Planning
Board Public Hearing
Wednesday,
August 06, 2008
Judge
Welsh Hearing Room, Town Hall
260
Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA 02657
Joint meeting with the
Conservation Commission.
Planning Board Members
Present: Howard Burchman, Ellen Battaglini, Joe DeMartino, and Marianne
Clements.
Staff Present:
Howard Burchman, Chairman,
called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m.
Meeting Agenda
2 Commercial Street
Realty Trust: discussion regarding
request to divide one parcel of land into nine lots at the
property located at 2 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA.
Howard Burchman opened the
meeting by stating this was and informational meeting at which time, Ellen
Battaglini asked if this was purely informational or is this meeting to
reconsider?
Howard Burchman assured the
board members and the public as well, that this was strictly an informational
meeting on the proposal. The procedural
will come later in the meeting.
Jay Murphy, Attorney for the
applicant said they would like to have the opportunity to show what the
proposal will be.
Ellen Battaglini explained
that two of the Planning Board members had not been informed of the scheduled
meeting and wanted to know why the meeting was taking place when the board
previously voted to forward it on to the Cape Cod Commission.
Cliff Schorer stated he had
submitted the ANR to the Planning Board and the Planning Board voted to refer
the property/project to the Cape Cod Commission. The Cape Cod Commission were split in their
vote of 6 to 6 with a tie breaker at 7 to 6 to accept as a referral. He is requesting that the local boards look
at his proposal for the property. It has
been overstated with reference to the importance of the existing house.
The catalogue of 1959
represents the house as new architecture during that time. In terms of modernism, the house was
over-constructed. It was constructed as
a commercial structure during its day and was considered to be a horrible
structure.
The intent is to maintain
the existing (Murchinson) house and the existing Gatehouse with demolition to
the garage structure. The proposal will
be for two-story houses, 4 small structures, 2 larger structures plus the main
house.
The original property
consisted of three lots. He understands
the need to protect the main house, however, the Cape Cod Commission review
process can be time consuming and costly.
Therefore, he is willing to put the main house on the National Register
of Historic Places, which the former owner was not willing to do. The structures will be of low impact and will
be very green that echo the main structures.
In 1961 the property was on
the market and at that time was listed for $350,000 +/- and the taxes were
$6,000.00 + during this time. Over the
last 45 years there has been $4,000,000.00 paid in taxes. The fiduciary duty of the trust is to get the
most for the property. There have been
other interested parties, however, they wanted to maximize the property.
Cliff Schorer said he was
under time constraints to purchase the property and the Cape Cod Commission
will hold up that process. You could end
up with a Disney Land Cape Cod that will destroy the site completely. The larger house will be approximately 6,400
square feet and the smaller houses will be 1,100 square feet and will be nested
down into the hill.
The site originally had no
green space on the site, just dune grass.
Mother nature did not make the property look like it did in its day; it
was the property owners that brought other species in. He is open to suggestions on ground coverings
and plantings.
There is no flooding on the
property because of the pine trees.
There will be a 30 setback on the lots, the property is out of the A
zones (flood zone) and there is not plan on building in elevation 10 or 6.
Mr. Schorer did a fly around
of the site and presented a slide show including scope and scale of the vista
that would not be impacted by the proposed plan. The main house area has an elevation of 36 with
the highest elevation at 44 and the lowest at 10.
Mr. Schorer said he felt as
though his legal rights had been trampled and their lacks transparency. He was
always available.
Dennis Minsky, Conservation
Commission Chair said he did not anticipate a decision being made at this
meeting.
Public Statements
Marcene Marcoux said she is
a member of the Historic District Commission and they had not been contacted.
Also, she was present at the Cape Cod Commission meeting and said the
presentation before the Commission was misleading in that there was public input
yet there had been none.
She felt the local boards,
(Planning, Conservation Commission, Historic District Commission and Historical
Commission) have the ability to handle this project. She felt a regional oversight was not needed
and therefore, the process has been faulted.
She stated it was now in the hands of the Cape Cod Commission and wishes
it was handled on a town level and would like to see the local boards move
forward with the clients because it will be a win-win.
