Snow Inn Redevelopment Clears Conservation Commission; Town Still Seeks Data On Nitrogen Removal

HARWICH – Despite lingering uncertainty about the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that could enter Wychmere Harbor from its planned new wastewater treatment plant, the proposed demolition and redevelopment of the historic Snow Inn has cleared the conservation commission.

 The commission unanimously voted to conditionally approve the project at its Nov. 4 meeting, capping off a series of hearings and peer-reviewed studies of the proposal, which involves the demolition of the old inn building and adjacent Channel House, replacing the 32-room hotel with a 72-room structure. Among the proposed improvements are the relocation of the existing wastewater treatment plant and construction of a new one that would be located out of the floodplain.

Predicting the new system’s capacity for nitrogen reduction was a key issue standing in the way of approval. Developers say the new plant will reduce daily wastewater flow from the current 40,077 gallons to no more than 27,000 gallons per day, but engineers said they were not comfortable forecasting the precise nitrogen reduction the new system will provide. 

“My main concern is that the public understand what’s really happening there, as opposed to some big numbers that don’t really have any connection to what the actual operating [flow] is,” conservation commission Chair John Ketchum said. Because the proposal involves creating more rooms and the applicant has said they intend to expand the facility’s operating season “and use the facility over more of the year, all of those things are going to lead to more real flow. And understanding that flow is important for the town to understand what the real impact is,” he said.

Conservation Agent Amy Usowski said there has been much discussion about whether the new wastewater system is something the conservation commission can regulate under the Wetlands Protection Act or the town’s wetlands bylaw, since the new system is located away from protected wetlands. Information provided by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection predicts the system will not negatively impact protected resources, she added. The engineering firm providing peer reviews of the application “has opined that it is not within our purview. And, just being honest, I think it’s a stretch to say that it is within our purview,” Usowski said. 

Arlene Wilson of A.M. Wilson Associates, representing several abutters to the project, argued that the commission does have regulatory authority in the matter, and said the ground around the existing wastewater plant already contains nutrients from effluent from the last 40 years. “The more effluent you put in the ground at the source, the more pollutant load that’s pushed through into the water,” Wilson said.

Engineer Sean Riley of Tighe and Bond, representing the developer, said the proposed project doesn’t impact wetlands resources and will provide a benefit “with all the mitigation, the coastal resiliency, the relocation of the new wastewater treatment facility,” and the replacement of a shell parking lot to one with impervious pavers. He said he’s willing to provide the conservation commission with two years of data from the current wastewater plant to provide a baseline measurement, with monthly and yearly reports on the performance of the new system once it is operational, for comparison. 

The conservation commission added those reports as a condition of its approval, and unanimously approved the application.

The project still requires approval by the planning board and zoning board of appeals, and approval by the Cape Cod Commission is still under appeal.