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Cloverleaf

    AFFORDABLE HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Gets $16 Million in State Funding

    Construction of the 39-unit complex should begin next summer

    By

    TRURO — A process that began in 2015 crossed a critical threshold last week when the state awarded $7.8 million in grant money and $8.5 million in tax credits to the Cloverleaf affordable housing project in North Truro.

    Ted Malone, president of Community Housing Resource, was with Kristen Reed, chair of the Truro Select Board, at a Dept. of Housing and Community Development event in Haverhill last week where funding for the Cloverleaf and 13 other projects across the state was announced. (Photo courtesy Ted Malone)

    Thirty-nine units will be built on the 3.9-acre parcel, which was transferred to the town in 2017 specifically for the construction of affordable housing. Shovels will likely hit the ground sometime around July, developer Ted Malone told the Independent, with construction probably taking another 18 months.

    The state money, awarded by the Dept. of Housing and Community Development, is the largest part of the project’s funding mix. All told, the current cost estimate for the Cloverleaf is $24 million, Malone said, with hard construction costs having gone up about 35 percent since the pandemic began.

    The project’s origins were in Gov. Charlie Baker’s Open for Business initiative, which encouraged state agencies to transfer excess land to towns and nonprofits for housing and energy projects. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito visited Truro Town Hall in 2015, and the Cloverleaf parcel, so-called because it occupied land that the state Dept. of Transportation had reserved for a highway interchange that was never built, was conveyed in 2017.

    When wells and septic systems share the same parcel, the Dept. of Environmental Protection places tight limits on the number of bedrooms, Malone said. In 2019, the state announced a $1.2 million grant to run municipal water to the site, which changed the rules governing the project dramatically. The parcel was “originally slated for eight units,” according to the governor’s announcement that November, but could now “accommodate 42 units of new rental housing, better addressing Truro’s severe need for affordable housing.”

    The final iteration of the project includes 39 units, according to documents filed with the state. Six of them will be for people with “extremely low incomes” — that is, 30 percent of area median income (AMI) or less. Nineteen units will be for people making up to 60 percent of AMI; another eight will be for middle-income households making up to 100 percent of AMI; and the last six will be market-rate rentals. Area median income in Barnstable County is a federally defined number; this year it is $76,100 for a one-person household and $87,000 for a two-person household.

    Housing advocates applauded the expansion of the project to 39 units, citing the immense need for housing that is affordable for working people. The prices of homes on Cape Cod have increased dramatically faster than growth in earnings here, and a large majority of homes are now sold to people who do not work in the county.

    Truro also has the lowest inventory of subsidized year-round housing on Cape Cod, currently listed by the state at 2.3 percent.

    The expanded Cloverleaf project was not without critics, however. The project was discussed at 26 different meetings of the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals, Malone said, and a lawsuit challenging the board’s issuance of a comprehensive permit delayed progress for about a year. Both groundwater quality and Truro’s “rural character” were offered as reasons the project should be dramatically scaled back.

    That the lawsuit lasted only a year was a result of a state law passed in January 2021 that allowed judges to impose a bond requirement on plaintiffs who challenge affordable housing permits in court.

    Sally’s Way is a 16-unit affordable housing development near the Truro Public Library that Malone’s company, Community Housing Resource, completed in 2013. The permits granted by the zoning board of appeals for that project were held up in court for five years. Only one neighbor, who lived mostly in Canada, was responsible for that lawsuit, Malone said.

    A schematic drawing of the Cloverleaf project, showing the 13 buildings that will contain 39 units of new rental housing. (Image courtesy Town of Truro)

    The Cloverleaf case was one of the first times the option to levy a bond requirement was used in court. In November 2021, Land Court Judge Diane Rubin imposed a $25,000 bond on the 10 litigants who contested the Cloverleaf’s permit. That was only half of the $50,000 that the law allowed; nonetheless, the plaintiffs chose not to post the bond and signed a settlement agreement with Malone in February. That agreement required one additional monitoring well west of the project, Malone said, and some widened crosswalks within the development.

    “I think the tide shifted,” Malone said, “in terms of the perception of the need for housing and what that means for the economic health of the Commonwealth.” The Republican governor and the Democratic legislature were both pulling for housing reform over the last eight years, he noted.

    There were other forms of state help for the Cloverleaf as well. About half the cost of a so-called innovative/alternative septic system is being paid for with a $305,000 state grant, Malone said, and the Cape Light Compact is contributing $1.4 million for high-efficiency heat pumps.

