The Lighthouse Keeper
AREN'T WE LUCKY?
BY DANIEL W. DRAKE ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Last week's column discussed some political matters. The reaction was mixed. Some readers were delighted and some were dismayed. The comments ranged from "You aren't going to stop talking to Hawkeye, are you?" to, essentially, "It's good to see you back into politics, even if you are wrong about some things." Well, the column did contain an error, but more on that shortly. See what happens when one ventures into politics? It is like putting your hand into a beehive without a protective glove.

However, since we are in that mode, we should spend a few minutes considering some of the things government has done for us.

The Sagamore Flyover, as the $59 million project to replace the rotary on the north side of the Sagamore Bridge was called, was supposed to relieve congestion (and reduce accidents) by connecting Route 3 directly to the bridge. Maybe it works most of the time, but it most surely did not work this Memorial Day Weekend.

On Friday afternoon and evening, it was reported that the backup for Cape-bound traffic on Route 3 extended more than four miles from the bridge. Today (Monday), going north off the Cape, traffic flowed freely at 8:30 a.m. but, by noon, someone who left Wellfleet at that hour ran into the proverbial traffic snarl in Orleans and, from there, it took more than two and one-half hours to get off the Cape. At 4 p.m., eastbound travelers could still see a crawling caterpillar of cars in the westbound lanes of the Mid-Cape Highway extending as far as to the east as one could see beyond Exit 6.

Approaching the bridge from the mainland on Monday afternoon, the traffic heading north on the bridge itself did not appear heavy, but from the Cape-side bridge approach on, it was a disaster. Without an engineering degree, one cannot say for sure what happened and why the gridlock the Flyover was supposed to alleviate still exists. However, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the real culprit is the bridge itself. The bridge is narrow and the opposite traffic lanes are not separated by a divider. For people unaccustomed to driving on it regularly, the approach is a bit intimidating, particularly if an 18 wheeler (or anything wide) is barreling down at you from the opposite direction. So the natural reaction of a driver is to slow down and to move into the right hand lane. That creates a ripple effect, perhaps all the way back to Orleans or way up Route 3.

For $50 million, businesses were disrupted, homes were removed from the path of the project, countless truck loads of dirt were moved and incredible amounts of concrete were poured; to what end? On summer weekends, the traffic appears just as bad, if not worse, than it has always been. Maybe the potential for accidents has been reduced, but the road rage factor is just as high and the waste of fuel is obscene.

Arriving back on the island, some new signs in the parking lot at the airport caught our attention. Five or six of the most prime parking spaces, closest to the terminal, now are off limits to the public; to the people who use the airport and, through their fares and taxes help underwrite its operation. In recent summers, those parking spots have been marked with signs which read "One Hour Parking." That made sense. The spaces were available to those meeting or dropping off travelers, or even for patrons of the restaurant. Others, staying longer, parked in the spaces further from the terminal or in the overnight parking area.

Well, now those five or six spaces have been turned into long term parking. The first sign says the spot is reserved for the sheriff; the remainder are reserved for FAA employees. If the sheriff's spot is primarily for use while transporting prisoners, there may be a case - although the spot where a sheriff's van was frequently parked before, at the entrance to the rental car parking area, seemed to work fine. And not to take anything away from the fine people who work in the tower, but what suggests that they require the premier parking spots to leave their cars for the duration of their shifts? Wouldn't reserved spots in the nearest part of the long term portion of the lot work just as well - and give them a bit of exercise after they have been sitting for eight hours.

Come to think of it, the reserved parking idea may have been conceived by the same genius who has rerouted incoming Boston passengers around the north end of the terminal and out the gate into the parking lot, rather than having them walk into the baggage claim area. Oh, I forgot. It must all have to do with national security.

The design authorization of the new airport terminal prohibited expansion of concession or ticketing space. Don't the new Jet Blue "trailer" and the expanded restaurant space violate the spirit, if not the letter of that restriction?

Returning to the sewers, Selectman Kopko correctly pointed out, contrary to what last week's column said, that the Board of Selectmen, on March 14, 2007, had adopted "Criteria for the Expansion of the Sewer Districts." By a 3-2 vote, the board approved a document which upon inspection, it seems, is the application form for a sewer connection.

The form is complicated. The process which it incorporates is based on a point system. There are two basic criteria for an applicant to meet; the waste water treatment plant must have the capacity to take on the connecting property's sewage and the applicant must have a failed septic system

Beyond that, the criteria go through the property conditions which will or will not get the applicant points towards the requisite number of 7 "to be recommended" for the permit connection to be granted. In the "Special Considerations section, a property owner "may be awarded" up to four points for waiving or limiting any additional development rights that he or she may have in the property (e.g. constructing a second dwelling or subdividing.)

To sum up, the form is not called an application, which in fact it is, but the version I saw carries the title "Criteria for Expansion of the Sewer Districts." The language is difficult to understand. Even though couched as voluntary, the development restriction provisions are a clear attempt to bypass making changes to the zoning bylaws. (All that was required to "enact" the criteria was a Board of Selectmen vote; not a twothirds majority of the voters at town meeting required for zoning changes - and the effect is spot zoning) Finally, on its face, by allocating possible points to the development restriction portion, the process appears to be patently unfair to a sewer connection applicant whose property has no further development rights.

For the record, this is some of what government has done for us lately.

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The "Lighthouse Keeper" reflects the views of the author and does not necessarily represent the editorial position of The Nantucket Independent. Please send any ideas or comments to drake@nantucketindependent.com.