Scituate Select Board unanimously adopts five-year harbor rate hike plan

SCITUATE — January 6, 2026 — Scituate Select Board votes unanimously on harbor rate hikes and updated license fees at January session. The board, led by Chair Andrew Goodrich and Vice Chair Susan Harrison, approved a five-year waterways fee schedule that will raise mooring rates from $8 to $11 per foot by FY30, increase resident slip fees roughly 8 percent every other year through FY31 — reaching $152 per foot — and double the commercial transient vessel overnight fee to $100. The board also raised municipal license fees for the first time since 2016, an average 10 percent increase across more than 20 categories, with full-alcohol restaurant license renewals now set at $2,000. A standing-room public debate erupted over a citizen's petition by State Representative Patrick Kearney to expand the town's definition of "commercial fisherman" to include licensed charter operators; commercial fishing interests including Kevin Norton, president of Sector 12, argued the change would threaten mooring access for operators who hold permits worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, while Afanasenko said the petition was "too vague" and lacked broad stakeholder engagement before its April 13 Town Meeting vote.