Pine Oaks Village Project Draws A Crowd

 HARWICH – Approximately 100 people filled hearing rooms at town hall Monday night to pitch opposition and support for the proposed 248-unit Pine Oaks Village Homes IV affordable housing development in North Harwich. 

Those in opposition spoke about traffic concerns in the area of Queen Anne Road and Main Street as well as impacts to the environment, wildlife habitat and potentially the nearby Herring River. Support for the project centered around the need for affordable rental units in the community and the benefits of the three previous senior housing developments by Pine Oaks Village Homes.  

Residents in the area of the proposed development said the project is too big and the infrastructure cannot handle it.  

Barry Nunes lives at the intersection of Queen Anne Road and Main Street. He said every morning, every kind of truck rolls through the intersection, and the wall in front of his home has suffered wear and tear from the vibrations. He spoke of the dangers for his family entering and exiting his driveway given the traffic.

“North Harwich used to be a sleepy little hamlet where you lived there, were visiting, or got lost,” he said. “The community is being split up. The character is changing. It’s about fairness to North Harwich. Anything people don’t want goes into North Harwich.”

Former State Senator Paul Doane spoke in support of the project. In 1975 Doane was the first president of Mid-Cape Church Homes when Pine Oaks Village I was built. The initial development was considered a “strange multifamily proposal,” but things have a way of changing for the good, he said, and today The Pine Oaks developments today are a wonderful thing for Harwich. Harwich was one of the first communities to take on this type of housing initiative,  Doane said, adding that the environmental and traffic issues can be resolved.

“Change is coming to this town,” he said. “The Pine Oaks Village people have lived here most or all of their lives and are concerned. They’re not from out of town. They will put up something the town can be proud of for Harwich. They will continue to provide this excellence for the town.”

The select board called the session to get public input on the proposed development as the town prepares to send its position on the project to the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC), which is shaping a project eligibility letter. EOHLC is the subsidizing agency for low- and moderate-income project applicants seeking a 40B permit and funding under the Low-Income House Tax Credit Program. The agency has received Pine Oak Village IV’s application and is required to conduct a project eligibility assessment before issuing findings. 

 Part of the process includes giving the municipality in which a project is proposed 30 days to respond before the agency issues findings. The board voted on Monday night to seek an additional 30 days to respond, citing an absence of information from EOHLC.

The applicant is Mid-Cape Church Homes, Inc. the nonprofit that operates the three Pine Oaks Village Homes (POVH) developments.

 The new project proposes development of 248 units on 30.5 acres at 51 Queen Anne Rd. in North Harwich. The property also connects to Main Street through an access road on the southwest side. The plan is to develop the complex in five phases; ultimately there will be 82 one-bedroom units, 137 two-bedroom units and 29 three-bedroom units for a total of 443 bedrooms.

As proposed, there would be 55 rental units for households earning 30 percent or less of the area median income (AMI) and 112 units reserved for households earning less than 60 percent AMI. A total of 67.3 percent of the units would go to households earning less than 60 percent AMI.  

According to Town Administrator Joseph Powers, the categories the subsidizing agency is charged with assessing include whether the project is generally eligible under the program; whether the site is appropriate for residential development; whether the conceptual design is appropriate; whether the project is financially feasible; whether the pro forma is consistent with department guidelines; whether the applicant meets eligibility standards, such as a public agency, nonprofit, or limited dividend organization; and whether the applicant is the owner of the property or has an option to acquire the land. 

Traffic was a major concern of residents. Sherrie Stockdale said there are no sidewalks or bicycle lanes in the area and there are frequent washouts. The roads are used by heavy vehicles and the intersection of Queen Anne Road and Main Street is dangerous. Queen Anne Road is over-capacity now, she said. 

With the plan to develop the property over a 10-year period there will be an increase in volume that will require improvements. The Herring River culvert along Main Street will not be able to handle the increase in volume, Stockdale said. 

“A comprehensive plan needs to be put in place before it begins,” Stockdale said.

Teresa Johnson presented a history of traffic studies done in the area that has shown a continued increase in traffic. She called the current traffic numbers “astonishing.” The Cape Cod Commission provided her with an accident count between 2018 and 2020 in the area of Main Street to Depot Street and along Queen Anne Road to Route 124 which cited 30 accidents. 

“This massive development is too big for the roads in North Harwich,” Johnson said.      

 Tom Birch lives across the road from the proposed entrance to the development. He said he moved there because of the openness and wildlife. The project is too big and not located in the proper place, he said. Referring to a 40B permit, which allows zoning to be altered, he questioned why there even is zoning if it can be wiped out.

Supporters cited the dire need for affordable and attainable housing. Christine Menard, executive director of The Family Pantry of Cape Cod on Queen Anne Road, said the pantry is on track to serve 15,000 people this year and the majority have housing issues. Many are working two and three jobs and there are households with 10 to 15 people living in a tiny place. 

“We can’t even feed people in this community, nonetheless provide housing,” said Manard. “I know it’s hard, but we can figure this out. Density is not a bad word.”

Former selectman Ed McManus, a member of the town’s local planning committee, said one of the most significant issues facing the committee is the need for housing. 

“People can’t live here, can’t find housing,” said McManus. 

 McManus is the board of Outer Cape Health Services and said the number one reason there are not enough doctors and health care providers, which are critical to the town, is because they can’t find a place to live.  

“I stand in support,” said Elizabeth Harder, the town representative to the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates. “These are not McMansions. This is being done for our friends and neighbors. It will be a lovely place for the town of Harwich.” Teachers, police and fire personnel cannot afford to live here, she added.

 “We want to work as much as we can to solve some of these issues,” said POVH Vice President Bob Doane.

Chris Nickerson, retired road manager for the department of public works, urged the town to pursue its own study of the impacts of the development on traffic. Any road widening will require each of the property owners to give up a bit of their land, he said. 

Doane said he would encourage a peer review traffic study by the town.

Select Board member Michael MacAskill said a memo from Director of Assessing Carlene Jones raises questions about the lot lines as proposed by the applicant. Other memos from department heads also indicate the development will mean increases in cost to departments. The conservation commission has not received a stamped plan upon which to make a thorough assessment and the environmental impacts to the Herring River are unknown, he said, and there are no studies on endangered wildlife and plant species.

“Let’s not approve something until we get the work done and show the impact to the taxpayers,” MacAskill said. “Creating an emergency to solve another one is something we should look at.”

“Let us work with you and we can clear this up,” said Bob Doane. POVH has tried to work with the town departments to clear up issues, but has been rebuffed because no application has been yet filed with the town, he said. 

The town has not received two sections of the application filed by POVH with the EOHLC. The board agreed to request an additional 30 days to issue its response to EOHLC before the state agency finalizes its project eligibility letter.