TRURO — Political roadblocks, infrastructure challenges, and bureaucratic delays have kept the 69.9-acre Walsh property in a kind of limbo since Truro’s voters bought it for $5.1 million in 2019 and overwhelmingly endorsed the development of affordable housing there at town meeting last May.
While external signs of progress have been few, there have been some recent changes at the parcel. One cottage was moved off the property in February to South Highland Road, where it was to be renovated into workforce housing. (The contractor, Cape Cod Builders, demolished it instead.)
The other seven cottages on the Walsh property were demolished as planned in October.
Also in October, a new ad hoc advisory committee for the future development of the parcel — the successor to an earlier Walsh Property Community Planning Committee, whose appointments had expired the previous October — began to meet weekly to chart a path forward.
The town now aims to identify funding sources and issue a request for proposals from developers by March 2026.
Achieving that goal, however, will require navigating at least 10 collaborative steps among the ad hoc committee, town staff, and a site engineer yet to be hired — including site planning, zoning evaluations, and traffic studies, according to a list of action items compiled by Assistant Town Manager Kelly Clark.
One of the most pressing challenges appears to be getting water to the site. Even basic decisions about the number of units that can be built could hinge on resolving the water question, which Town Manager Darrin Tangeman called “the number one issue” facing the project at an ad hoc committee meeting on Nov. 6.
“It’s going to constrain how we move forward,” Tangeman said.
The existing public water supply allows for only about 25 percent of the proposed 160 housing units, Tangeman said, and securing the capacity to build the remaining units could take up to eight years.
The town expects to gain more clarity on water within the next year, pending an analysis of current and future water demands related to other projects requiring public water, like the long-delayed Cloverleaf affordable housing development. A joint meeting of the Truro and Provincetown select boards on water-related issues is scheduled for Feb. 25.
Constructing a water tower could take three years, while permitting a new well may take up to a decade, according to Health and Conservation Agent Emily Beebe and DPW Director Jarrod Cabral. Cabral told the ad hoc committee on Oct. 21 that he had initiated preliminary discussions with a consultant about a water tower. Beebe said that the water tower and a second phase of housing construction at the Walsh property would need to “come online” together.
Committee member Todd Schwebel, who works in construction, expressed frustration with the slow pace of progress and said the committee should consider pausing its meetings until more concrete information is available.
“Forty years I’ve been doing building — you got to know what you’re building,” Schwebel said. “Otherwise, you’re just wasting time.”
Chair Jeffrey Fischer agreed that resolving the water issue was pivotal, but urged the committee to proceed with planning. “We should design a plan assuming we’re going to get” the water capacity, he said.
‘Cans of Worms’
The ad hoc advisory committee received its mandate from the select board on Aug. 13: oversee development of the Walsh property, work with the housing authority to update Truro’s housing production plan, evaluate development proposals, and report quarterly to the select board.
The committee’s members include Fischer, vice chair Morgan Clark, clerk Breon Dunigan, Schwebel and Lisbeth Chapman as members, and Anne Greenbaum and Jonathan Winder as alternates.
Tangeman is an ex-officio member, and select board member Stephanie Rein and zoning task force chair Dave Bannard serve as liaisons.
Schwebel and Clark both served for two years on the Walsh Property Community Planning Committee, while Fischer was an alternate. At the ad hoc committee’s first meeting, Clark circulated a document that she described as “processing my trauma from the first round of Walsh.” It emphasized the need to set clear expectations for the committee, town staff, and any consultants that might be hired.
“If there is another consultant that comes in, they need to know what they’re doing, because we wasted so much time before, and you know that,” Clark said to Tangeman. “I want to make sure that this committee has purpose and gets things done.”
Assistant Town Manager Kelly Clark presented a preliminary task spreadsheet to the committee that included water access, zoning, site planning, and funding, among many other items. “We know that as we open each of these cans of worms, there’s going to be more tasks added,” she said.
At the Nov. 20 meeting, Greenbaum asked how the ad hoc committee could help implement the previous Walsh committee’s recommendations. “I think it would be very helpful if we could get more concrete,” she said.
Chapman stressed the importance of educating the public about the complexities of the project. “Few people get to town meeting with a strong understanding of what we’re asking them to vote on,” she said. “I don’t think anybody has any idea how complicated water, wastewater, traffic, zoning, and energy can be when you’re trying to do this right.”
Despite Tangeman’s warnings about the uncertain water supply, Fischer reiterated the committee’s focus on developing housing on the Walsh land.
“I don’t think that we can let that hold us back at this point,” Fischer said. “I’m hoping by the new year we can hit the ground running and start doing some real work rather than just figuring out what we’re trying to do.”
A Walsh Timeline
2019: The town purchased the 69.9-acre Walsh property for $5.1 million.
2020: The Walsh Property Community Planning Committee was formed.
2021: The planning committee toured the property and began meeting in person.
2022: Consultants from Tighe & Bond assessed the development potential of the property, recommending 35.5 acres of open space and 33.5 developable acres and offering 4 development options.
2023: In January, the Walsh committee voted 7 to 3 to endorse 252 housing units, with 152 affordable units and 100 units of market-rate housing.
In March, the committee agreed there should be 40,000 square feet of commercial or nonresidential space.
In September, responding to public concerns, the committee voted 6-5 to adopt phased development and 9-2 to cut the number of units from 252 to 160.
In October, the members’ terms expired and the committee dissolved.
2024: Town meeting endorsed a nonbinding resolution supporting the 18 recommendations laid out by the Walsh committee in 2023 and established a new ad hoc advisory committee that began meeting in October.
Editor’s note: Because of a reporting error, an earlier version of this article, published in print on Dec. 5, incorrectly reported the likely timelines for constructing a water tower and permitting a new well at the Walsh property. The water tower could take 3 years, not 10, and the new well permitting could take 10 years, not 3.
