b'C H A P T E R T H R E Elarger home for their club. At that, already piqued by the non-Cape look of the broad, brooding building, the neighbors became further exercised and threw up impenetrable roadblocks. When this option was defeated, the home went to auction, and was bought by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Landy, the current owners.Those years in the early 1980s found the Chatham real estate market turbulent, to say the least. An April 1980 newspaper piece noted that Condominiums (are) blossoming these days around Chatham -51 units were either under construction or planned for development. That same year marked the second highest level of building in a decade: 435 building permits were granted, reported The Chronicle. That construction would add up to more than $7.8 million. For 1982, permits were issued for more than $12 million in new construction. (By way of comparison, 64 building permits were issued in 2001, as well as 29 permits for demolition, a likely step toward further building.)Stage Harbor neighbors scarcely overlooked that turmoil, but they focused more on what was happening to Woody Pierces plans for OMBY. Many of those families werent on the Cape in January 83 when the boat yard was on the agenda for a Conservation Commission meeting. If they got The Chronicle at home across the Canal, they easily spotted the headline: Old Mill Boatyard gets permission for improvements.Those changes added up to a face-lift, but the commission balked at approving construction of 44 slips and boat-storage racks on the opposite side of Stage Harbor Road. Before workmen could unlimber at the site, one hurdle remained: the project, because it would be in a town conservancy district, would have to be approved by the Zoning Board of Appeals.Through winter and spring of 1983, the matter simmered on a back burner. Then, on July 13, the Zoning Board of Appeals gave a unanimous O. K. to the Pierce concept. The improvements would include installing two dressing rooms with showers and toilets for visiting yachtsmen, plus a 2,000-gallon, underground holding tank for septic waste. In the words of OMBYs lawyer, the work was intendedA devoted summer vacationer in for upgrading facilities and improving theChatham, Nancy Rhodes was appearance of the yard, reported The Chronicle. among those who stood up to But the plans didnt sit well with many at theprotest converting OMBY into a meeting. Bristling at the concept, at leastnew-fangled marina for visiting fourteen stood to protest, among them currentyachtsmen.Mrs. Rhodes is an FCW director today.FCW board member Nancy Rhodes.Said From the Rhodes Family Archive.38'