Subcommittee: Snow Inn Project Consistent With Regional Policy Plan

HARWICH – The Cape Cod Commission subcommittee charged with reviewing the development of regional impact from the proposed redevelopment of the Snow Inn has voted to recommend that the proposal is consistent with the commission’s regional policy plan.

 The subcommittee voted 4-1 to make that recommendation during a Jan. 7 subcommittee session in which the Wychmere Harbor Real Estate LLC team provided detailed follow up information requested during the initial hearing on Dec. 16.

Subcommittee chair Tom Wilson made it clear from the onset of the session that no public comment would be taken and that the commission representatives were seeking more in-depth information from the applicant. He said additional public comment would be allowed during the full commission hearing scheduled for Jan. 22. 

 The current Snow Inn consists of two buildings and contains 32 guest rooms and amenities. The replacement hotel would have 72 rooms, a restaurant and upgrades to site infrastructure, including a new wastewater treatment facility, stormwater drainage improvements, a flood-resistant building design, landscape and hardscape improvements and site circulation and parking adjustments.

 “This project meets all the regional policy plan goals and objectives,” Wychmere attorney Andrew Singer said. 

 There has been strong opposition to the project by residents claiming the new development will exacerbate traffic and safety issues along Snow Inn Road, Davis Lane and the intersection of Route 28, Freeman Street and Snow Inn Road. The intersection has been classified by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation as a high-crash cluster location. 

Singer said the Snow Inn was established in 1891 and the road has been used for commercial and residential purposes since then. He noted that in 1980 Thompson’s Clam Bar, located on the site, had 500 seats and served an average of 2,000 meals per day during peak season. There were also 150 guest rooms on site and an active beach club along with 400 employees, he added.

Parking at the site was limited and lines of cars stretched up Snow Inn Road to Route 28, according to Singer. “That never happens any more.”

The proposed 75,322-square-foot hotel is the same size footprint as at the Melrose Inn condos, Singer said, adding that Harwich zoning allows four stories and the applicant is proposing only three stories. The replica towers requested by the town’s historic district and historical commission are a touch over 50 feet, he said. 

“This building remains in conformance with Harwich bylaws,” said Singer. “This building complies and no waivers are requested.”

The wastewater system needs to be fixed as it is nearly 40 years old, and the decision has been made to relocate and elevate the facility out of the floodplain while also adding additional treatment capacity, Singer said.

“This is the most significant benefit for the project,” said Singer. 

Stephen Cullen, assets manager at the Wychmere, and Randy Hart, director of transportation planning with VHB, Inc., detailed mitigation plans designed to address traffic and safety. They said the proposed transportation improvement plan would reduce traffic along Snow Inn Road, eliminate larger motor coach use, coordinate with the town on new speed signage, work with the town to enforce a prohibition of parking along Snow Inn Road, improve site lines at the intersection of Route 28, provide caution signs along Route 28, commit to complete a survey for consideration of a future sidewalk on Snow Inn Road, and prepare a road safety audit at the intersection with Route 28.

The traffic management plan would transfer truck deliveries and employee parking to the nearly 7,000-square-foot commissary at the corner of Route 28 and Neel Road. Much smaller electric vehicles would transfer employees and products to the Wychmere facilities during non-peak traffic hours. A valet parking system would be employed at the Wychmere site.

Under the traffic plan, 8,126 fewer trips are projected, or 625 fewer trips per week during the 13-week peak season.  

There is room for a sidewalk along Snow Inn Road, according to Hart. He said the paved road is 19 feet wide, but the public road width is 25 feet. Hart said there has been private property owner encroachment in the right of way with walls and shrubs and plantings.

Once the plan is completed, it will be presented to the town for further action, Cullen said. There would be additional discussions over who would pay for installation of a sidewalk. The town would also be requested to enforce the no parking provisions in place for five decades, with a focus on removing landscaping trucks and other bulky vehicles from narrowing passage on Snow Inn Road.

Hart said a road safety audit will be conducted for the intersection and presented to the town, a necessary step in applying for federal funds for roadway improvements. He also said Massachusetts Department of Transportation sidewalk construction on Route 28 has improved the sight line leading into the intersection.

 During subcommittee discussions, Harwich’s Cape Cod Commission representative Jacqueline Etsten took issue with the size of the redevelopment, challenging the number of stories of the proposed hotel, which said was four stories. Singer explained that the town bylaw uses a slope formula for assessing stories, and if the slope along the building is greater than 50 percent then it does not count as a story. 

Etsten also took issue with the proposed reduction in the application, citing a previous application seeking 80 rooms at 83,307 square feet. She said a 10 percent reduction was not adequate, and she cast the dissenting vote on the recommendation to be made to the full commission.

In weighing the benefits and detriments of the project, Wilson said removal of the delivery trucks from Snow Inn Road was a benefit. Subcommittee member Richard Roy said taking the wastewater treatment plant out of the floodplain was also an asset. 

The economic impact, including adding 25 year-round jobs and an additional 75 seasonal jobs as well as housing, was also cited as a benefit of the project. 

 Needing additional information on whether the project is in compliance with Harwich’s development bylaws and the local comprehensive plan, the subcommittee said it would schedule one more session before the Jan. 22 full commission hearing.