HARWICH PORT – More than a dozen shops and businesses in the village will be joining together on Saturday to sponsor the first Harwich Port Merchants Fall Festival, featuring music, contests, craft sessions, face painting, raffles, specials and sidewalk sales. With a hint of fall in the air, the festival will include a raft of seasonal activities from a pie baking contest at Reciprocity's Cross Street Studio t...

Suspension Invoked For COVID-19 Violations  HARWICH — After much sound and fury, selectmen granted a seasonal entertainment license to The Port Restaurant and Bar. But the board also issued a suspension of operations to the restaurant for three days in August for two violations of state-mandated COVID-19 guidelines. The hearing process has been long and arduous for the restaurant, with selectmen issuing the...

HARWICH — The conflict between commercial enterprises and quality of life for residents in Harwich Port continues to increase in volume. Last week selectmen put a temporary halt to the ad hoc noise containment committee looking at the issue in order to get better control of the volume control dial. Selectman Michael MacAskill, who serves as the board’s liaison to the ad hoc committee, requested that the the co...

HARWICH — The attorney for two Harwich Port restaurants sparred with town officials and state investigators over alleged violations of COVID-19 emergency regulations during liquor license hearings last week. The hearings held by Interim Town Administrator Joseph Powers on alleged liquor license violations at Ember Pizza and The Port restaurants reached no conclusions after problems with remote participation ca...

HARWICH — The appeals board upheld Building Commissioner Raymond Chesley’s position that the rear fence of Perks Coffee Shop and Beer Garden does not meet the criteria for a structure and thus does not violate sideline setbacks to the abutting Port Restaurant and Bar. The two restaurants, which are separated by that fence, are in the midst of a property line dispute that one member of the board called “petty b...

HARWICH – Robert Perry stared in amazement at his transformed back yard. What had been an area choked with weeds, cluttered with items ready for the dump, and shaded by overgrown saplings just hours before was now weed free, with trash and trees removed, sunlight dappling the freshly raked space. All the work was done by volunteers taking part in the ninth Annual Big Fix, which this year bettered the homes, and l...

HARWICH — Town meeting will be asked to authorize spending of the $1 million Seaport Economic Council grant awarded to the town for the landside construction project at Saquatucket Harbor, in addition to the $3 million originally approved, allowing inclusion of a snack shack in the project. If the grant funds are approved by town meeting voters, Town Administrator Christopher Clark said that will “give the gre...

HARWICH — The planning board has approved modifications to the use and site plan special permits for Camelot, LLC's proposal to build a 12,400-square-foot mixed-use structure in the center of Harwich Port. The project, which now calls for four rental units on the first floor, and four three-bedroom residential units on the second floor, has been in the planning process for more than a year. But it ran into a r...

HARWICH ─ If you've ever wondered what happens to all the baseballs launched over the fences at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, wonder no more. It's likely Walker has them. If not, he'll surely find them soon enough, along with lost tennis, lacrosse, and other balls at local fields. Walker is a 10-year-old black lab owned by Bruce Young, an EMT with the Harwich Fire Department. “My wife wanted a dog,” said Y...

HARWICH PORT — Changes are being proposed to the plan to redevelop the former Dino's restaurant location in the center of the village, and the possibility those changes could include a restaurant has some neighbors concerned. Last week the board of health heard a request for a septic permit for the property more than double the required capacity of the original proposal, leading some to believe a restaurant co...

HARWICH — The Salt Block Food Truck moved into Harwich Center this week from its former station in the parking lot across from Saquatucket Harbor. The planning board approved the change of location for the special use permit previously granted to Jennifer and Douglas Ramler of Cape Sea Grille, owners of the food truck. The Ramlers were before the planning board last Tuesday seeking the transfer of location to ...

HARWICH PORT — A little triangular oasis of public space in Harwich Port, Doane Park is looking particularly green this week, thanks to a lot of community cooperation – and a little good karma. The park has a new irrigation system that waters both the grass and the garden beds maintained by the Garden Club of Harwich. It replaces an old, failing system that left major dry patches in some places and leaked wa...

HARWICH — The Stone Horse Motel property is back on the market. Outer Cape Health Services, which had planned to convert the former motel to new medical offices, will instead move its health care facilities into the former BackOffice building across from Saquatucket Harbor. OCHS purchased the Stone Horse more than two years for $1 million and set its sights on building a 25,000 -to-30,000-square-foot facility ...

HARWICH — Allen Harbor Marine Service will be celebrating its 90 th year in business this year, and it will do so under new ownership but with a familiar face at the helm. Longtime general manager Craig LeBlanc purchased the real estate connected with the business last week. “I plan to carry on the legacy of the (Nichols) family,” LeBlanc said of the marina's 90 years of service to the community. “There wi...

HARWICH — Establishments providing entertainment in Harwich Port will have to adhere to new noise level regulations after selectmen Monday night tweaked proposed regulations one more time before approving them. This was the third hearing before selectmen over the past month on proposed noise regulations designed to appease the business community and residents in the mixed-use district. After two sessions in wh...

HARWICH PORT — Setting the boundaries for music here has been a lot more challenging than town officials initially thought. Selectmen on Monday night continued for the second time a public hearing on adopting the town's noise bylaw as a standard for entertainment and establishing uniform hours for playing music. Although they agreed that outside music should have a 10 p.m. limit, they were not prepared to go i...