiative to solve Chatham's affordable housing crisis is finally in the hands of experienced and capable individuals. Chatham's zoning board of appeals is conducting a welcome series of hearings responsive to public concerns and has scheduled two more hearings in October. The zoning board's patient, thoughtful and thorough examination of two proposed development plans is refreshing.
The combined Main Street/Meetinghouse Road project should serve as a model for future affordable housing development needed to restore Chatham's traditional and vibrant demographic mix of working households with children, retirees and summer residents.
Voter dissatisfaction with Chatham's affordable housing trust board has resulted in a needed leadership shakeup. The trust board's failure to listen to townspeople when drafting requests for development proposals and then ignoring the developer's non-compliance with RFP specifications when awarding the contract stirred widespread discontent and disappointment among voters.
Density limits were not placed on the small three-acre Main Street site, threatening the environment and welfare of tenants. Deeper setbacks of 40 feet or more including substantial vegetative buffers where large, multi-family apartment buildings abut single-family residential neighborhoods were not specified in the RFP, threatening the privacy, peace and quiet of neighboring homeowners. RFP criteria that did specify that affordable housing development respect neighboring properties and keep traffic flow internal were ignored by the trust board when approving the developer's proposal.
Improvements to proposed development plans currently being considered by Chatham's zoning board of appeals, including a modest trimming of rental apartments from 90 to 84 for Main Street/Meetinghouse Road, are a sensible attempt at meeting both regional affordable housing needs and valid local needs. It is hard to understand why a handful of affordable housing advocates persist in their opposition to meeting reasonable local needs when we are so close to advancing the town's affordable housing goals.  
 
Ella Leavitt
West Chatham

Editor:
Taxpayer money is always cheap. Harwich select board has decided to spend $361,000-plus to make the intersection at Route 39 and Chatham Road in Harwich safer, which needs to be done.
However, an all way stop at that intersection would do the job. This would require two stop signs on route Route 39 on either side of that intersection. One advantage to this would be to slow traffic going west on Route 39 before entering Harwich Center. To me that is common sense, but I do not know the reasons this solution was discarded.

Bob Bliss 
Harwich

Editor:
On Saturday, Oct. 18 there will be a peaceful, nonviolent gathering on the Chatham Unitarian Universalist Meetinghouse front lawn from 3 to 4:30 p.m. This gathering is in support of the national No Kings 2 peaceful demonstrations being held on Oct 18 throughout the country.  
This is an opportunity for anyone to peacefully express his or her concerns regarding the current social injustices and Constitutional challenges we all face. This gathering is not a political event but rather is intended to call attention to improper and in some cases illegal actions imposed on people throughout our country! Please join us and bring your friends and family, voices, signs (some signs will be available), flags and musical instruments!
For those participants arriving by car, please do not park in the Chatham Village Market and CVS parking lot. Public parking is available at the Oyster Pond and Chatham Community Center parking lots. Also, do not use the CVS restrooms. The UUMH restroom will be made available on an urgent need basis.

Mary Byrne
Evan Howard 
Gail Tilton
Chatham

Editor:
The Chronicle editors took issue with my recent letter “Climate Change Editorial Off-base” by citing a recent NASA article at sealevel.nasa.gov/news/282/nasa-analysis-shows-unexpected-amount-of-sea-level-rise-in-2024/.  
I encourage readers to review this article, which contains a graph showing annual sea-level rise since 1993. Three conclusions jump out:
NASA’s measurements vary significantly with some high years and some low years.
The graph shows a total sea-level rise since 1993 of 10.1 cm, or four inches. This rate is just over one foot per century, roughly what the sea-level rise has been over the last 100 years.
Ocean dynamics are complex and influenced by factors other than carbon dioxide.
Nothing in NASA’s measurements supports the frightening scenarios of coastal inundation bandied about by climate activists using unrealistic scenarios. The real argument over sea level rise is about inches, not feet. Small sea level rises can be managed by adaptation, as they always have been. Trivial but very expensive reductions in fossil fuel use will have no impact.
The editors’ comment underscores the need for a full debate in Chatham. Climate activists are not entitled to sole ownership of the public forum. They should be required to defend their arguments before they spend our money.  As the great physicist Richard Feynman once said, “Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts.”

Bruce Everett
North Chatham

Editor:
How disheartening to read Mr. Everett’s rebuttal of the editorial addressing climate change.
I do not understand the intent of his letter, other than as his last line states, “We should not let a group of scientists, however distinguished, claim exclusive knowledge of the truth, while the rest of us open our wallets.”
To plan and create policies that protect and sustain our land, waters, homes, food supply and general welfare, who should we turn to for data, information and guidance other than those with distinguished expertise who have studied these conditions for decades?
There is much we can do, and often doing things now instead of waiting until later saves reaching into our wallets deeper.
Right now if you’d like to do something I would recommend the website natureforma.org and consider the bill many conservation groups hope to get on the ballot for November 2026.
Never before has pennywise and pound foolish been so appropriate.

Kathy Miller
Brewster

Editor:
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the greatest public health challenges of our time. According to the Alzheimer’s Association 2025 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report, more than seven million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, including more than 135,000 here in Massachusetts.
That is why I serve as chair of the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s – Cape Cod at Cape Cod Community College on Oct. 19. The Walks are the world’s largest event to raise awareness and critical funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research.
The walk is a powerful and moving event filled with colorful flowers, each carried by someone committed to ending the disease.  My flower is for my mother who succumbed to the disease in 2002 following a 12-year battle.
By coming together at the walk, we provide care and support for families facing the disease today, invest in promising research, and drive progress to ensure access to treatments for all who could benefit.
We are closer than ever before to ending Alzheimer’s, but we cannot do it alone.  I invite members of our community to stand with us and join the fight by registering for the Walk at alz.org/walk.

Paul Stuka
Chatham

Editor:
All of us at Protect Our Past thank all who attended the POP Film Festival on Oct. 4. It was full of great content viewed by a captivated audience. Highlights included the premier of “If Our Walls Could Talk: Hidden Echoes,” and the engaging session with Mike, Jenny and Rich of the “Houses with History” HGTV series, Full Circle Homes, and their short film “Coming Full Circle.” Plus, we featured the video contest winner’s film created by Solomon Antar, a senior at Monomoy High School. What a talented young man with a bright future! A deeply sincere thank you goes to each of our sponsors: Bebe Hunt, Cape Cod Chronicle, Cape Media Center, Eastbred, EXP Real Estate Coastal Collaborators, W. Douglas Gilpin, Jr. FAIA Architect PLC, WOMR. Also, the Barnstable High School community, Jay Sheehan (garrettaudio) and company, and of course our dedicated volunteers.  
The message that resonated throughout is that the value of historic houses, their stories embedded in the walls, shelter the soul of Cape Cod.   

Ellen Briggs, president and founder 
Protect Our Past

Editor:
The recent cuts and shutdown at the federal level threaten essential programs that Cape Cod families rely on — everything from food assistance to housing support. While Washington retreats, our state must step forward. The Massachusetts Legislature has a responsibility not just to cushion these blows, but to act boldly and proactively to ensure no resident is left behind.
We cannot wait for federal funds that may never come back. Massachusetts has the resources and ingenuity to protect its most vulnerable communities, but it requires the political will to prioritize people to do so. A more aggressive response — through targeted state funding, innovative partnerships, and stronger safety nets — is not optional; it is a moral obligation.
If we fail to act decisively, the burden will fall hardest on our children, seniors and working families already struggling to make ends meet. This is not the time for incrementalism. Massachusetts should lead by example, proving that even when Washington pulls back, we move forward.

Steven Leibowitz
Brewster