b'C H A P T E R F I VEAs it had agreed, Horsley Witten concluded its activities in the two- month span. But its report cried out for house-cleaning, and once again FCW joined that effort.To Martha Stones recollection, Debby Ecker prepared the index, then worked out an implementation grid showing which town board would be responsible for each goal of the plan. Mrs.Stone took on inserting page numbers and appendix references, while acting as intermediary with Chatham Printing on duplication.Town Planner Margaret Swanson, Margo Fenns successor, rewrote the critical action phase of the plan.Winter was approaching, and the new year of 1994 was just around the bend. In mid-December, the honed and re-honed document went to Secretary of Environmental Affairs Trudy Coxe for approval.But there was yet another hitch: planner SwansonSuccessor in 1991 to Town wanted to reword a section on how, inPlanner Margo Fenn, The Chronicles language, local bylaws wouldMargaret Swanson rewrote supplant less stringent state regulations if the planthe all-important implementation part of the is approved. That was duly accomplished, and backHarbor Management Plan.the draft went to the Coxe office. Next step: a publicCape Cod Chroniclehearing in Chatham conducted by the Office of Coastal Zone Management. Now the derailments were technically behind. But the year 1994 had to age a good bit before the plan would shed its skin and materialize as full-fledged town mandate.Stage Harbor Plan Captures Attention Of EPA\'s DeVillarsby Tim Wood DeVillars said he found it incredible" that half ofHarbor Planning Committee, was formed to develop CHATHAMIn an ironic twist, while town offi the money to complete the plan h . ad .to. be raised the plan, with members representing all facets oftheThe Harbor Managecials and waterways advocates were giving federalprivately.harbor.Environmental Protection Agency Northeast RegionMembers of the Friends of Chatham Waterways,This was really a very participatory effort, said chief John DeVillars the lowdown on the Stage Har which provided the impetus for the plan by voicingthe chairman of the subcommittee, Kurt Hellfach,ment Plan arrives at a bor comprehensive management plan last Fridayconcern about the towns waterways over the next 20providing guidelines so town departments know where afternoon, the harbor itself was being closed toyears, raised some $30,000 to fund the technicaltheir responsibilities lie.shellfishing. research aspect of the plan after the funds wereBatchelder compared the harbor plan to initialcrucial point:an Assuring continuation of the multi-use nature ofdefeated in an override vote. Much of that moneyefforts at zoning in the 1950s. In an almost naive way, the harborincluding commercial and recreationalcame from summer residents, according to Marthathe group believed the town would recognize the need shellfishingthrough water quality regulations andStone, one of the groups vice presidents and founders. to manage its harbors. But after the override defeat guards against over-crowding, is one ofthe chief goalsVoters subsequently approved another $30,000 fromand the private fund-raising effort, many peopleinspection by John of the plan, slated to be signed by Massachusettsthe waterways improvement fund to complete thecontinued to question why town resources were being Secretary of Environmental Affairs Trudy Coxe to plan, which m ade it a true public/private effort, saidused to continue the harbor planning process.morrow, Aug. 19, at a 2 p.m. ceremony at Old MillRichard Miller, former chairman oft he towns Water It gets very personal when you start to talk aboutDeVillars, Northeast Boatyard. ways Committee.That money probably wouldntmooringlocations and limitations," Batchelder noted.But the news of the shellfish closure had not yethave gotten approval if the Friends hadnt raised theThe group was also critical of the states harbor spread last Friday. Instead, the meeting withinitial amount, suggested Richard Batchelder, a pastplanning office. Regional chief for the DeVillars focused on the public-private partnershippresident of the Friends of Chatham Waterways. The that kept the harbor plan from sinking out of sight inharbor plan, he said, would not have happened if ittoIt took us four years to do the plan and three years the seven years since its inception. had not been for the private fund-raising. do the bureaucracy, said Lewis Kimball, theEnvironmental During Fridays meeting and a harbor tour Satur Asubcommittee of the Waterways Committee, the (Continued on Page 16)day morning, DeVillars praised the plan and encouraged the town to follow up on its recommendations,Protection Agency.In including giving his initial support to a no-discharge zone designation for Stage Harbor.Statewide, only Boston has a completed, certifiedthis August 1994 harbor plan, which was in the works at the time the Chapter 91 waterways regulations were reauthorized while DeVillars was Secretary of Environmen picture, DeVillars is at tal Affairs under the Dukakis administration. The revamped regulations contained provisions for individual communities to incorporate local bylaws intothe center, flanked by the Chapter 91 regulations through the harbor planning process."We recognized one size didnt fit all," DeVillarsDebby Ecker and said. "Die same standards might not work in every community."Chatham, he said, should consider itself the firstRichard Miller, at left, community to earn harbor plan approval. Boston had already done a harbor plan and had more or less perfunctory approval. WeU find some angle to makeKurt Hellfach, at right.you first on this.72'