Concerns put Old North Wharf pier on hold
BY PETER B. BRACE
Aplan by the owner of Old North Wharf to expand the pier by 123 feet and make other improvements is on hold pending a project redesign.

The renovation of the main pier and catwalk proposed by the Old North Wharf Cooperative, which owns Old North Wharf, included work that could have narrowed the channel used by the Hy-Line and by the harbor launch by around two feet, said Marine Superintendent Dave Fronzuto.

To do this, the cooperative needs a variance from the Zoning Board of Appeals because of the moratorium on docks, piers and wharves in the RC District that expires on April 30. A public hearing had been set for the Jan. 5 ZBA meeting, but when Fronzuto and officials from Hy-Line Cruises and the Nantucket Boat Basin realized how quickly things were moving, Fronzuto organized a meeting of all parties earlier that day to try to solve some major issues with the proposal.

"There were some concerns raised by the Hy- Line and the Boat Basin that this expansion would reduce the amount of area between Straight Wharf where the Hy-Line ties up and the pier," Fronzuto said. "One of the issues we believe that has changed is the Boat Basin has done a bulkhead realignment and expansion and we don't believe that was taken into consideration when these plans were submitted."

Fronzuto also took issue with the proposed removal of two of five existing piling clusters that are in place to help keep Hy-Line boats away from Old North Wharf's pier and catwalk during windy conditions.

He said on Jan. 8 that the previous Friday's meeting was very productive, that the cooperative took all of the concerns seriously and that a redesign of the original plan is now underway.

The plan included realigning and reconstructing the existing catwalk and anchoring it to granite blocks instead of sinking new pilings.

The main section of the pier and catwalk jutting out from the harbor end of the wharf was to have been shifted about two feet to the south into the channel to accommodate the 123-foot extension. Also, a gangway and float were proposed for the end of the northern pier finger. This plan does not include any dredging work.

The cooperative got an order of conditions from the Conservation Commission on June 15, 2005 to do the work.

Norman Hayes of the BSC Group of Norwell, Mass., and project engineer for the Old North Wharf Cooperative, could not be reached for comment.

Opposition to the proposal comes from Nantucket Land Council executive director Cormac Collier, whose Town Meeting warrant article changed the pier moratorium expiration date from Dec. 31, 2006 to April 30, 2007. Collier believes that the cooperative will not sustain a hardship if the ZBA denies it a variance from the moratorium and that its pier extension does not meet the criteria of providing essential public services recommended in the 2007 Nantucket and Madaket Harbors Action Plan that is now being developed.

" . . . (T)he applicant has failed to present a clear hardship that is inflicted upon him by the zoning bylaw," said Collier in a Dec. 29 letter to the ZBA. "The existing moratorium does not prevent the applicant from repairing, maintaining or replacing all existing dock and pier facilities, which leaves the applicant with ample room for maintaining current

services to the land." I