    Energy improvements for the project came as a direct result of the involvement of the Truro Energy Committee, he said.

    “The energy committee folks connected me to the Cape Light Compact, and we got a planning grant to find out what was feasible,” Malone said. “It’s a challenge when it’s a new layer you’re not familiar with — but it made the project better.” Disability advocates helped improve the project as well, Malone said, and more units will be accessible because of their work.

    “Reasonable, informed input can be beneficial,” Malone said. “When it’s not, it can be destructive.”

    “It has been an uphill fight to build these 39 units, but we are winning on this issue,” said state Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents the Cape and Islands district and lives in Truro. “I’ve met already with Truro officials about how we can maximize state grants to the Walsh property, including the MassWorks program to bring municipal water, and to install a wastewater system that can support hundreds of units at that site.”

    “I’d like to see three hundred units at the Walsh property,” Cyr added. “I’m excited.”

    TRURO HOUSING

    Long-Pending ‘Cloverleaf’ Plan Will Move Forward

    With court date and bond requirement looming, lawsuit is settled

    By

    TRURO — A roadblock preventing progress on building a rental housing development here has been removed.

    The Truro Zoning Board of Appeals and affordable housing developer Community Housing Resource of Provincetown have reached an agreement with a group of residents who appealed the board’s approval of the so-called Cloverleaf at 22 Highland Road in North Truro. The lawsuit had tied the project up in court for more than a year.

    Aerial view looking south from the Cloverleaf site on Route 6 in North Truro. (Photo by Ryan Fitzgerald)

    The agreement was announced by Town Manager Darrin Tangeman on Feb. 15.

    As a result, 39 units of housing at the site abutting Route 6 that was given to the town by the state Dept. of Transportation in 2017 to use for affordable housing could be available in about two years’ time.

    Tangeman’s announcement confirmed that 20 of the units will be “affordable,” that is, reserved for tenants who earn no more than 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). The AMI for a two-person household is currently $77,750 in Barnstable County; 80 percent of that is $62,200. Eight units will be reserved for those earning between 80 and 120 percent of AMI ($62,200 to $93,300 for two people), six will be rented at market rate, and five will be used as needed.

    A Long, Winding Road

    Community Housing Resource was selected by Truro officials as the developer for the Cloverleaf apartments in 2019.

    After more than a year of hearings, company president Ted Malone secured a comprehensive permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals in January 2021 under the state’s Chapter 40B housing statute.

    A group of Truro property owners appealed the permit in Superior Court a month later, suing both the zoning board and Community Housing Resource. Such cases can tie up a project for years, sometimes causing the developer to abandon the effort.

    Last April, the Cloverleaf case shifted to Land Court, where suits move forward more quickly. It was scheduled to go to trial on April 18.

    Attorney David Reid, who represents the plaintiffs in the appeal, said the settlement calls for enhanced testing of the septic system at the apartment complex, a requirement he said would address their principal concern.

    With the case dismissed, Malone will now be able to apply for federal and state tax credits via a mid-year mini-funding round. No work has been done at the project site other than the installation of a water line by the town, funded via a $2.1-million state grant.

    Construction will begin six to nine months after funding has been finalized. Buildout will take about 18 months. “You’re still talking two years away, and closer to two and a half,” Malone said.

    Supply chain issues and increased construction costs are a concern, Malone added, but he hopes “it’s a temporary increase and they will moderate.”

    Stopping Frivolous Suits

    The initial list of 16 plaintiffs in the appeal was whittled down to 10 last fall, not long after the town and Malone requested that Land Court Judge Diane Rubin require a $50,000 bond.

    A new provision in the state’s housing choice law allows judges to order those who appeal permits for affordable housing to post bonds of up to $50,000. The provision is aimed at discouraging frivolous lawsuits. The bond money may be forfeited to cover the defendants’ expenses if the appeal fails.

    In November, Judge Rubin granted the bond request but lowered the amount to $25,000. In her ruling, the judge also expressed doubt regarding the legal standing of the appellants.

    “Only one of the 10 plaintiffs is an actual abutter to the project site who is entitled to a presumption of standing,” Rubin wrote. That abutter is Christine Maxwell, who lives at 24 Highland Road. The other plaintiffs, Lauren P. Anderson, Abby Lynn Corea, George Dineen, Barbara Golding, Samantha Hayman, Joanne Hollander, Donald Horton, Alice Longley, and Eve M. Turchinetz, would have to prove that their properties would suffer adverse effects from the project greater than the effects the project would have on the general public, the judge said.

