Sidewalk Likely A Requirement For Housing Project Approval, A Condition Developer Pennrose Has Rejected

CHATHAM – Zoning board of appeals members are leaning toward approving the 42-unit Pennrose Meetinghouse Road affordable housing project, but will likely require that the developer construct a sidewalk along the roadway as a condition of their approval.

 A sidewalk on the west side of Meetinghouse Road has been a significant issue in the nearly year-long review of the rental housing project and was the chief topic of the board’s Aug. 20 meeting, where three members said they would not vote in favor of the 40B comprehensive permit unless a sidewalk is included as a condition of approval.

 Pennrose officials have rejected including the sidewalk as part of the project, saying it is not their responsibility to build a walkway along a town road and that the topography would make it difficult and expensive. The project includes a path from the development to the nearby Old Colony Rail Trail, and Pennrose has agreed to build a sidewalk on the east side of Meetinghouse Road that connects a bike trail crosswalk to a sidewalk on Route 28.

 At a previous hearing Pennrose officials said they would appeal a condition requiring the sidewalk to the state housing appeals committee. 

 But a majority of zoning board members said a sidewalk is necessary for the safety of residents of the development, especially children, who they said will likely walk or ride bikes along the busy roadway (which is Route 137) even with the path to the bike trail.

 “You have to think about the children,” said Chair David Nixon, who also opposed the project on a number of other grounds.

 “In order for me to approve this permit, there needs to be a sidewalk,” said member Leigh Hovey. “Providing pedestrian infrastructure is a fundamental public safety requirement.”

 Hovey added that as an option, Pennrose could be required to build the sidewalk on the west side of Meetinghouse Road connected to the development with a crosswalk. Such “mid-block” crosswalks are not recommended, Pennrose’s traffic engineers have said, and could be rejected by the town, which controls the roadway.

 Along with the cooperation of the town, building a sidewalk along the east side of the road would require approval by the Diocese of Fall River, which owns the Our Lady of Grace chapel at that location. The Diocese sold the land Pennrose is proposing to develop to the town at a discount specifically for construction of affordable housing.

 Appeals board members cited several reasons for requiring a sidewalk, preferably on the west side of Meetinghouse Road. Some residents will likely not have vehicles and will walk to Route 28 to get to bus stops and stores. Otherwise, residents will be “stuck on that property,” said Vice Chair Virginia Fenwick. 

 “For people who don’t have vehicles of their own, it’s going to be very difficult for them,” said associate member Steve DeBoer. 

 Other board members said that connecting the bike path to the development would provide a safe enough way for residents to get to the sidewalks on Route 28. David Veach called that route “sufficient and safe,” and said the “overwhelming need” for affordable housing in town outweighed the need to push Pennrose on the sidewalk issue. 

 Paul Semple also said the bike path access was sufficient, and a sidewalk on the west side of Meetinghouse Road “does not seem to me to be practical given the terrain.” He wanted conditions that require Pennrose to maintain both the pathway and the section of the bike trail, including lighting and snow removal in the winter. He also called on the developer to pursue a Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority bus stop at the development.

 “It seems to me that if we’re going to have a project that actually will work and will provide some safe access, that we can do that by using the bike path,” Semple said.

 Nixon ran through a litany of reasons he opposes the project separate from the sidewalk, including the lack of overflow parking, density, the lack of studio apartments and the affordable housing income restrictions that would disqualify town employees who earn too much. He called Pennrose a corporation with “no soul, no heart” that is only interested in profits and should not have been chosen to develop the property in the first place.

 “There’s no room for negotiations with these folks on substantial items, none, zero,” Nixon said. “They’re all about one thing: their profit points, the profit they’re going to make.”

 After a two-hour discussion, the board voted to continue the hearing to Sept. 3 at 2 p.m. The board has until Sept. 15 to render a decision on the comprehensive permit. Town Counsel Jay Tallerman will work with central permit coordinator Sarah Clark to put together a draft of conditions and waivers for a vote, including specific language requiring the sidewalk along the west side of Meetinghouse Road, with the option of a sidewalk on the east side of the roadway.