WELLFLEET — Neighbors of a controversial contractor’s yard operating at the corner of Route 6 and Old Wharf Road are frustrated with the apparent inability of the town to enforce a stop-work order.
On May 12, the zoning board of appeals once again upheld a cease-and-desist order that was appealed by property owners Donna and Steve DiGiovanni of Truro. Attorney Ben Zehnder has said he will add this case to others he has brought to state Land Court on the dispute.
Neighborhood residents and zoning board members wondered at the ZBA meeting why the town hasn’t stepped in.
The battle has been going on since January 2021, when the DiGiovannis, principals of Great White Realty Group, bought the parcel and on the following day cut down three-quarters of the trees, removed topsoil, and began grading. They had not secured any permits.
A cease-and-desist order was issued by then-Building Inspector Paul Fowler. Great White appealed, but the order was upheld by the zoning board.
The ZBA also denied special permits that would have allowed the DiGiovannis’ tenants, GFM Enterprises of South Dennis, to operate a contractor’s yard.
After Fowler resigned, interim Building Inspector Victor Staley, filling the gap while the town searched for a new inspector, authorized the operation of the contractor’s yard in late November.
A GFM Enterprises sign went up, and supplies and heavy equipment began to arrive.
In January, the ZBA reversed Staley’s authorization of the contractor’s yard, but the company continued operating.
The town’s new building inspector, James Badera, issued a further cease-and-desist order in March. Again, the action had no effect.
“I don’t understand why the cease and desist is being ignored with impunity,” said ZBA member Mick Lynch. “It makes a laughingstock of this board.”
Lewis Wise, a land use attorney who lives nearby, said, “Great White will continue to operate with impunity because, we are told, the town has decided not to enforce the cease and desist.”
ZBA member Jan Morrissey asked why the town had not sought an injunction. No one had an answer. Chair Sharon Inger said she would not comment.
Wise said he thought Great White would continue to drag out the process while neighbors are forced to endure the noise and dust.
“This is about 100 households,” Wise said. “It’s caused many of us to lose faith in town government.”
Zehnder argued that a contractor’s yard is one of the uses that is allowed by right in the commercial zone. “No permissions are required,” Zehnder said. “If the select board seeks an injunction, we’ll contest it.”
Chair Ryan Curley said Monday that the select board doesn’t make decisions on injunctions. “The administration typically authorizes that sort of action,” he said.
The town is currently between administrators. Charlie Sumner has been interim administrator for the past year, focusing his time on Wellfleet’s troubled finances.
On Monday evening, Assistant Town Administrator Rebecca Roughley responded to a request for comment, writing, “We anticipate that motions for summary judgment will be filed and heard in early summer, with the court’s ruling to follow thereafter. Therefore, the town will await further guidance from the Land Court regarding the scope of permissible activity on the property. The building commissioner will be inspecting and documenting activities that occur on the site. If anyone wishes to submit photographs or any written observations regarding this property, please feel free to send those to the building commissioner by email.”
Rich Waldo, the town’s new administrator, is set to begin work on May 31.
At the May 12 ZBA meeting, Zehnder, who said he represents both Great White Realty and GFM in the matter, told the zoning board he expected his clients’ appeal to fail.
If that happens, he said, he will take the appeal to state Land Court, where it would be merged with two existing cases Great White has filed against the ZBA over its previous denials.
When the zoning board voted to uphold the order, as expected, Zehnder confirmed his intentions.
The lawyer told the members of the board not to take the situation personally.
“I don’t think you’re here to get angry or emotional or anything else about this,” Zehnder said. He suggested that the growing case in Land Court should not take long and would be resolved “in months, not years.”
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article, published in print on May 26, reported incorrectly that Rebecca Roughley, the assistant town administrator, had not responded to a request for comment. She did respond on Monday evening with the comment quoted in the corrected version.
