WELLFLEET — David and Chellise Sexton, who clearcut a large swath of woods on their property next to Lecount Hollow Beach in June, have filed suit in Land Court against the town’s zoning board of appeals, seeking to reverse the board’s ruling against them in the case. Former Building Inspector Paul Fowler had determined that the Sextons violated zoning laws governing the National Seashore district, in which their 25-acre property is located.
Meanwhile, Cape Cod National Seashore Planner Lauren McKean has told the Independent that the Sextons’ violations of the rules, which include charging people to park on their land, are egregious enough to justify the taking of their property by eminent domain.
The seizing of privately owned property in the Seashore by the government is extremely rare, and the process is complicated. “It goes all the way to the Washington office,” said McKean. “I don’t think we’ve ever done one.”
The Sextons argued that the tree-cutting on their land was done to provide additional parking for visitors to Cook’s by the Ocean, the cottage colony that they have operated at Lecount Hollow for generations. But neighbors reported that they had seen the Sextons charging people for parking while they go to the beach. The parking lot at Lecount is restricted in the summer to town residents and property owners.
Fowler issued two cease-and-desist orders in the Sexton case. Under zoning bylaws adopted by all the towns in the Seashore, the cutting of timber is strictly limited and requires permits from town authorities.
During the summer, the Sextons asked the zoning board to overturn the building inspector’s orders. Park Supt. Brian Carlstrom sent a letter to the board supporting those orders, and noting that new or intensified commercial uses are not allowed in the Seashore. The ZBA upheld the building inspector’s action. The Sextons filed their lawsuit against the board on Sept. 15.
Should the Seashore move to take the Sextons’ property, it would have to pay fair market value for it. The town currently values the property at $2.9 million.
Doing Business in the Park
Federal legislation created the 44,000-acre Cape Cod National Seashore in 1961. But only 27,000 acres of that total are actually owned by the federal government. Within the Park’s borders there is property owned by municipalities, conservation organizations and trusts, and private home and business owners.
When private property owners, like the Sextons, run afoul of the laws governing the use of land in the Seashore District, it is usually town officials who must step in. The only real power the National Seashore possesses is the authority to take property by eminent domain, which would require funding the Seashore doesn’t have.
As part of the 1961 legislation, the U.S. Dept. of the Interior allowed businesses on private property within the Park to continue to operate, as long as they could prove they were operating before 1959. New businesses were not allowed.
There aren’t many in that pre-existing category, and the ones that remain must adhere to certain rules, including the prohibition of changes of use and limiting of expansion.
Planner McKean said there are currently a half dozen businesses in the Park that requested and received a certificate of suspension of condemnation (CSC), allowing them to continue: the Wellfleet Beachcomber, Head of the Meadow Citgo in North Truro, Montano’s Restaurant in Truro, the North of Highland Camping Area in North Truro, the Surfside cottages and condominiums in Wellfleet, and Truro’s Outer Reach Resort, now called the Dune Crest Resort.
Those certificates are reviewed and renewed every five years by the Park superintendent.
There are also a handful of businesses that had been operating before 1959 but failed to apply for certificates by the August 1961 deadline, McKean said. They have nevertheless been allowed to continue to operate.
There don’t seem to be any consequences for lacking a CSC, as long as the business complies with local zoning and Seashore regulations.
“Several cottage colonies didn’t apply in time,” McKean said. She named the Sextons’ Cook’s Cottages by the Ocean and the Wellfleet by the Sea Cottages, owned by the Crosen family for the last 70 years.
McKean could remember only two commercial operations having lost their certificates. One was Jack’s Gas and Firewood in Truro. Its certificate was not renewed in 2000 after a fuel spill on the property. While lacking the certificate, Jack’s continues to sell firewood, McKean said.
Operating Without a CSC
In 2018, then-Supt. George Price decided not to renew the CSC for the Adventure Bound Camping Resort in North Truro. The campground has simply continued to operate without the certificate.
Adventure Bound and Truro authorities have a thorny history dating back to 2016, when the town’s building inspector issued a cease-and-desist order following the clearing of 11 acres for a sewer system. Proper permits had not been issued for the work, the inspector said. Adventure Bound owner Wayne Klekamp appealed the order to the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals.
The Seashore weighed in, saying Adventure Bound had altered the original use of the campground, which isn’t allowed.
The zoning board upheld the building inspector’s decision.
Ultimately, work at Adventure Bound was stopped by the state’s Div. of Fisheries and Wildlife, which found that the clearing disrupted the habitat of the Eastern box turtle. Klekamp appealed the agency’s decision in court, and the two sides have recently reached a tentative agreement. The campground has offered to donate 10 acres to the Truro Conservation Trust as mitigation for the habitat destruction. In return, the DFW has issued a permit allowing the installation of a state-required sewer system to resume.
There are other businesses that operate on National Seashore property but don’t own property there. They must secure commercial use authorization permits, which are granted by the National Park Service to individuals, corporations, and other entities. Businesses operating with those authorizations must have minimal impact on the park’s resources and remain consistent with the purpose for which the Park was established.
Businesses currently holding such licenses provide kayak tours, surfing instruction, vehicle and bike tours, water shuttle services, photography workshops, painting lessons, and environmental education.
