Select Board approves letter opposing state housing law
Select Board · Meeting of September 28, 2026
Harwich Select Board votes unanimously to challenge the state's newly revised 40A zoning law. Town Administrator Jay McGrail said the letter, drafted with retired land-use attorney John Whitten, "is extremely well written and extremely to the point." The vote came as the board disclosed the town won a two-year, 40B "safe harbor" exemption through August 2028, built on a subsidized housing inventory of 641 units, 9.74 percent of Harwich's 6,581 year-round homes, 17 shy of the 10 percent threshold. Penrose's Ryan Kierkoff detailed roughly $14.4 million in financing for its 60-unit Queen Anne Road project, prompting one board member to note "Penrose isn't going hungry either" and member Handler to joke, "I was going to set up a GoFundMe for these folks, if that was all true." The board also approved a $129,358 UMass Dartmouth contract for a Hinckleys Pond watershed study.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 3,523 words
Source: the Select Board meeting of September 28, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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