Zoning Board Laments ‘Flawed’ Process For Gov. Prence Review

ORLEANS – The zoning board of appeals last week expressed frustration with what members saw as their limited role in reviewing the 78-unit mixed housing development planned for the site of the former Governor Prence Inn.

 During an occasionally tense hearing July 29, board members criticized what they saw as a flawed process that limits their ability to effectively review the joint proposal from Housing Assistance Corporation (HAC), Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) and Habitat for Humanity Cape Cod.

 The project — which calls for 61 rental units across two large buildings in the rear of the property, 10 ownership units across two townhouses fronting Route 6A, and seven single-family homes to be managed by Habitat for Humanity on the eastern side of the property — has been reviewed by the site plan review committee and the architectural review committee. But zoning members said they felt as though there’s little they can do in the late stages of the review process to help improve the project.

 “We’re here organizing the deck chairs on the Titanic,” board chair Gerald Mulligan said. 

 The annual town meeting in May 2021 voted to authorize spending $2.9 million to purchase the 5.5-acre Prence property. As a 40B comprehensive permit development, the project is allowed to override and seek waivers from local zoning so long as a quarter of the overall project units are designated as affordable housing. 

The 61 rentals will be eligible to tenants who make between 30 and 80 percent of the area median income in Barnstable County, while the single-family homes will go to applicants who make at or below 80 percent of AMI. The townhouses will be available to applicants who make at or below 200 percent of AMI.

 The board in recent months has reviewed the project’s design, with concerns raised about the two three-story buildings that would house the rental units in back of the parcel. The applicants worked to address the board’s concerns about height and massing, with an amended design for the first building presented July 29 showing a reduced height. But while board member David Lyttle commended the changes to building 1, board members and members of the public continued to express disappointment in the proposed design.

 “The town really was happy to support affordable housing in all of the votes that it took at town meeting,” said Stephanie Gaskell of Orleans. “But I don’t think when they voted for it the vision was that we were going to get something like building 1 and building 2.”

 Board members also expressed frustration at the applicants’ unwillingness to entertain an alternate project design proposed by board member Sibel Asantugrul, a local architect. Asantugrul’s rendering called for moving the seven single-family homes over to the opposite side of the property.

 “Piggybacking on her idea, I think the plan would be dramatically better if the Habitat lots were switched to the other side,” board member Bob Wilkinson said. “Because then they’d be up against small buildings.”

 Asantugrul said that she was encouraged by Director of Planning and Community Development George Meservey and Assistant Director Elizabeth Jenkins to present her rendering publicly. But Jenkins said the board is still bound to reviewing the applicants’ proposal.

 David Quinn, HAC’s vice president of real estate development, said the project was specifically designed to meet the criteria outlined in the town’s request for proposals for a developer, and that fully redesigning the project could render it financially unfeasible.

 “That would be a huge expense,” he said.

 Quinn said the applicants have already committed approximately $700,000 to the existing design, and that the project has to be designed in a way that makes it eligible for competitive state and federal tax credits. 

 “They’re looking for projects that are cost effective, that have environmental standards, that have accessibility standards,” he said. “So we have to design a project with that competition in mind.” 

 “We have the problem because it needs public finance, basically,” Mulligan said.

 Lyttle said being presented a project that he said is largely completed puts the zoning board “in a very awkward position.”

 “Is this a friendly 40B?” he asked. “Because it doesn’t seem friendly.”

 The town owns the parcel, which Jenkins said makes the project a “friendly” 40B. Peter Freeman, the attorney representing the applicants, also noted that the applicants went before the site plan and architectural review committees despite not being required to.

 Lyttle also criticized what he saw as a lack of public outreach and input on the Prence design. But Mark Mathison of the select board said there has been a lengthy public process dating back to when the town first voted to purchase the property. That included work by a volunteer committee to explore and determine the best use of the property, as well as the process the town underwent to vet and award a contract for the property’s development.

 “I think the process was terrible,” Lyttle responded. “It’s too bad, because this is probably the last 40B the town will ever do.”

 Resident Bill Wibel asked why the project wasn’t put before the Cape Cod Commission for review as a development of regional impact. Jenkins said that the commission was notified by letter of the project and invited to offer comment, but that no response has been received from the county agency as of yet.

The board also pressed for more details as to how many of the proposed 78 units will go to residents in Orleans and how many will go to people from elsewhere on Cape or over the bridge. 

Quinn said that towns can opt to give “local preference” to up to 70 percent of the units. He said eligible applicants will be selected for the units via a lottery system, with those who live, work or attend school in Orleans selected first until that 70 percent quota is met. Non-Orleans residents who live in Barnstable County would be given second preference in the lottery, he said.

But the local preference only applies to the initial round of project applicants. Charlie Dirac, vice president of real estate development for POAH, said after that, units must open up to the broader public in accordance with fair housing laws.

Quinn pointed to the new 14-unit affordable housing development that HAC brought online last October. He said of the 411 eligible applicants, 31 were from Orleans. Jenkins said in the 62-unit Phare development on West Road, which also came online last year, all but five units went to Barnstable County residents.

Wilkinson pressed for hard numbers as to how many Orleans residents are housed between the two projects.

“I really think we need to know that,” he said.

Mark Norgeot of Orleans suggested that the board table its review until more information is brought to light on the project, including how many of the units will go to people in need of housing in Orleans.

The board was also presented with additional details on the project’s landscaping, as well as traffic impacts. Nathan Brackett of Tighe and Bond said that the project as designed would have minimal impact on traffic in the area of the project, but indicated a 44 percent increase in traffic along Route 6A near the property in the peak of summer. However, he did not say that the increase is directly related to the project.

The zoning board continued its review to Aug. 18, where the board is expected to discuss waivers sought for the development.

“We’re in a very awkward position, and we’re doing our best,” Lyttle said of the board’s ongoing review.