TWO THUMBS UP By a vote of 4-1, the Planning Board on Feb. 12 approved Bluefin, LLC, the 19-lot cluster development for 120 Miacomet Road. The emotionally charged hearing spanned three meetings, as neighbors of the proposed development tried unsuccessfully to get developers Daniel Lugosch and Billy Cassidy to access the cluster via Zachary Way to South Shore Road, put the layout of the lots in a sand pit on the property and keep septic systems away from Miacomet Pond.

Closer to town, Sfoglia restaurant, received the Planning Board's approval to add 18 seats to its 130 Pleasant St. restaurant. Sfoglia co-owner Ron Suhanosky is moving his kitchen into the basement of his building and adding an eight-seat bar. It will not be a bar in the traditional sense, he told the board on Feb. 12. The Planning Board's approval of Suhanosky's modification of his special permit is contingent on him reaching an agreement with the Hen House, Bamboo Supper Club and Island Pharmacy

PYGMY SPERM WHALE SIGHTED Members of the Nantucket's Marine Mammal Stranding Team spotted what they believed to be a pygmy sperm whale off Cisco Beach last Thursday morning, said stranding team member Edie Ray.

The whale coasted, touching the beach briefly before heading back out into deeper water.

Pygmy sperm whales run nine to 12 feet in length, are solitary cetaceans and avoid contact with humans, spending their time well off shore. These smaller whales - typically the size of dolphins - are found in deep temperate waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.

Ray said the stranding team members who observed the pygmy sperm whale guessed that it must have been sick or dying. The whale was not sighted again.

CHANGE IS GOOD Two of Nantucket's review board offices are undergoing staffing changes. The Historic District Commission, which lost HDC Assistant Administrator Aaron Marcavitch to the Nantucket Housing Office, and Erin Kerwin to graduate school in Upstate New York, gained James Grieder to fill Marcavitch's position and Terry Norton to take over the office administrator position.

In the Planning Department, land use planner Shaun Logue quit just eight days into his new job in November. That left the load of planning duties to Planning Director Andrew Vorce and Senior Planner Leslie Woodson. But, since Woodson's accidental fall last month took her out of the office for about two months, the town's independent engineer, Ed Pesce of Pesce Engineering, is filling in for Woodson until she gets back on her feet.

HAZARDOUS WASTE COLLECTION Garage packed with dangerous chemicals, used motor oils and buckets of spent batteries? Don't go running into the moors with your toxic waste. Hang in there and think of the treasures of open space we all share. The first of 10 hazardous waste collection days in 2007, hosted by the Department of Public Works, is on March 17 at the landfill.

Bring all of your nasty liquids and solids out to the garage at 188 Madaket Road from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. To get there, take the third entrance to the landfill property coming from the town and the first coming from Madaket. For a complete listing of what you can and can't unload on the third Saturday morning of March, check out www.nantucket-ma.gov/departments/ dpw.html, scroll down and click on the link for household hazardous waste or call 228-7244.

If you can't make this collection day, the DPW is holding nine more on April 21, May 19, June 16, July

21, Aug. 18, Sept. 15, Oct. 20, Nov. 17 and Dec. 8. I