'Ambitious' community housing article heads to Provincetown special town meeting

Provincetown special town meeting voters will consider a property acquisition article that could eventually lead to between 48 and 60 units of much-needed community housing on Oct. 23.

"We want to jump on the opportunity," said Dan Riviello, Provincetown's assistant town manager. "We don't have a lot of buildable land in Provincetown."

Article 8 asks voters to consider spending $2,035,000 (or any other amount) to buy land at 22, 22R and 24 Nelson Avenue, located north of Route 6, off Race Point Road.

Town meeting will also consider several other items aimed at addressing the need for more housing. Here is the breakdown.

Why does the town want to buy land on Nelson Avenue?

According to the town, the select board has completed purchase and sale agreements for the Nelson Avenue properties, but voters need to approve the funding before the deals can be closed.

Information prepared for voters in advance of the meeting states that "these two properties present an increasingly rare opportunity for the town to embark on ambitious community housing projects in the coming years."

Riviello told the Cape Cod Times the town has no immediate plans for developing the parcels but, without action on the purchases, the opportunity to acquire the land could disappear.

According to information prepared by the town, "without the town's intervention, the likelihood of private development looms large, leading to a proliferation of market-rate condominiums, many of which could potentially become short-term rentals."

If the property acquisition is approved, and the parcels are combined, the town "could explore the development of up to 18 units today, or between 48 to 60 units once served by sewer," according to explanatory material prepared by the town.

The sewer connection is expected to occur between 2027 and 2030.

What else is on the agenda?

There are 14 business items on the agenda, including payment of prior year bills, declarations of surplus properties, and amendments to general and zoning bylaws. Here are some highlights.

Article 2: Establish a Provincetown Municipal Airport Enterprise Fund. This is aimed at creating a more structured budget for the airport.

Article 3. Establish a Receipts Reserved for Appropriation Ambulance Fund. With discontinuation of the Lower Cape Ambulance Association, the town will begin receiving funds from ambulance transports presently collected by that organization. This fund will allow the receipts to be segregated from the general fund and earmarked for specified purposes by statute. Funds will be used to supplement the operating budget of a full-time EMT/ambulance service.

Article 4. Funding for Motta Field design development & construction documents. This article asks voters to approve $250,000 to cover the next phase of design and development costs for Motta Field. This will provide necessary details and a more specific cost estimate to inform the funding request for reconstruction of the field at the annual Town Meeting in the spring.

Article 5. Capital funding ($250,000) for transfer station trash trailers. There are six trailers for the transfer station to haul trash and recycling out of town for disposal. The station is in immediate need of two new trailers to replace two that are aged and rotten. The money is proposed to come from unspent funds from previously approved capital articles.

Article 6. Eversource easement for transformer at the police station on Jerome Smith Road. This will allow the utility to install and service an electric pad mount transformer that will serve the new police station.

Article 9. Declaration of surplus of property at 26 Shank Painter Road and 15 Browne St. This allows the Select Board to dispose of town-owned property based on the recent request for proposal for development of housing on the site of the existing police station.

Article 10. Declaration of surplus of property located at 288A Bradford St. This allows the Select Board to issue a request for proposals to receive developer submissions on how to develop the property and could allow the board to enter into a lease or sale agreement to achieve the town's housing goals.

Article 11. General bylaw amendment: Prohibitions related to short-term rental of residential properties. This creates a general bylaw to regulate short-term rentals with items that appear to have broad support among housing advocates, including banning corporations from obtaining short-term rental certificates.

Article 12. General bylaw amendment: Prohibitions related to short-term rental of residential properties – additional regulations. If article 11 is adopted, this amends the general bylaw to regulate short-term rentals by adding a subsection allowing individuals to obtain no more than two short-term rental certificates.

Article 13. Zoning bylaw amendment: Ban on fractional ownership. "Fractional ownership" describes properties owned by multiple parties who each own a percentage, along with sharing usage rights. Many believe fractional ownership poses a direct risk to the year-round residents and their access to stable, year-round housing. West Tisbury adopted a similar bylaw earlier this year and Nantucket and other communities on Martha's Vineyard are considering bans of their own.

Article 14. Zoning bylaw amendment: Accessory dwelling units. Even though accessory dwelling units — secondary living spaces located on the same lot as a primary home — have been allowed by right in every residential district in town since 2017, very few units have been created. This removes the deed restriction limiting accessory dwelling units to year-round rental only, allows the units to be accessory to a principal commercial unit, prohibits them from being used for short-term rentals, and prohibits converting them into condominiums. The aim is to make creating an accessory dwelling unit easier by allowing greater flexibility for occupancy, such as allowing seasonal rental for workers.

What is a town meeting?

A town meeting is both an event and an entity, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website. As an event, it is a gathering of a town’s eligible voters, and is referred to as “the town meeting.” As an entity, it is the legislative body for towns in Massachusetts, and is referred to simply as “town meeting.” Thirteen of the 15 Cape Cod towns, including Provincetown, have “open town meetings,” meaning all voters who live in that town may vote on all matters. Falmouth has a “representative town meeting,” where all voters elect town meeting members who then vote on all town meeting matters. The town of Barnstable is governed by an elected town council rather than by a town meeting.

In Provincetown, an annual Town Meeting is held on the first Monday in April of every year. Special town meetings may be called at other times by the Select Board or upon petition of 200 voters. Warrants close 30 days prior to the date of the town meeting. Petitions for warrant articles may be obtained from the town clerk. Petitions for annual Town Meeting warrant articles require signatures of 10 registered voters of the town of Provincetown; for special Town Meeting articles, 100 voters.

Where and when is Provincetown's special town meeting?

Provincetown's special town meeting will convene at 6 p.m. on Oct. 23 at Provincetown Town Hall, 260 Commercial St.

Where can I find the warrant?

The full town warrant for the special Town Meeting on Monday, Oct. 23 can be found at www.provincetown-ma.gov/townmeeting

Eric Williams, when not solving Curious Cape Cod mysteries, writes about a variety of ways to enjoy the Cape, the weather, wildlife and other subjects. Contact him at ewilliams@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @capecast.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Provincetown special town meeting: Will town buy land for housing?