Harwich Board of Health Continues Two Septic Variance Hearings Amid Technical Disputes

HARWICH -- April 22, 2026, Harwich Board of Health continues two contested septic variance applications while approving a third-floor remodel and a Title 5 upgrade. The board voted 3-0 to continue a new-construction hearing at zero Elm Road, where abutter Kyle Mann of 37 Dogwood challenged the plan's retaining-wall scale, telling the board the discrepancy reduces the system-to-wall offset to 7.85 feet, below the DEP's required 10 feet, and that digging a four-foot footing 12 inches from the property line "is impossible." Member Kevin Baker said the board "does not have a history of allowing any variances on new construction" and flagged a missing certified plot plan. A second continuance was voted for 21 Lake Shore Drive, where a proposed garage and art studio would place a foundation wall 14 feet from the existing septic vent, six feet short of the 20-foot regulatory requirement; Health Director Francis Daigle said she would count the fully insulated and heated structure as adding two rooms to a property already on a two-bedroom deed restriction, and said "as soon as it's fully insulated and you have HVAC going in there, I would consider it a room." The board unanimously approved a septic upgrade at 10 Beaver Brook Road for owners Don and Joanne Lyon, accepting a two-foot groundwater offset reduction and a fill-within-10-feet-of-property-line variance presented by Kirk Fitzpatrick of Civil Solutions, and approved a third-floor remodel at 100 King Street with a four-bedroom deed restriction after revised plans showed one disputed room falls below the minimum seven-foot ceiling height.