Pine Oaks Unanimously Approved

HARWICH – The appeals board voted unanimously to approve a comprehensive permit for the Pine Oaks Village IV 242-unit housing development to be located near the intersection of Queen Anne Road and Main Street in North Harwich.

The board deliberated for nearly four hours on Monday, confirming a lengthy list of waivers for the project and 119 conditions to guide the development and operation of the complex to be located on 32 acres in the residential low density zoning district. 

The project, which will include 193 affordable units, has been met with considerable opposition from residents of the area based on traffic, environmental and community character concerns. 

The eight public hearings held on the comprehensive permits drew overflow crowds voicing objections that also included the lack of infrastructure to accommodate such a large development and the absence of community amenities for people who will be residing there.

 Board members acknowledged that the project was not perfect and said the considerable input from residents made it better. The town needs to step up and address some of the issues brought up during the hearings, especially traffic, said vice chair Kenneth Dickson.

“Traffic, in my opinion, is the biggest issue as well, and the fact that we’re pinning all the bad traffic issues on POVIV really isn’t fair,” he said.

 The project is proposed by Mid Cape Church Homes, Inc., the nonprofit which started Pine Oaks Village in 1975 with a goal of providing senior housing in the community. The nonprofit has since created three developments consisting of 163 units for seniors and residents with disabilities.

The POVIV project calls for 242 units to be built in five phases over 10 years. It will include five lodge buildings and five townhouse buildings, consisting of 85 one-bedroom units, 132 two-bedroom units, and 25 three-bedroom units. Up to 70 percent of the units will be restricted to income-eligible persons earning at least 80 percent of the area median income.

On Monday appeals board members worked on fine-tuning the language in the waivers and conditions. They were satisfied the conditions provided oversight of environmental issues that would be protected by a state-mandated groundwater discharge permit.

There was additional discussion about the need to conduct a road safety audit for the Queen Anne Road and Pleasant Lake Avenue intersection, funding participation by the applicant for that work and traffic improvements on Queen Anne Road and to the Old Chatham Road/Depot Street intersection. 

The board also included a condition requiring 18-foot-wide paving of the dirt road leading from the property out to Main Street, noting a town bylaw that requires property owners to address fencing, walls and vegetation to improve sightlines.

“Safety is huge,” appeals board chair Brian Sullivan said. The road will reduce traffic on Queen Anne Road and at the intersection of Queen Anne Road and Main Street, and it will provide additional access to the bike trail which is three-tenths of a mile up Main Street, he said.

“I think the public’s input into this project over the last six months has made it a better project,” said Dickson. “It is not a perfect project. I agree with some of the earlier comments about its location and lack of amenities. I don’t disagree. It’s impossible to disagree, because physically they are not there,” he said before casting his vote in favor of the project.

Dickson said the town has spent nearly $250,000 on a traffic study of the area, examining the poor intersections, and the town hasn’t done anything about it. It’s still in a drawer somewhere, he said. The project will add traffic, as will a future 40B project planned for the area.

“I just hope you, the public, will spend as much time lobbying the select board to fix our roads and our safety issues as you have spent trying to influence our decision on the project we have in front of us,” said Dickson. “Because if it’s not the constituents, I don’t know if this [road] project is ever going to get done, and that’s a hazard to all of us. 

 “I will say the need for affordable housing, specifically in our town, forget the state, our town’s need for affordable housing overrides my need for traffic, and I am certainly going to support this project,” Dickson said.

 Opposition to the project on the board came from alternate member Marilyn Raatz, who did not vote on the comprehensive permit. She was not present, but spoke online, saying she was a strong proponent of affordable housing and the present lack of affordable housing is a serious local and national issue that keeps people poor and hamstrung.

“I believe developers of this project are endeavoring to cut a very large swarth out of our need,” she said. “There is no reason to think they have nothing but the best intentions, and I applaud their efforts to carefully tackle the technical aspects of this project.” 

However, she continued, “As proposed, what this project has failed to accomplish, in my opinion, is give it a pulse. It lacks heart. It is maximum people shoehorned in without those things that create a healthy community,” Raatz said.

 She said the development does not provide healthy gathering places, a location where kids can play soccer, baseball, or ride bikes. The setting does not offer the services and amenities necessary for a community, such as a bank, library or bakery. The project is the antithesis of the town housing plan that calls for affordable housing to be sprinkled throughout the community, Raatz said.

  In the end, the board voted 5-0 to approve the comprehensive permit. Town Counsel Amy Kwesell will add changes to waivers and conditions approved by the board on Monday, and said the final document must be presented to the town clerk’s office within 14 days.

Appeals must be filed with the state housing appeals committee within 20 days.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Pine Oaks Village President Greg Winston praised the appeals board for doing a “great job,” adding the housing is “something so needed for the town. Thank you very much.”