Brewster Focused On Sea Camps In 2024

BREWSTER – A look back at 2024 will have residents uttering two words again and again: Sea Camps. 

From Brewster’s annual town meeting in May, where comprehensive plans for the property were approved, to the December special election where funding was denied, the Sea Camps were a hot topic. 

Housing projects and accolades were chief topics of conversation throughout 2024, in addition to two major milestones for prominent Brewster community members.

Louie, a 12-year-old Chinese crested hairy hairless, was the first major story of the year, winning Brewster’s top dog. A 15-pound washashore from Baltimore, he was voted the honor by residents. His successor will be named at the end of this month. 

The comprehensive plans for the Sea Camps properties went before residents in multiple forums with town officials asking for direct feedback. Reed Hildebrand, consultants for the plans, also held three forums to hear local opinions. Roads, trails, parking, nature centers, seasonal housing and offices were all set to be phased in according to the penultimate master plans. The bay property plan included a $33 million community center and the pond property plan included affordable housing. 

Mass Audubon pledged $2 million to conserve property on the bay parcel. It was decided that it would hold a 10-acre conservation restriction on the land surrounding a small pond at the north end of the property adjoining Brewster’s Spruce Hill woods. Audubon will also pledge $1.5 million to the Long Pond property, and the Brewster Conservation Trust will give at least $1 million for a conservation restriction on 56 acres, leaving 10 acres along Route 137 for affordable housing and possibly a wastewater treatment plant. Audubon staff and equipment will be based at the bay property’s nature center, which would serve as a staging area for programs at Long Pond.

On Feb. 22, the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History celebrated 70 years of programming. The late John Hay, one of the founders of the museum, wrote, “[Children] will be the eyes and the listening ears in the woods and on the shore of Cape Cod,” as the museum’s first statement of mission. Over seven decades, the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History has faithfully adhered to its mission — staying power from the vision of its founders. The initial building, the additions, the exhibits, trailblazing programs all followed in lockstep to the mission. 

Amanda Bebrin, Laurel Labdon and incumbent Mary Chaffee vied for two seats on the select board in May. Chaffee won the first seat by a landslide, with her term ending in 2027. Bebrin won the second seat by three votes, leading to Labdon requesting a recount. Bebrin picked up one vote in the recount to finish with 1,459 votes, while Labdon lost one to drop to 1,454. 

The Sea Camps comprehensive plans were approved at the annual town meeting in May, leaving funding for the fall meeting. Additionally, an override for the school budget was approved. An increase in costs for the town’s two elementary schools, driven by special education expenses, resulted  in a request for a Proposition 2½ override of $758,091. The override added around 11 cents per $1,000 to the assessments of Brewster homeowners, or around $82 for the average home.

Around 350 to 400 people were in attendance at the celebration of the council on aging’s 50th anniversary with food, entertainment and kids games. 

Brewster received the Housing Hero Award from the Massachusetts Housing Partnership in Worcester at the organization’s Housing Institute event. The award honors work the town has done for affordable housing, but it received something better the same day. Along with Springfield and Woburn, Brewster was designated a Housing Choice Community by Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Agustus. The award made Brewster eligible for more grant opportunities. 

In early September, the select board created the short-term rental task force. Though they’re a key component of the region’s visitor economy, summer rentals are blamed for changing neighborhood character, stressing town infrastructure and contributing to wastewater pollution. They also displace homes and apartments that might otherwise be used for year-round housing. Since 2019, units and homes that are rented for less than 30 days at a time must register with the state and pay a state occupancy tax. Brewster is one of the few area towns with a local short-term rental registry. The goal of the task force is to “evaluate impacts of short-term rentals on the health, safety, and quality of life of our residents, on the local economy, and on year-round housing availability in our community.” The group will specifically identify goals and outcomes before evaluating and recommending policies governing rentals. 

Fire Chief Robert Moran retired on Oct. 12 after serving in that role since 2010. He was temporarily on medical leave while Deputy Fire Chief Kevin Varley served as the acting chief. The following Monday, the select board voted 4-0 to make Varley the permanent Fire Chief.

In reviews riddled with superlatives, the select board gave high marks to Town Manager Peter Lombardi as part of his annual performance evaluation. The board also winnowed down a list of goals for the town’s chief executive to focus on in the next fiscal year. 

Funded by a state grant, Consultant Judi Barrett’s study of zoning focused on finding opportunities to create housing other than single-family detached homes, which represent most of Brewster’s housing stock. Increasing the diversity of housing types is seen as key to accommodating young adults, seniors and working people. That’s a key goal expressed in Brewster’s various planning documents, Barrett said, along with creating a more stable workforce “and simply creating more opportunities for Brewster residents to stay in the community.” The study found the town’s zoning bylaw poses obstacles to housing development and is, in some cases, potentially discriminatory.

After nine years of planning, four town meeting approvals and four community forums, work began in November on the Millstone Road project. To date, this has been the largest public works road project for the town, according to interim Town Engineer Griffin Ryder. The project will add a sidewalk to the heavily trafficked road and connect more passageways in Brewster. Work is expected to be completed in spring 2026. 

After a tumultuous four hours, the fall special town meeting ended with approval of funding for the Sea Camps plans. In fact, every article proposed was approved by residents. This was the first of a two-step voting process for Sea Camps funding. 

In early December, Brewster residents voted against taking on $11.4 million in debt to finance all phases of the Sea Camps pond property plan and the first two phases of the bay land plan. Funding for special projects was approved at the special town meeting and will cover demolition costs for hazardous building removal. The Sea Camps committee and the select board will work together to reframe the funding plan, potentially bringing it to the annual town meeting in May.