WELLFLEET — After nearly two years of review, the planning board unanimously denied site plan approval for a 10-lot subdivision sandwiched between Dow Drive and Somerset Avenue.
The 8-acre property, at 538 and 548 Old King’s Highway, is owned by Kevin Sexton.
The board’s frustration over the length of the hearing process and Sexton’s repeated failure to provide information was evident during the 90-minute discussion on June 18 leading to the vote.
“We’ve almost certainly set a record, and the patience we’ve shown is, I think, quite remarkable,” said planning board member David Mead-Fox of the subdivision review. “Some changes have been made, and the plan has been improved for sure, but every time we meet, including tonight, there are unmet requirements.”
One of those requirements was submission of an operations and maintenance plan for the subdivision’s stormwater management to the public works dept. for review. That was requested by DPW Director Jay Norton in late March. The department never received a plan, Mead-Fox said.
The planning board had also told Sexton to include a requirement in the homeowners’ association rules regarding its responsibility for stormwater system maintenance. That had not been done.
Sexton had requested a waiver on the 1,000-foot length limit for roads ending in a cul-de-sac. He proposed a 1,700-foot-long road.
Fire Chief Joseph Cappello had recommended capping the road’s length at 1,100 feet since the department’s pumper truck is equipped with only 1,200 feet of hose.
On June 18, Sexton’s engineer, Edward Pesce of Plymouth, told the board he had come up with an innovative plan to ensure firefighting capability from one end of the subdivision to the other. “We’ve listened very hard to the fire chief and made some groundbreaking changes — some things he’s never expected but that he really liked,” said Pesce.
The plan called for installing an empty water pipe stretching from the subdivision entrance to about 900 feet in. A mutual aid tanker could stay on Old King’s Highway and feed water through the pipe to the town’s pumper in the subdivision, making it capable of fighting fires deep within the complex, Pesce said.
The engineer gave the board an email from Cappello, who called the plan “a positive step forward for the safety of all parties.”
Planning board vice chair Beth Singer, who presided at the June 18 hearing, said she had spoken to the fire chief the day before. While Cappello appreciated the proposed improvements, Singer said, “he was very clear with me that they are not ideal.”
“It’s not efficient to have fire trucks feeding fire trucks water, nor is it the safest plan for the firemen,” Singer said.
Singer said she was told the truck-to-truck hoses would be on the road, requiring it to be shut down to all traffic, including other emergency vehicles. “The length of the road is a safety problem,” she said.
Cappello said on June 30 that he had become concerned about the proposal after thinking it over and talking to the deputy fire chief. “The engineer approached us literally at the last second for everything, so it didn’t give us enough time to thoroughly and properly look it over and give a sound judgment,” the chief said.
If a firefighter or anyone else needed medical attention, an ambulance could not be driven through the network of hoses, Cappello said. “To have somebody walk 1,700 feet pushing a stretcher because the road is not accessible because of hose lines and fire trucks is a safety issue,” Cappello said.
There was also the question of maintenance since the town has no jurisdiction over a private road. “It turned into a big question mark after the fact,” he said.
Board member Alfred Pickard’s motion not to grant any waiver to the road length limit of 1,000 feet won unanimous approval. Lacking that waiver, Sexton would be forced to downsize the project.
Residents of Dow Drive and Somerset Avenue voiced opposition to Sexton’s proposal.
Somerset Avenue resident Jorge Castillejo read a letter from the neighborhood association asking the board to deny the waivers. “Each of these waivers will diminish the effectiveness of the Wellfleet subdivision rules, which are designed to protect public safety, environmental quality and the character of our community,” the letter said.
Dow Drive resident Amy Carow expressed concern about stormwater runoff because there is a 10-foot drop between her property and lot 9 in the proposed subdivision. “If the stormwater facilities back up or fail, that could cause significant hardship for me and several Dow Drive neighbors,” she said.
After the planning board voted to reject the site plan, Singer said the denial was because the application didn’t meet the town’s requirement for the length of the road, “and we seem to have exhausted our ability to move forward in an efficient manner.”
While Sexton can’t resubmit the proposal for two years, he can submit a different proposal for the property. The board’s earlier vote not to allow a waiver of the 1,000-foot road maximum would be “advisory” regarding any future submission, members said.
Sexton also has a proposal pending for an eight-lot subdivision at 230 and 270 Old King’s Highway. That project has raised concern because a heavily used dirt road leading to Duck Pond crosses some of the lots. The worry is that their owners could block public access.
Since it is not a publicly laid out road, the town has no authority to keep it open, according to the town’s attorney.
The continued hearing on that project is set for July 9.
