Field Notes
by Peter B Brace

FAZED BY PHASE II The Planning Board held a brief review of the second part of Bob Matthews' rearrangement of 69, 71, 73, 75, 77, 89 Easton St. and 2 North Beach St. on Nov. 15, and just a smattering of abutters and neighbors appeared to speak on that night's topics: future hours of operation and drainage of the planned Point Breeze Hotel.

As it was, 30 abutters had already sent letters and emails of protest to the board. At last week's hearing, Matthews' island attorney, Sarah Alger, informed the board that she would just be updating it on drainage structures and hours of operation submissions her client had made recently.

Matthews' development team will present the revised phase two plans, based on requested changes from neighbors, abutters and board members, at the Planning Board's Jan. 14 meeting.

In the meantime, Alger and Matthews' agents are pursuing an order of conditions from the Conservation Commission and certificates of appropriateness from the Historic District Commission. Of the two reviews, Matthews said that the ConCom's will be the most useful for revising phase two in light of dewatering issues that are most prevalent during high tides and heavy rain events.

Currently, phase two calls for a 28-room, 23,940- square-foot hotel straddling the northwest corner of Easton and North Beach streets; three tennis courts; a 149-space underground parking garage and the demolition of one of six cottages at 2 North Beach St. The remaining five cottages will then be relocated along Easton Street. After renovations, including adding second floors to each, the cottages will be 1,724 square feet in size.

Additionally, Matthews will add 6,351 square feet to the existing barn behind the main Point Breeze Hotel, now at 4,578 square feet, making it into an Lshaped building. He also plans to create six additional units with a first-floor lounge and a three-lane bowling alley in the basement. Just north of this building will be a swimming pool.

At the Nov. 15 meeting, the Brant Point Association, through its attorney Dan Bailey, asked that Matthews initiate a traffic study of the area, ensure that "better than adequate" drainage systems be installed and prepare drawings showing what the site looks like now and what its appearance will be upon completion.

Phase one, now being built, includes the renovation of the existing hotel building, reconstruction of the hotel restaurant and reconstruction of the original hotel as a 4,091-square-foot addition to the current main building in the existing parking area.

NEW PATH TO PARADISE With the stroke of a pen last week, Nantucket gained one more public access point to the shore near Dionis Beach.

The homerule petition adopted at Town Meeting in April became official Nov. 14 when Governor Deval Patrick signed H4265, originally filed by Rep. Eric Turkington, D-Cape & Islands. The new law, Chapter 159 of the Acts of 2007, allows the beach-going public to cross 39 Eel Point Road to reach the North Shore. In exchange for letting the town cross their property the owners of Thirty-Nine Eel Point Road Trust get legal access to their property across town land at 43 Eel Point Road.

SHOTGUN SEASON BEGINS NOV. 26 The 2008 deer shotgun season opens Nov. 26 and runs through Dec. 8 on Nantucket. As always, the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife will be staffing the deer check station at the Surfside Wastewater Treatment Plant at the end of South Shore Road.

As staff at the plant have been checking deer during archery season, which ends Nov. 24, and do not check deer on Sundays, the MassWildlife biologists will be on island a day early, on Nov. 25, to set up for shotgun season. Bow hunters who get deer on that Sunday can being their deer out to the station to be checked. Also beginning Nov. 25 shotgun hunters can purchase antlerless deer permits for $5 at the station. Bring your hunting license and either cash or check, as MassWildlife does not take credit cards.

SCORE ONE FOR CAPE WIND The U.S. Air Force has determined that Cape Wind's proposed installation of 130 wind turbines on Horseshoe Shoal will pose no threat to its PAVEPAWS radar missile detection system. The finding comes as the result of a study made to determine if the turbines would interfere with the system.

The study found that the turbines were far enough below the radar's main beam to have any effect on the 6th Space Warning Squadron's PAVE (Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry) PAWS (Phased Array

Warning System) radar operations. I