Abutter Complains About Traffic Safety At Central Cafe

by William F. Galvin

HARWICH – Parking conditions at the Harwich Central Café on Parallel Street are causing safety issues, abutter Peter Antonellis told selectmen Monday night. He also questioned the operation’s compliance with its site plan special permit.

“The traffic flow is an especially annoying occurrence, a violation of the approved site plan and it poses an obvious danger to safety and good order,” Antonellis wrote to Town Administrator James Merriam last month.

In his letter, he stated on-street parking was not approved as part of the site plan.  He added a berm was also to be erected to prevent traffic from backing out onto Parallel Street.

“The real issue is safety and compliance,” Antonellis told selectmen Monday night. “I can’t see when exiting my driveway.”

He said vehicles are parking on the street in front of the café and also adjacent to a hydrant. The turf has been removed from alongside the road and crushed stone placed there to encourage parking.

Karen Stello, a member of the historic district commission, speaking as an individual, said when the commission issued its approval, it did not include the gravel parking area, but it did approve a median berm in the parking lot to prevent vehicles from backing out. She also said a six-spot gravel or shell parking area, not asphalt, was approved.

Selectmen had several questions relative to on-street parking and the right of motorists to back out of a parking lot. Town Planner Susan Leven said there is no bylaw preventing a motorist from backing out of a lot, but the planning board tries to avoid such designs because it is dangerous. Leven also said the planning board modified its site plan permit to eliminate the median berm when members realized it was a bad idea.

Police Chief William Mason said his officers can ticket a vehicle parked on the paved roadway surface, but if someone is parked on the unpaved section of a right of way then the area must be posted for no parking a ticket can be issued.  Any vehicle parked within 20 feet of a hydrant can also be ticketed. Mason also said when a motorist backs out onto a street they must use caution because they are responsible should they hit anything.

The police chief said he instructed his officers to drive Parallel Street to see what the parking issues are. He said he drives that street in the morning on the way to work to look at parking conditions. He has not seen vehicles parked in the street or near the hydrant, he said.

Selectman Ed McManus said the gravel placed along the edge of the road “encourages parking” but it is not a parking space. Café owner Kristine Larsen said the gravel was part of the installation of a new septic system on the property.

Building Commissioner Geoffrey Larsen told selectmen he is engaged in an enforcement action based on the Antonellis complaint.  Larsen said he will make determinations, and based on his findings, the abutter can appeal it if he is not satisfied with the outcome.

 Larsen said there are three issues in need of further clarification as they relate to the site plan approval. One is a determination on a parking lot median; another is a determination on posting no parking signs on Parallel Street, and the third is the extant of outside bench seating for the restaurant.

The café owner said the crushed stone apron in front of the café was also an attempt to make the area neater, explaining there was a muddy strip there before. Larsen said it did not occur to her that she needed to return to the historic district commission for additional approval when making the change.

Board of Selectmen Chairman Robin Wilkins said his board would yield to the building commissioner in adjudicating the matter.

8/28/08