Residents Protest Harwich Port Condominium Project

HARWICH – The proposed demolition of the Sundae School ice shop and construction of a 28-unit luxury condominium complex in Harwich Port drew a large crowd of protesters at its initial planning board hearing.

More than 125 residents attended the May 13 hearing. Many protested the size of the building, proposed at 21,937 square feet on each of the first two floors. Traffic impacts and encroachment on the neighbors was also raised.

But attorney Marian Rose made it perfectly clear that the proposal made by Rob DeMarco and Michael Kelly, owners of the 1.75 acre property, met all of the town’s zoning criteria.

 The applicant is seeking a multifamily special permit and a site plan review special permit with a few waivers. Rose said the town’s zoning bylaw allows multifamily use by special permit in applicable zones, including the Residential Low Density and Commercial Village district where the property is located. Planning Board member Ann Clark Tucker said the intent of the multifamily zoning was to create workforce housing and rental units, not condominiums.

The project will conform to dimensional setbacks, both structural and parking, as well as building height and site coverage requirements, Rose said.

 Both DeMarco and Kelly worked at Sundae School during the summer as kids. Rose said they purchased the ice cream company three years ago to run as an ice cream shop.

“But they’ve had to make cash infusions to keep it running and that caused them to think about doing something else as the current route is not working as a business,” said Rose.

 DeMarco and Kelly are partners at Campanelli Development, a major development and management company in Braintree. The proposal for the property calls for 28 units in a structure varying from two to three stories, with three one-bedroom, 18 two bedroom and seven three-bedroom units. There will be two roof decks, a 40-space parking garage beneath the building and an additional 28 spaces to the rear of the lot.

The intent is to create home-ownership units, not rentals. When pressed for estimates on the condominium costs, DeMarco said they could provide only rough estimates given economic uncertainties, but he projected a one-bedroom unit would be in the $900,000 range and two- and three-bedroom units in the $1,000,000 to $1,200,000 range.  

Rose also emphasized that the Melrose Inn, directly across Route 28 from the proposed condos, is 23 percent larger that what her clients are proposing and has a 208-foot street-front facade compared with the 177-foot facade proposed.

Resident Jim Hudson said the building is totally out of character and adversely affects the neighborhood. The project should be in a city and not here, he said, adding that the building is too close to the street.

 “Does it belong here? I don’t think so,” Hudson said.

“The neighborhood has worked really hard to keep the village feel,” said Freeman Street resident Michael Heffernan. “The town has shown its strength to address issues that don’t have the magic village feel.”

Heffernan said the project has no historic character and the height is out of line for the town. The landscape plan is a joke, he added. He speculated that a short-term rental company would end up buying the condos for rental units. 

DeMarco said there will be a provision in the condominium agreement that owners will be allowed only two rentals, and they must be for no less than two months.

The board must consider the vision of Harwich Port and what residents want for the village, said Sandra Wycoff, owner of the former Heather’s Hairport building, who is planning to open a business there. 

“I’m a little concerned here with the viability of Harwich Port,” said Wycoff. “What I’m hearing here is my property is going to be way more valuable if I turn it just into housing or turn it into condos. It’s going to make way more money than what I’d make by operating a business. Yet I believe businesses are important to the town.”

Wycoff said people will spend an enormous amount of money for a piece of the Cape that they’ll occupy for maybe two weeks out of the year, and that the very large building will remain largely empty. While that may be good for traffic flow, it is not good for business and not good for the viability of the town, she said.

“I’m not deadset against condos, but I’m deadset against this thing, it’s way too big,” said neighbor Barbara Nickerson. “Enough is enough.”

Nickerson took issue with the three-story structure and roof-top decks, adding “peeping toms” will be looking into abutters’ windows. 

Nickerson is a member of the town’s local planning committee, which is working on the upgrade to the town’s local comprehensive plan, which is expected to be concluded this fall. She said the plan has a vision for Harwich Port and she urged the board to not act on the project until the local comprehensive plan is enacted.

  Bank Street resident Angelo Kyriakides, an architect, asked what the developers are giving back to the town for building such a large scale project. 

 “You have Cape Cod shingles, but no Cape Cod scale,” Kyriakides said.

 Bob Piantedosi, also a Bank Street resident, said the proponents worked at Sundae School years ago, yet they are showing no sensitivity to the business. He said it would be hard to replace such an iconic business in the village. 

Ben Warshaw said he could offer conditional support for the project if the developers would donate $500,000 out of their profits for downpayment assistance for local families to buy into the community for the long-term. He said the grant could assist three or more families to remain in town.

“The town is facing a crisis. Buying a house is hard,” said Warshaw. “People are being priced out of the place they call home. I’d like to see this project be a model for Harwich.”

Waivers sought for the project include driveway separation requirements; driveway width from 24 to 22 feet; driveway maximum width requirement; parking space size requirements; and landscape islands for parking areas.  

The traffic report and peer review will be presented at the June 10 planning board meeting. Rose said the trip generation from the 28-unit condominium would be far less than that generated by the Sundae School ice cream business.