TRURO — Voters at annual town meeting on May 4 will be asked to authorize the town’s taking of the Truro Motor Inn at 296 Route 6 by eminent domain. The measure, which appears as Article 11 on the warrant, was supported unanimously by the select board and finance committee. It will require a two-thirds majority to pass.
The language of the article affords flexibility on how the property is acquired: “by gift, purchase, eminent domain, or otherwise.” According to Town Manager Darrin Tangeman and the select board’s explanation of the article, an eminent domain taking is the expected route.
“With the approval of Town Meeting, the Select Board intends to take 296 Route 6 (Truro Motor Inn) by eminent domain for the purpose of developing affordable housing, including but not limited to workforce housing,” the explanation reads.
For most of the last 10 years, the motel was home to about 50 people. Property owners David and Carolyn Delgizzi of Weston began renting out the building’s 36 rooms to long-term tenants in 2015 under their motel license.
But in 2018, inspections by the town’s fire, health, and building departments exposed a series of problems, including failed cesspools and overloaded electrical outlets. The rooms also lacked smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and some housed more people than their size allowed.
The town took legal action against the Delgizzis in 2019 for failing to make ordered repairs. At the time, the town sought not to displace the tenants.
But in June 2020, the board of health did not renew the Delgizzis’ motel license, initiating a series of evictions.
The final tenants were forced out last July. Nicholas and Angela Rose and their two children had lived there for seven years.
The select board and board of health held a joint executive session on Aug. 1, 2023 “to consider the purchase, exchange, or lease or value of real property.”
Back Taxes
Seizing a property by eminent domain requires having its value appraised and paying the owners “reasonable compensation.” The Truro Motor Inn’s current assessed value is $1.17 million.
Tangeman said he does not expect the purchase to require a Proposition 2½ override. According to the warrant article, the select board plans to use existing funds to pay for the acquisition. The Dennis Family Gift Fund, which includes settlement money from the owners of an illegally built house, and the Affordable Housing Trust Fund are both likely revenue sources.
“The article itself is written in such a way where we can seek to purchase this without raising taxes,” Tangeman told the select board on March 26.
The town would also recoup the property’s unpaid taxes, Tangeman said. As of March 29, Delgizzi owed $50,710.96 in back taxes on the Motor Inn, said Caitlin Gelatt, Truro’s tax collector and assistant treasurer.
“We pay ourselves first and then pay the Delgizzis for the appraised value,” Tangeman told the Independent.
The Truro Motor Inn is one of five Truro properties owned by Delgizzi, all of which are in arrears on taxes. Delgizzi owes about $515,000 in Truro real estate and personal property taxes in total, Gelatt said, but the unpaid taxes on other properties cannot be collected through the taking of the Inn.
“This is one of my favorite parts of the warrant,” said select board chair Kristen Reed. “From everything I’m hearing, this is something we can all get behind.”
Reed said she had been asked about the other Delgizzi properties in Truro. “The board is aware that constituents have concerns, and we can only address one [Delgizzi property] at a time,” she said.
Housing Coordinator
On March 19, the select board voted unanimously to add a full-time housing coordinator to Truro’s town staff, funded by increased short-term rental registration fees. The new position would not require a budget override, as revenue collected between March and July is expected to pay for the position.
In February, the select board doubled the short-term rental registration fee from $225 to $450. The town is also cracking down on unregistered rentals using software from the municipal contracting firm Avenu, which will bolster the revenue stream, according to Tangeman.
Last year, a Proposition 2½ override article to fund a housing coordinator passed easily at town meeting but failed at the town election by 96 votes.
“The purpose of the ballot was the funding,” Tangeman told the select board — indicating that voters had supported the job but didn’t support the funding mechanism.
Truro will follow in the footsteps of Eastham and Provincetown in adding town staff dedicated to housing. In Wellfleet, housing work is wrapped into the town planner’s job.
Lisbeth Wiley Chapman, 80, spoke to the need for a housing coordinator in public comments at the March 19 meeting. Chapman said she still works and is “the picture of the older single women that need affordable housing.
“My reason for speaking tonight is to give you a face of people who contribute to the community but can’t deal with the increases in rent,” Chapman said, adding that rent takes half of her fixed income.
Chapman said a housing coordinator could help bring in more state funds and grant money. “I laud you completely for this position,” she said.
Kevin Grunwald, chair of the Truro Housing Authority, also praised the decision to move forward with a housing coordinator, which was a priority in the town’s draft housing production plan.
In the past two decades, only 19 new units of affordable housing have been built in Truro, Grunwald said: the 16 units at Sally’s Way and three Habitat for Humanity homes.
“As the chair of the housing authority, I’m ashamed that we have not been able to do better,” Grunwald said. “We truly do need a staff person in this position.”
Staff Under Pressure
Tangeman said he expects to fill the housing coordinator position in June or July. The wait has to do with an understaffed town hall, he said.
“We’re at negative capacity,” said Tangeman. “People are working probably 10 to 20 hours extra per week just to meet requirements.” Tangeman said he would post the position after town meeting and town election wrap up in May.
The town’s two executive assistants, Noelle Scoullar and Nicole Tudor, told the select board there was a year-round need for more staff.
“Our current workload is well over the maximum capacity of 40 hours per week,” Tudor said. “We manage the current day-to-day tasks and communication with the public by eliminating lunch breaks.”
Town meeting voters will also consider a Proposition 2½ override to fund a human resources coordinator and a free cash transfer to fund a part-time climate action coordinator. There is also a proposed free cash expenditure for “records access consulting” that will fund a contractor to help the town clerk with a recent surge in public records requests.
