Public To Hear Modified Christy’s Market Plan For Chatham Mobil

by Alan Pollock

            CHATHAM — The planning board has called a public hearing later this month to hear the latest details of plans to convert the Chatham Mobil station into a Christy’s market.  The newest version of the plan aims to address concerns about traffic safety and neighborhood character, the applicants say.

            The applicants went before the planning board last week, but Chairman Mark Zibrat allowed only limited discussion, saying he preferred that the application be aired fully in a dedicated session on Dec. 16 at 7 p.m.

            In a pre-application meeting before the planning board on Nov. 18, attorney William Litchfield, representing applicant Christy Mihos, said a number of changes have been made since the first plans were aired in May, based on “numerous positive suggestions from the board.”  Christy’s is proposing to renovate the service station, removing the automobile lifts and adding a convenience store.  The first draft of the plan called for inclusion of a coffee shop with up to 10 seats.

            “That is no longer on the table,” and there are no plans for the applicant to seek that component in the future, Litchfield said. 

            In May, many planning board members complained that the convenience store would cause a substantial increase in automobile traffic to the site, particularly because of the coffee shop proposal. 

            The new plan calls for most of the parking spaces to be located to the west side of the parcel, nearest the community center, and there are five more parking spaces than the town requires, Litchfield said.  Christy’s commissioned a traffic study by the firm of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, and the study is now complete; Litchfield said he planned to provide copies for the planning board this week.  The study recommends retaining the current three curb cuts to Main Street and Old Harbor Road.

            Litchfield said the area of the rotary is already a heavy traffic area, and “it’s always going to be a heavy traffic area.”  But he said his client would be willing to invest up to $20,000 to make improvements to the rotary and its crosswalks, and to provide a bond so the improvements can be made when the town and state highway officials are ready to do so.

            “We’re very much willing to be part of a solution, or at least a lessening of a problem,” Litchfield said.

            “This site is going to generate a lot of foot traffic,” Assistant Planner Lynn Thatcher said.  She and other town staff members, including Highway Department Director Jeff Colby, visited the site to brainstorm ideas for improving traffic flow and pedestrian safety.  They suggested moving the existing crosswalks away from the rotary to make them shorter and safer.

            Planning board member John Kaar said pedestrians already walk close to the rotary to make a more direct crossing.  “I can’t imagine they’re going to go 50 feet up the road to cross,” he said.

            The new plan includes a hedge and shade trees to help screen the property from nearby residences, and in response to concerns raised by Ray Braz of the nearby Old Harbor Inn, additional vegetation can be added to the northeast corner of the lot, Litchfield said.

            Attorney William Riley, representing Braz, said his client still has concerns about the change in use of the service station, which will likely result in extended hours of operation and bright lighting.  If the convenience store is open long hours, “we think that’s going to represent a significant change in the quality and character of the neighborhood,” Riley said. 

            Planning board member Robert Dubis said that years ago, the service station was active at 3:30 or 4 a.m.  “It has been an active station from early morning to late at night,” Dubis said.

            “If the wrecker goes out once or twice, that’s hardly a stream of early-morning cars coming in to get gas” or convenience store items, Riley countered.

            Board member Tommy Doane noted that the new version of the plan calls for parking to be moved on the other side of the building, “and farther away from your client.”

            Litchfield said the plans went before the traffic study committee on Nov. 25, and were expected to go before the Historic Business District Commission this week.  In response to earlier suggestions by the HBDC, the applicants have agreed to replace the building’s brick façade with white clapboard, and to reduce the size of the cupola, Litchfield said.  The plan is expected to go before the zoning board of appeals on Dec. 11; that board will consider a request to allow a continued commercial use for the current Monomoy Fuel office, which is located mostly in a residential zone.  That office will remain in place under the new plan, though its access road will be relocated.

            “Given the state of the economy, I suppose it’s possible that you’re not getting too many applications for new businesses in town,” Litchfield told the planning board.  “But this applicant lives on Cape Cod.  Christy’s committed to the Cape and wants to do this in a way that’s best for how most of us see our community,” he said.

            Litchfield said his client was considering holding a public informational meeting separate from the planning board public hearing, but those plans had not been finalized as of early this week.

            Christy’s is also in the process of getting regulatory approval for a new convenience store at the corner of Great Western Road and Depot Street in North Harwich.  That effort is on hold pending a zoning change to be authorized at a yet-to-be-scheduled special town meeting.

12/4/08