Fire Station Land Purchase OK’d

ORLEANS – Voters at Monday’s special town meeting gave overwhelming support to an article seeking the use of $1.3 million in stabilization funds to purchase property at 56 Eldredge Park Way for a new fire facility, passing the measure 380-8.

 The 0.8 acre parcel, which is currently occupied by Advanced Family Dentistry of Cape Cod, fronts Eldredge Park Way and abuts land behind it where the current fire station sits. Michael Solitro, the town’s special projects coordinator, said Monday that the town could have a purchase and sale agreement in place with the property owner, Dr. Greg Monfette, in the coming weeks.

 Town officials have struggled to advance a plan for a new station to replace the existing facility, which opened in 1987. In particular, finding a site that can accommodate a new station has been difficult due to the need to keep a new facility in a centralized location in town that will not adversely impact response times. 

 Fire Chief Geof Deering on Monday said that with the proposed site, the department can respond to 99.6 percent of all calls in town in eight minutes or less. 

 If a purchase and sale agreement is finalized, the town will have ample space to build a modern fire facility. It would also allow the fire department to continue operating out of the current station while construction on a new facility is underway. Deering said this would save the taxpayers approximately $13.5 million in having to find a temporary space for fire operations.

 The $1.35 million, meanwhile, is money that the town has on hand and will not require new taxes, noted Town Manager Kim Newman. 

 Monday’s approval puts the project on track to potentially request funding for construction at next May’s annual town meeting. If that funding is approved, ground could be broken on the project in the spring or summer of 2027. The dentist’s office would remain in operation under a lease with the town until that time. 

 After lengthy debate, voters also approved a zoning change to create a downtown housing overlay district by a vote of 340-243. The district would run along Route 6A from the Exit 89 onramp to the Orleans rotary.

 The goal of the overlay is to incentivize the development of more affordable and attainable year-round housing downtown, and to create that housing using a more consistent village-centric design. The overlay includes design standards governing the height, footprint, facade and roof form of new construction in the district. 

 The district includes a requirement that projects set aside 75 percent of proposed units for year-round occupancy. Twenty-five percent of those units would be required to be rented as attainable or affordable. Design-wise, the overlay would encourage a more walkable downtown area by reducing surface parking with buildings that front roadways.

 Elizabeth Jenkins, the town’s assistant director of planning and community development, said while several of the town's affordable and attainable housing projects have come at the expense of taxpayers, the new overlay encourages “private investment in attainable, year-round missing middle housing.”

 “This article is about zoning for well-designed buildings with abundantly landscaped open space that house year-round residents in our downtown,” she said.

 Director of Planning and Community Development George Meservey added that the creation of more housing through the overlay would have a trickle down effect on the local economy, bringing more people into downtown to patronize businesses.

 Opponents to the zoning change argued that the overlay would welcome new development that would negatively alter the town’s character. Tom Coleman said the building heights proposed for the overlaw would “tower” over what currently exists in town.

 “I like the Back Bay (in Boston). But it’s not Orleans,” he said.

 Local architect Peter Haig said while he supports greater density, the proposed district lacks “creativity.” He said the town’s proposal needs to be “more aspirational.”

 “There’s numbers in here that really aren’t ready for prime time,” he said.

 But advocates for the overlay came back to the growing need for more attainable and affordable housing for families and members of the local workforce. Alisa Magnotta, CEO of the Housing Assistance Corporation, noted that the median cost of a single family home in Orleans today is what it was on Nantucket when she started at HAC eight years ago. Today, she said, Nantucket is struggling to create and fund housing for the island’s workforce.

 “It’s extraordinarily expensive for the taxpayers that live there,” she said. “The thing they say? I would have changed zoning.”

 An article to adopt a specialized energy code that would have placed clean energy requirements on new construction in town once again fell short, as voters denied the measure 304-245.

 Proponents for the specialized code, including members of the town’s energy and climate action committee, last brought an article for the code’s adoption to town meeting in October 2023, where it failed by just 10 votes.

 The specialized code would have applied to newly constructed residential and commercial properties that rely on mixed fuel. Small residences would be required to be rewired for electrification and include a small solar component to help offset the use of fossil fuels.

 Advocates, including select board members Michael Herman and Kevin Galligan, urged voters to chart a course away from fossil fuels toward clean energy. Each pointed to the recently completed all-electric affordable housing development at 107 Main St. as evidence in support of the code’s adoption.

 “It would be remiss of us not to be moving toward sustainability,” Herman said.

Opponents, however, feared the additional costs that might come with adopting the code, with some saying those costs would be counterproductive to the creation of affordable and attainable housing supported through the creation of the housing overlay district.

 Ben Zehnder, a local attorney specializing in zoning and land use, said that the code “dictates” a lot about what can and can’t be done in the way of new construction. That can come at greater cost to developers, he said.

 “The cost of those units determines whether or not they do those projects,” he said.

 Adoption of the specialized code is one of the final criteria the town needs to meet to be recognized as a climate leader by the state. That designation would make the town eligible for a state decarbonization grant of up to $1 million, Assistant Town Manager Mark Reil said in his presentation to voters.

But Ken Heritage questioned the financial benefits that would come with adopting the specialized code. He said that $1 million can’t be counted on year over year.

“A lot of the fuss about the benefits this is going to bring is just beyond,” he said.

 Voters supported using $3 million in Community Preservation Act funding to renovate the existing recreational and playground area at Eldredge Park 423-39.

 The proposed renovation includes a new 35-by-50-foot half-basketball court with tiered bleacher seating at the far end of the field near the Eldredge Park baseball diamond, where six new pickleball courts and a new playground with a track for children’s bicycles is also planned. At the opposite end of the park fronting Eldredge Park Way, two new tennis courts are proposed along with a small handball court and a full 50-by-80-foot basketball court. Plans also include four accessible parking spaces, an accessible trail system connecting the park components, water bottle stations and areas for three shaded structures. 

 With approval of the CPA money, the town has approximately $3.8 million to put toward the renovation. That’s shy of the estimated $5.4 million project cost. Tom DeSiervo, the town’s director of recreation, culture and community events, said the town will proceed with exploring what can be done with the $3.8 million in hand.

 “If we can get that $1.7 million additional, we want to know what we can do with that 1.7,” he said.

 Orleans resident Stephen Cass said he saw a lot of “waste” in the project as presented. But others, including members of the recreation advisory committee that have been advocating for the project for the past six years, said the time is now to improve the space for residents and visitors.

 “The message will be clear: Orleans values its year-round community,” said Tracy Murphy of the advisory committee. “And that message for the first time will extend to those with a range of physical disabilities who cannot now navigate the park safely.”

 Voters also supported the adoption of a community impact fee for “professionally managed” short-term rentals, as well as the creation of a stabilization fund for affordable housing and local infrastructure projects. 

Article 4, which sought the adoption of an affordable housing tax exemption for year-round rental properties, was also approved, as was $150,000 for additional wastewater management engineering support related to the town’s ongoing sewering efforts. That money will be paid for out of wastewater stabilization funds.