Regional Panel Upholds Brewster Barn Denial

BARNSTABLE – The regional Old King’s Highway Historic District commission voted last week to uphold a prior decision from the Brewster committee to deny a request to build a “hobby barn” on Gages Way.

The regional commission on Sept. 10 unanimously stood behind the Brewster vote, finding that the proposed 29.8-foot-tall barn planned for 136 Gages Way was too large and out of character with the surrounding neighborhood.

Brewster resident Than Drake initially went before the town’s historic district committee in May with a request to build the barn, which he said he planned to use to store boats and potentially an RV. The barn’s design called for stonington gray board and batten siding as well as a metal gable roof with solar panels. 

But the Brewster committee on Aug. 5 voted unanimously to deny the application because of the “inappropriate size and style” of the barn, especially compared to neighboring properties in the area of Harwich Road. The denial came after Drake withdrew his initial application and submitted a revised one to address the committee’s concerns.

Drake appealed the decision to the regional commission shortly afterward, claiming the Brewster panel “exceeded its authority, exercised poor judgment, was arbitrary, capricious, and erroneous in its action,” according to language in the appeal.

At last week’s hearing, Nathan Salley, the attorney representing Drake in the appeal, said that the Brewster committee came into the application process ready to deny the project.

“Right off the bat, this was tainted with a premise [that the application] was a doomed project,” he said.

Salley also charged that the committee’s chair, Jim Trabulsie, exerted too much control over the review process and “exceeded his authority” as chair. He accused Trabulsie of dominating discussion on the project, talking over his fellow members and in one instance disallowing one committee member from participating in discussion on the application.

Trabulsie denied those charges, and said the member in question refrained from weighing in on the project because he had not caught up on what happened in the previous hearing. 

“We’ve been told time and time again by [legal] counsel, if you miss the first meeting, you really can’t vote,” he said. Tabulsie also denied accusations that he did not allow abutters the opportunity to weigh in on the application and that he was the only committee member to participate in a site visit of the property.

Drake, meanwhile, said he felt forced by the Brewster committee to withdraw and resubmit his application. He said he was led to believe he had to do so in order for his application to be favorably approved.

“We got it done, because I took it as a demand to move forward,” he told the regional commission.

Trabulsie said the initial application was “withdrawn without prejudice,” and that it was suggested that Drake refile an amended plan because the initial application failed to make reference to solar panels on the roof of the proposed barn.

Discussion also turned to the nature of the neighborhood in question. Salley and Drake said the property is located along a stretch of Route 124 that should be considered a “thoroughfare” rather than a neighborhood.

“These are properties along Route 124, which is the largest road in Brewster connecting Harwich to Brewster,” Drake said.

“For them to say it’s not in a neighborhood, tell that to the abutters,” Trabulsie responded.

Letters from abutters Dean and Marion Sarrasin in opposition to the proposed barn were read into the record Sept. 10. They said “the scale of the building will dwarf the surrounding residential dwellings.”

“The design presented would be more suited to a commercial zone or as an airplane hanger,” the letter read.

Salley further said that Trabulsie “doesn’t take [his job as chair] seriously,” an accusation that prompted a firm rebuttal from the regional committee chair, Bob Bohlin of Dennis.

“He absolutely takes this job seriously,” he said. “To say anything to the contrary is simply not true. It’s a slap in the face.”

Salley also challenged Trabulsie’s repeated use of the word “massive” in describing the proposed barn. But Trabulsie defended that characterization last week, noting that the barn would be 15 percent bigger than the nearby Brewster Store. He also said that at 42 feet wide, the barn as proposed would be wider than Route 6. 

The Brewster committee also was critical of the proposed 21-by-14-foot size of the barn doors, Trabulsie said.. 

“Some of the overpasses on Route 6 aren’t 14 feet high,” he said.

Regional commissioners also took issue with the proposed barn’s size, especially in relation to neighboring homes. Bob Wilkins of Yarmouth said the inclusion of solar on the roof would have also presented an issue in the project review.

“I think that would have been another issue to overcome in addition to the massiveness of the structure,” he said. Wilkins also called any suggestion that Trabulsie worked to dominate the review process “a stretch.”

Commissioner Peter Williams of Sandwich estimated that the size of the proposed barn would be twice that of the abutting homes. Ron Mgrdichian of Orleans, meanwhile, erred on the side of the Brewster committee's unanimous vote to deny.

“When committee members vote 6-0, I think it’s pretty clear in their minds what the structure is and how it does not fit into that particular setting.”

Following the hearing, Drake said he was disappointed in the regional commission’s ruling, especially as he was moving toward an approval with the Brewster committee as recently as July.

“I’m a little flabbergasted,” he said. “The points we made didn’t seem to make an impression upon them.”

With the denial from the regional panel, Drake has the option of appealing the matter further in Orleans District Court. He would have 20 days from the regional panel’s filing of its decision with the Brewster town clerk to make an appeal.

But Drake said last week he was undecided as to whether or not he would appeal the decision further in court.

“Well, I’ve got stuff I’ve got to store, and I’ll build temporary structures,” he said. “That’s what I’m thinking about doing.”