Regional Panel Hears Appeal Of Brewster Old King’s Highway Decision

BREWSTER – A decision by the town’s Old King’s Highway historic district committee last month not to allow the construction of a storage barn on Gages Way was due to go before the regional Old King’s Highway panel for reconsideration Tuesday in Barnstable.

The regional commission on Sept. 10 was scheduled to hear an appeal from Than Drake, whose request to build a 29-foot-tall barn with solar panels on his property at 136 Gages Way was denied by the local committee Aug. 5. 

In his appeal, which was filed with the town clerk’s office on Aug. 13, Drake says the “local committee exceeded its authority, exercised poor judgment, was arbitrary, capricious, and erroneous in its action.”

“I’m dubious of the process,” he said when reached by phone Friday. “I hope things get rectified in the appeal.”

Drake said he plans to use the barn for cold storage for boats, a tractor and an RV that he soon plans to purchase. He first went before the local committee in May, and later withdrew his application without prejudice before filing a new application with the committee last month.

 “So this is a brand new application and must be treated as such,” committee chair Jim Trabulsie said during the Aug. 5 hearing.

In its denial, the local committee said the project was voted down due to the barn’s “inappropriate size and style.” The design includes the use of stonington gray board and batton pine siding and a metallic pitched roof with solar panels.

“And I say the style is a barn,” Drake said. “It looks like a barn, it’s a barn.”

The local committee specifically cited problems with the building's height and that of the barn doors planned for the structure. At 29.8 feet tall, the proposed barn falls just within the 30 foot height maximum set for structures in the historic district. But some in attendance at the Aug. 5 hearing took issue with how much taller the proposed barn would be compared to neighboring properties.

“My first impression is it’s pretty massive,” said Dean Sarrasin, a Harwich Road resident who lives across the street from the proposed barn. “A 42-foot gable is larger than any house from Tubman all the way down to the general store.”

 Sarrasin added that clear cutting that took place on Drake’s property previously would make the barn very visible to neighboring properties.

Trabulsie read a letter from another abutter who said that the barn as proposed “is not in keeping with the character of the neighborhood and would significantly change the look of the area.”

Committee members agreed, with Trabulsie opining that the structure as designed is “not appropriate” for the area. Specifically, he noted the proposed 21-by-14-foot size of the barn doors. 

“This facing Harwich Road in its present location, I just don’t feel as though it’s appropriate,” he said.

“I agree,” said committee member Carol Appleton. “The scale of the building doesn’t relate to anything else in the neighborhood. There’s nothing remotely like it.”

George Carey of the committee added that allowing the barn would represent a long-term impact to the neighborhood, even if Drake should at some point sell his property.

Drake last week said he tried to amend the project to better address the committee’s concerns, including increasing the building setback an additional 15 feet. To further appease the committee, he offered Aug 5. To reduce the overall scale of the project by 10 percent. But the committee was noncommittal.

“I’d have to see it, but I don’t know,” Trabulsie said. “I can’t answer that.”

The committee voted unanimously to deny the project, prompting Drake to file his appeal to the regional commission. 

“I’ve been deliberately misled, and after four months, I’ve ended up in the same spot that I started,” Drake said last week.

Tuesday’s appeal happened after The Chronicle’s deadline; the hearing will be covered in next week’s edition.