ConCom Considering Kent’s Point Recommendations

ORLEANS – A draft final report regarding recommended improvements and protections at Kent’s Point was presented to the conservation commission last week. Now it’s up to the commission to decide what to do with the findings.

A subcommittee of the commission will look over the report from LEC Environmental Services and offer suggestions for implementing its findings, some of which could be prepared in time for May’s annual town meeting.

“Thank you for doing this report,” Drusy Henson, the commission’s chair, said Feb. 18. “It’s a really valuable set of information for us to have.”

The report was commissioned to explore ways of balancing environmental stewardship of the property, which the town purchased for $1.8 million in 1988, with public access and passive recreation. Concerns were raised to the commission last year about environmental deterioration on the 27.8-acre parcel, which prompted the commission to request an assessment of the land.

Last week’s presentation followed the commission’s discussion of a draft of the report in December. The report offers a number of recommendations, including the installation of additional split rail fencing and signs to deter visitors from unauthorized trails on the property. 

“That’s critical to protecting habitat within these basically isolated areas,” said Brian Madden of LEC. 

Kent’s Point has long been a popular spot for visitors to walk their dogs, but public use of unauthorized areas has impacted wildlife habitats in those areas, according to Madden. He said that more signs and fencing would allow “a pretty good chunk of habitat to be protected and isolated from recreational activity” on the property’s southwest portion.

Signs shouldn’t just alert people to restricted areas, he said, but also explain to visitors why certain areas are being protected.

The report also recommends measures that can be taken to address drainage and stormwater runoff issues at the site. Madden said there are areas among the trails that are compacted, allowing runoff to spill over into environmentally sensitive areas. Those issues could be addressed through trail reconfiguration, vegetation restoration and the installation of catch basins. Madden also said mulch and woodchips have proven effective at catching and redirecting runoff.

“It is a very natural approach addressing some of the runoff taking place out here,” he said.

LEC also recommended addressing tripping hazards presented by exposed roots on the trails, as well as the removal of invasive vines on the southwest portion of the property. 

“That can be done [at] relatively low cost,” Madden said. However, he cautioned that some species, such as native honeysuckle, should be protected, noting that they provide cover for existing wildlife on the property.

While the report was comprehensive, some residents who attended the meeting lamented its lack of recommendations regarding public use of the property. One woman who regularly monitors activity at the point said that the area is overused by people and their pets, and that many of them are not Orleans residents. She cited one instance in which two women from Eastham failed to control their dogs on the property, which she said caused problems for her while out walking her dogs. 

“That is disturbing to me, because we’ve become the Outer Cape dog park,” she said. “And I can see that becoming an issue at some point.”

Vince Olivier of East Orleans said he also keeps an eye on how the point is used and by whom, and he agreed that public use of the property needs to be monitored.

“It sounds like we should be going to the [Cape Cod National] Seashore to see how they do it,” he said.

Kent’s Point currently provides parking for 20 vehicles, and Madden said those spaces in and of themselves help manage overuse of the property by people and their pets.

“Certainly there’s abutters who can walk to the property and also enjoy it,” he said. “But the parking area is pretty much a limiting factor on use of the property.”

Orleans resident Cindy Benton, meanwhile, advocated for more benches to be installed on the property.

The commission is due to further discuss how to proceed with the report’s recommendations at its next meeting on March 4. John Jannell, the town’s conservation agent, said the commission will also seek the advice of town counsel as part of its discussions.

But at least some work is expected to get underway this spring thanks to funding that was approved last year for conservation maintenance, Jannell said in a follow up email. That includes “physical improvements to the parking lot, trails and trailhead,” he said.