Harwich Town Meeting Approves $650,000 for Affordable Housing Trust, 213-75

HARWICH — May 5, 2026 — Harwich Town Meeting backs Affordable Housing Trust $650,000 but rejects both Chatham housing grants. In the most contested vote of the annual meeting's second night, voters approved $650,000 for the Harwich Affordable Housing Trust 213-75 after more than an hour of debate dominated by anger over the trust's $1 million commitment to the proposed Pine Oaks Villages 4, a 242-unit 40B development in North Harwich that opponents said was too large, too dense, and environmentally damaging. Select Board member Handler — who disclosed he had voted against Pine Oaks 4 within the trust — argued that defunding the trust "would only lend to more state-sponsored, large-scale potential developments" and said the board was in contact with the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities about pursuing Safe Harbor status. Voters separately rejected $100,000 grants to two Chatham Penrose projects 212-66 and 220-52, with Select Board member Pete Pekarski noting that Chatham's own board had declined to fund the same projects. The evening's most lopsided result was a 265-13 vote approving $667,500 to preserve the 185-year-old West Harwich Baptist Church, with developer John Keary announcing the church's historic bell would be donated back by St. Angelo Baptist Church in Yarmouth.