Cliff Schorer said he understands
the goals of the Historic Commission to preserve the house and is willing to
put the house on the National and State Registry.
Clarence Walker asked what
the purpose of this meeting was and what could it do because the property is
now at the Cape Cod Commission level.
Would the Cape Cod Commission need to rescind their review?
Howard Burchman said the
goal of the meeting was for informational purposes and for public benefit for
people to understand what is and has been going on here.
Attorney Murphy stated the
project was referred to the Cape Cod Commission for a discretionary referral
and was accepted by the Commission. The following would take place:
Dennis Minsky said the
proposals and intent is good however problematic on promises because there are
no specific plans. The area of concern
is the buffer zone and the standing order of conditions that have not been
satisfied. Theres the stability of the slope and the denuding. The Conservation
Commission would need a specific planting plan with specific locations and
species required.
Attorney Murphy said the
Order of Conditions was placed on hold because of the purchase of the property
and Cliff Scherer would satisfy those conditions. The Conservation Commission is certainly
capable of handling the slope and other related issues. It is not necessary to have it at the Cape
Cod Commission level.
Cliff Schorer said he is
willing to work closely with the boards but wanted them to understand the areas
of buildable land. The areas of concern
were taken into consideration in his proposal.
Right now he is just creating the lots, knowing the other areas of concern
will need to be addressed. Four of the
lots will require further review. He is
willing to work with the Conservation Commission on a lot-by-lot basis. He felt the present order of conditions was
not unreasonable, however, he is not at a level to deliver everything.
Chris Lucy said he did the
site clearing of the property and the only materials removed was the overgrown
trees and vegetation that had never been there when the property was in
pristine condition. Mrs. Murchinson was
considered to be a recluse, was not in any condition to do it herself and she
did not want anyone else on the property. This is the reason why the property
became so overgrown with invasive species.
He knows over 3,000 square feet of beach grass was planted because he is
the one who planted it. He stated there
was no erosion and there was no washing away of anything. As for the house, it is protected right now
through the Cape Cod Commission under 2bii.
Its already in the regulations.
David Hale said the cutting
or removable of vegetation was done without permission of the Conservation
Commission. The merits are debatable.
Chris Lucy said he was
maintaining the landscape that originally existed. There is no regulation that he is aware of
that says when a landscape becomes protected.
Rose Kennedy said the buyer
and seller have the same intent in mind on preserving and protecting the
original house.
Howard Burchman said there
were currently three structures on the lot, one of which is to be
demolished. He asked if they could
address the demolition of the one structure.
Cliff Schorer said the structure
to be demolished is the garage structure.
It sits within two lots on the line of a land swap, is a non-historical
structure of unimportance. The Gatehouse
is an important structure to preserve according to discussions with John
Dowd. There is regulatory process for
demolition delay.
Joe DeMartino said the
project merits approval but the Planning Board needed to slow down the
process. How can there be a compromise
because the concern is trust.
Cliff Schorer said the town
has a tool kit and that tool kit is the regulatory process. Also, he said he would be willing to sign and
put in writing that he will place the house of the National Register.
Jack McMahon said his main
concern was the order of conditions that had not been satisfied.
Mr. Schorer said the
Chris Lucy assured everyone
that the clearing of the land was done on weekdays only because he did the
clearing and he does not work landscaping on the weekends. He works elsewhere.
Cliff Schorer said he would
be willing to provide HDC certainties, design review on the rest of the site
and, Conservation Commission satisfaction because he does not have an extra
year to wait through the Cape Cod Commission process.
Jay Murphy said he
understands the town boards would want some level of trust. Agreements would have to be reduced to
writing. The plan would require
endorsement by the Planning Board, then filed and recorded. He would contact Town Counsel to discuss
procedure.
Minutes none.
Any other business that shall properly come before
the board none.
Adjournment
Motion: To adjourn the meeting at 8:44 p.m.
Moved: Marianne Clements Second: Ellen
Battaglini Vote: 3:0:0
Respectfully
submitted,