Town Meeting Voters To Face A Dozen Petition Articles

HARWICH – If the number of petition articles for the annual town meeting is an indicator, it’s going to be a long legislative session on May 4.

 A dozen petition articles were filed for the annual session by the Friday, Feb. 13 deadline. Several of the measures deal with the use of town funds for housing projects, limiting multifamily housing developments and prioritizing affordable housing trust spending.

 Other articles deal with tree preservation and management along town roadways. A couple of the articles will be familiar to town meeting voters, who have acted on similar measures in past years.

 There is no doubt the approval of the 242-unit 40B permit for the Pine Oaks Village IV project in North Harwich, the Pennrose LLC/Harwich Affordable Housing Trust proposal for 60 units at 456 Queen Anne Road, and the potential for large development on the 29-acre Marceline salvage yard property along Pleasant Lake Ave and Headwaters Drive, have the attention of residents.

 Robert J. Hundertmark has filed a petition seeking to prohibit the issuance of multifamily development special permits in rural low and medium density residential districts - the Residential Rural Estate, Residential Low Density or Residential Medium density districts.

 “The current bylaw threatens to upset the diverse geographic nature of Harwich which has been developed over 50-plus years of land use regulation by allowing high density multifamily residential use in rural, low and medium density single family residential district, robbing those districts of the character, open space and rural charm which is essential to the geographic beauty and diversity of land use in the town of Harwich,” Hundertmark wrote in his explanation accompanying the petition.

 Ed Trembicki-Guy has filed a petition seeking that no private development projects, including 40B projects, receive financial or regulatory incentives from the town without prior approval from town meeting.

 In his explanation, Trembicki-Guy wrote that the article would require town meeting approval before the town grants optional incentives such as fee waivers, tax reductions, or other discretionary financial or regulatory benefits The provisions would not affect incentives or actions required by state law. The provisions also would not prohibit any actual development.

 “The goal is to increase transparency, ensure fairness and give residents a direct role in decisions involving discretionary benefits provided to developers,” the explanation reads. 

A petition filed by resident Louis Urbano seeks some of the similar provisions as the one filed by Trembicki-Guy. His proposed bylaw is aimed at transparency and informed decision-making by ensuring the potential impacts of development projects are documented for public awareness and to ensure that any expenditures of town funds related to such a project are approved by town meeting, according to the petition description.

The proposal would require town boards and committees reviewing development projects, especially larger multi-unit housing, to provide expected impacts such as traffic, neighborhood fit, environmental effects or costs to the town.

 “It does not change zoning rules, or give boards new powers to approve or deny projects,” Urbano’s explanation states. “If projects require the town to spend money for roads, drainage, utilities or environmental fixes, the funds must be approved by town meeting. This keeps decisions about public spending in the hands of voters.”

 Urbano also filed another petition that seeks to amend the Harwich Housing Trust bylaw to prioritize programs providing direct financial assistance to individuals and households, including down-payment assistance, rental subsidies or other housing support programs for teachers, police officers, firefighters, health care workers and other eligible populations who live in Harwich or seek to live and work in the town. It would further require any funds for private developers to be approved by a town meeting vote.

 Matt Sutphin filed a petition that would authorize the select board, through its designee, to evaluate the acquisition of the former Marceline salvage yard, a 29-acre parcel located along Route 124 at the Route 6 interchange. Any final decision to acquire the property, including the use of town funds, would require a town meeting vote.

Sutphin filed two additional petitions; one article would require the select board, in lieu of appointing a tree warden, to establish a policy for how the town reviews requests to remove trees within town road setbacks. His other petition would limit any person from serving as a voting member on more than one major town board or commission. There is a charter provision prohibiting select board members from serving on appointive town committees, except for the affordable housing trust.

Resident Patrick Otton also filed three petition articles. One seeks to authorize the select board to petition the state legislature for special legislation allowing the town to establish its own fertilizer regulation, which includes prohibiting the application of fertilizers. A second seeks to establish a tree preservation bylaw modeled after one in place in Mashpee, and a third seeks to establish a scenic road bylaw to complement the state Scenic Road Act, which provides for protecting the rural and historic character of local roads by regulating the removal of trees and stonewalls within the town’s rights of way.

Jan Raffaele filed an article that would authorize the select board to petition the state legislature seeking a provision to restrict the use of second generation anticoagulant rodenticides. In his explanation, Raffaele writes that such substances pose a serious risk to wildlife, pets and the ecosystem, causing animals to bleed to death internally while the anticoagulant remains potent in the body, and poisoning any other animals that eat that body.

Trembicki-Guy also filed a petition that would amend the noise bylaw allowing for a provision designed to reduce unnecessary noise from leaf blowers. His explanation states the provision does not prohibit yard maintenance or landscaping work, but rather aims to reduce unnecessary and intrusive noise.

Petitions for the annual town meeting require the signatures of 10 registered voters to be placed on the warrant. All 12 petitions have been certified, according to Town Clerk Emily Mitchell.