CHATHAM – Only a handful of affordable housing units have been built in town since the town last housing production plan, and a draft update of the plan acknowledges reaching the target affordable housing goal is a “formidable challenge.” Currently 5.03 percent of the town's year-round housing stock is considered affordable, half of the 10 percent level established by the state and endorsed in the town's compr...

CHATHAM – With GPS mapping included with almost every smartphone and in most new cars, is there really a need anymore to post street address numbers on buildings? The answer, say public safety officials, is an emphatic yes. “GPS certainly gets us close,” said Fire Chief Peter Connick, but it can also leave fire and rescue personnel searching for the right address. And when the situation is an emergency, esp...

CHATHAM – It began innocently enough – a $1 charge appeared on a bank account on the Saturday of Martin Luther King, Jr., weekend and disappeared two days later. Then, a month later on the Saturday of Presidents Day weekend, $660 was charged by eBay to the same account. A quick series of phone calls revealed that someone had used stolen credit card information to purchase a camera from a Canadian citizen who clai...

Affordable Housing Issue 'Irrelevant,' Says Zoning Board CHATHAM – The loss of workforce housing to upscale residences, one of the main concerns of those worried about the inability of young families to afford to live in town, has become a focus of a proposal to replace run-down apartments on Main Street with high-end condominiums. Opponents say the plan will force working people out of what are now four mo...

And How The Town Purchased The MCI Properties SOUTH CHATHAM — Twenty years ago this month, an impromptu group of neighbors crowded into a cottage in South Chatham to consider a pie-in-the-sky proposal. A little more than a year later, they’d be credited with pulling off what is arguably the town’s most significant land purchase of the last century. Changes in the Telecom Industry By the late 1990s...

CHATHAM — Though it wasn’t without a few glitches, organizers say Mondays on Main, this summer’s first-ever weekly live downtown music event, was a success. The event was sponsored by the Chatham Merchants Association and featured between four and six bands performing at rotating venues. Association President Becky Voelkel said early plans are already underway for next year’s musical series. “We went into...

CHATHAM — The new executive director of the Chatham Chamber of Commerce, Mary Cavanaugh, started work Monday. And while she’s focused now on unpacking boxes and meeting key people, she’s eager to get to work promoting the town’s businesses and encouraging economic development. A Chatham summer resident since the early 1980s, Cavanaugh and her husband purchased land here in 2002 and built a home, and they’ve ...

CHATHAM – After some finagling, a playhouse-size model of the Eldredge Public Library now sits on the lawn of the town offices, across Main Street from the historic library. The Friends of the Eldredge Public Library hope the high visibility of the location will help sell raffle ticket for the playhouse, which was donated by Cape Associates, Inc. The money raised will help support the library's youth program, ...

WELLFLEET — With emotion still raw after a fatal shark attack on Newcomb Hollow Beach less than two weeks earlier, there was a spirited discussion in Wellfleet last Thursday evening about how to keep beachgoers safe. There were renewed calls for reducing the number of seals off the outer beach as a means of deterring sharks. Most such measures would be prohibited by the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, ...

SOUTH CHATHAM — The caution tape is down and the playground at the tiny South Chatham Park is open for business. It’s a welcome sight for neighbors, who’ve been lobbying for improvements since 2015. “The next phase is underway,” Parks and Recreation Director Dan Tobin said this week. In the next few days, contractor T.W. Nickerson will be installing fine, compact gravel to complete a handicap-accessible w...

CHATHAM – It is arguably the most contentious issue facing Massachusetts voters this November. Ballot question 1 – “Nurse-Patient Assignment Limits Initiative” – is creating a response in the public that is contradictory and confusing. Competing ads claiming to represent the same people yet holding different positions appear regularly in the media, trust-worthy information on the proposal and its effect is scarce...

CHATHAM – When the town's skateboard park had to relocated from the airport property, a number of locations were considered; one of the criteria was visibility. The old park was along busy George Ryder Road and right across the street from the police department. When Volunteer Park, off Sam Ryder Road, was chosen as the new skate park location, there were concerns about whether it met that visibility criteria....