Sea Camps Plans Refined Prior To Jan. 23 Session

BREWSTER – Plans for both the Bay and Long Pond properties that Brewster purchased for $26 million from Cape Cod Sea Camps are hurtling forward.

The timeline remains to have finalized plans for both the 55-acre Bay property and 66-acre Long Pond property ready to present to town meeting in May.

The planning committees for the properties met last week prior to the last scheduled community forum on the parcels, which will be held Feb. 15.

“We’re at the point in our process where we’re taking the feedback from the last forum and comment from committees and moving toward a joint meeting with the select board with the two committees (on Jan. 23),” Elizabeth Randall of Reed Hilderbrand told the pond planning committee.

That meeting should determine exactly how much affordable housing will be on each property and whether a community center, central campus, or other facilities will be considered for the Bay property. It will also settle what portion of the pond parcel will be allocated for housing. Reed Hilderbrand's current plan calls for a 10-acre set-aside that could include a wastewater treatment plant that will maintain water quality.

“That will lead us to plans that we will present at the final forum that we hope will carry forward with a few minor tweaks to the town meeting in the spring,” Randall said of the Jan. 23 joint meeting.

The consults recently completed the third town wide forum to sample opinion on their redesigned plans.

“We thought the forums were great,” Randall said. “We were all really impressed with how engaged the community is.”

Reed Hilderbrand noted residents were happy that Mass Audubon was partnering on both properties but wondered if they’d need to be members to enjoy programs (they won’t) and would the area be open to the public (it will). Other questions included how much ownership would Audubon have of the portion of the properties they occupy and would Brewster receive revenue from Audubon?

Audubon would build small nature centers at both parcels, a smaller one at the Pond, and have a 10-acre conservation restriction on land surrounding the small pond at the northeast corner of the Bay property. Assistant Town Manager Donna Kalinicj said the organization has pledged $500,000 for the pond property and $2 million for the bay parcel.

“The select board has been working on the partnerships and they have solidified the partnerships on both parcels,” Kalinicj said. “We’re really excited about that partnership.”

She said the conservation restriction on the pond acreage would cover 85 percent of the property. Audubon would have the use of cabins on the Bay property to house staff.

During the forum there was concern over a possible wastewater treatment plant on the Long Pond property.

“Understandably, because this is pretty complex,” Randall said. “People are interested in how it actually works, who it serves, what it would look like, would it smell? Lots of stuff.” It would likely also treat some wastewater from neighboring properties as well.

Some residents worried about the cost of a proposed community center on the Bay property and what it could do to the character of that land. A number of residents also suggested that if the Eddy School were closed that would be a better spot for a community center.

While most residents support affordable housing, there were differences as to which property it would be on and whether it would be single-family homes or townhouses. Residents were more supportive of housing on the Bay property. Feelings about housing at the Pond property were mixed. While that housing would be on 10 acres of the 66 near Route 137, the land is adjacent to a water department zone 2 well protection area, so some residents worried about the impact on Brewster’s water supply.

“There is support for housing on at least one of the properties,” Randall said. “For those that do support it there seemed to be a preference for the more denser housing (townhouses) options. There are still many that want to avoid housing in the zone 2 area and are concerned about its impact on the water supply.”

Reed Hilderbrand's updated plans feature 44 units in townhouses. They showed two possible locations for a water treatment plant.

“Others feel that housing can be balanced with conservation and a wastewater plant will address water quality concerns,” Randall added.

RH added a separate curb cut for the houses, different from the road that would take people back towards the pond. Housing would only be on one side of the entry road. Assistant Town Manager Donna Kalinick noted the housing footprint was down to 10 acres from 12 to 15 acres previously discussed.

“The density helps improve the financial feasibility of the project as well. This is much more financially feasible than the one you showed before,” noted Tim Hackert, the Brewster Housing Trust representative on the committee.

At the Bay property there was support for artists’ cabins, walking trails, the pool, beach and picnic areas, community gardens and a pollinator meadow.

Traffic around the entrance to the Bay property and intersection of Route 6A and Millstone Road was a worry. With little activity at the acreage it isn’t much of a concern, but if people are using the beach, Audubon’s programs and the trails it might be more of an issue.

Townspeople were interested in generating some cash from the Bay property since there will likely be many amenities there.

People wanted to see beach access and trails at Long Pond. Currently there is very limited access there, although Brewster is planning to construct a small parking lot this spring.

The town will host two self-guided tour days on the Pond property on Saturday, April 6, and Wednesday, April 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. COA vans will be available for transportation, staging at Captains Golf Course and leaving every 15 minutes.