Board Expresses Concerns Over Pine Oaks Project

HARWICH – The select board has informed the state that the town has several concerns and questions regarding the viability of the Pine Oaks Village IV housing project planned for North Harwich.

 The board expressed a number of concerns when responding to a request for comments for the project eligibility letter that will be issued through the state Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program. The program will determine if the developer can raise funds for the project through tax credits.

 Among the issues raised by the select board are traffic, environmental questions related to the Herring River watershed, boundaries and massing of buildings. 

 Mid-Cape Church Homes, Inc. is the project applicant, and Pine Oaks Village IV is the nonprofit organization planning to build a 248-unit affordable housing complex off Queen Anne Road in North Harwich. Tax credits are one of several ways the developer is seeking to raise funds for the project.

 The proposed development has drawn opposition from residents living in the area based on traffic and environmental concerns. It has also garnered support from residents who support affordable and attainable housing as housing demands outstrip the supply.

Traffic in the project area is already problematic, and the town has commissioned its own traffic study, according to the board’s letter. The study incorporates the majority of the village of North Harwich, extending from Pleasant Lake Avenue (Route 124) to Queen Anne Road, to Main Street, Main Street Extension, Depot Street and Great Western Road. 

The roughly three-square-mile area is presently heavily traveled as outlined in the developer’s own study. At build-out of the proposed project, the study estimates an additional 2,234 new trips per day on top of data showing current peak travel to be between 4,735 and 6,230 average weekday trips per day.

The board also said the town is keenly aware of additional commercial and residential projects which will increase traffic in the area. This includes the town’s own effort, through the affordable housing trust (AHT), to develop up to 60 rental units of affordable housing at Pleasant Lake Avenue and Queen Anne Road, less than one mile from the Pine Oaks Village IV project.

 The proposed site is in a densely wooded area surrounded by conservation areas as well residential and industrial development. Even though the site is not located in a water resource protection district, the project is located in the Herring River watershed. The Herring River is an impaired water body from which the town must remove a set amount of nitrogen per the Massachusetts Estuaries Project, according to the board. The potential environmental impacts to the watershed are unknown. 

Other potential issues to be considered are land disturbance to develop the project that could impact natural habitat and vegetation. The board said it is difficult to make an accurate assessment with the limited information available, according to the board. The amount of tree clearing and vegetation for the project could also have a significant impact on the surrounding environment.

The town has made a concerted effort and taken considerable actions to meet the demand for affordable housing, the board said. The town has an engaged and proactive advocate for affordable housing in the AHT, which was established in 2018.

AHT acquired more than 13 acres in the Pleasant Lake village section of town near the Route 6 interchange for the express purpose of developing affordable housing. The trust is in the process of negotiating a land development agreement and ground lease with Pennrose LLC for the creation of up to 60 units of affordable housing, all of which will be reflected in the town’s subsidized housing inventory, the board said. The trust has also endorsed and provided funding support to private developers who are building additional units of affordable housing in the Harwich Center and West Harwich villages and has developed a rental assistance program to aid area families in meeting their rent obligations, or providing funding to rent housing throughout the town.

The town is presently also contemplating changes to general and zoning bylaws which may come before town meeting in May. The changes include establishing an inclusionary zoning bylaw and creating starter home zoning districts.

At 43 feet and six inches, the height of proposed buildings in the Pine Oaks Village IV project exceed the town’s maximum permitted height for multi-family dwellings. The select board recommended porches for the buildings to provide private outdoor space while helping to break up and soften the massing.

 While the town expects that the project will be eligible for funding, the board noted that the funding sources identified as coming from the town — Community Preservation Act and affordable housing trust funds — have not been affirmed or even vetted by the town. 

“If the town is to assume equal contributions from both of those sources for each phase, there is considerable concern that this one project would deplete the funds available for any other projects, be they municipal or private requests,” the select board’s letter reads.

The town is also not satisfied that the applicant controls the site given that the parcel identified as the entrance, 51 Queen Anne Rd., does not appear in the assessor’s database and therefore does not have any owner information. This parcel appears to be the only access on Queen Anne Road, according to the letter.

 The select conducted a public meeting to receive comments on the proposed development on Monday, Oct. 7, and has also encouraged any interested parties to provide written comment prior to the town sending the response letter. Written comments from town departments, committees and the general public were also sent along with the board’s comments for the project eligibility letter.

The Massachusetts Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program is expected to make a decision on tax credits for the project in the next 30 days.