    Attorney Reid said this week that his clients had not posted the $25,000 bond.

    In her ruling, Judge Rubin cited several reasons for imposing the bond. Opponents had cited possible contamination to their wells from the project as a concern. Rubin noted that the planned wastewater system had been reviewed by a hydrologist.

    “I consider the lengthy due diligence by the town, beginning in 2017,” wrote Rubin. “The due diligence encompassed extensive engineering analyses to extend the water line, along with various reports, site plans, and engineering plans.”

    On Monday, state Sen. Julian Cyr, a Truro native, called the news of the resolution “terrific.”

    “For me,” said Cyr, “this reiterates the value of the action the legislature took to limit frivolous lawsuits that only serve to advance Nimbyism.” Cloverleaf had been among the first projects to use the bond requirement.

    “For too long, people who had no good reason to oppose projects were able to needlessly delay them,” Cyr said, characterizing Truro’s current proportion of its housing stock that is affordable, 2.3 percent, as “pathetic.”

    Housing advocate Jay Coburn, president of the Community Development Partnership, said the need for affordable housing in the region “has never been so acute.”

    “All you have to do is talk to providers of housing about their wait lists,” Coburn said. A recent lottery for some units in West Yarmouth drew over 600 applicants, he said.

    A counter charge for trespassing, filed by the town against Maxwell for using a driveway on the target site to access her property from Route 6, was also dismissed by the court, attorney Reid confirmed, after Maxwell agreed to stop using the driveway.

    STICKY WICKET

    ‘Keep Truro Rural,’ Says Someone

    Motives behind the stickers are hazy, as no one will take credit

    By

    When questioned by photographer Nancy Bloom, this calf at the Mooney Farm on South Pamet Road denied posting “Keep Truro Rural” stickers around town. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    TRURO: THIS WEEK'S CURRENTS

    Cloverleaf’s Septic System

    Meetings Ahead

    By

    All meetings in Truro are remote only. Go to truro-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. The agenda includes instructions on how to join.

    Thursday, Dec. 2

    • Economic Development Committee, 9:30 a.m.

    Friday, Dec. 3

    • Community Preservation Committee, 5 p.m.

    Monday, Dec. 6

    • Local Comprehensive Plan Committee, 10 a.m.
    • Conservation Commission, 5 p.m.

    Tuesday, Dec. 7

    • Historic Preservation Roundtable, 1 p.m.
    • Board of Health, 4:30 p.m.
    • Select Board, 5:30 p.m.

    Wednesday, Dec. 8

    • Commission on Disabilities, 4:15 p.m.
    • Planning Board, 5 p.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Cloverleaf’s Septic System

    The town is slated to receive $305,000 in state funding that will go towards building an innovative/alternative (IA) wastewater management system at the Cloverleaf property. The system is designed to remove nitrogen from wastewater before it seeps into the groundwater and watershed.

    The funding comes in the form of a Rural and Small Town Development Grant, part of a statewide effort to “refocus on affordable housing and housing choice,” said Darrin Tangeman, the town manager. “They recognized the fact that we’re in the middle of constructing this Cloverleaf and that they could help us move the process forward faster,” he said.

    The Cloverleaf is upstream of the cluster of homes in Pond Village, and residents living nearby have been vocal in expressing their concerns that this complex could affect their water quality. Tangeman acknowledged this controversy and said he’s optimistic about the incoming IA system. “It’s one of the best possible systems we could put in place for this development,” he said.

    The application process was “competitive,” Tangeman said. Truro is one of 16 communities to receive this grant. The town originally asked for $400,000, but Tangeman is pleased with the grant. “I can’t complain. I mean, it’s over $300,000,” he told the Independent. “I feel pretty lucky with that.”

    The state has also given Truro a $75,000 Housing Choice Community Capital Grant. The town plans to use this to implement the second half of its Local Comprehensive Plan, which includes updating the housing stock plan. —Jasmine Lu

    CLOVERLEAF APPEAL

    Truro Housing Plaintiffs Ordered to Post $25,000 Bond

    Judge’s ruling may be first under new provision of Housing Choice Act

    By

    TRURO — In what could be the first use of a new provision in the Housing Choice Act, a state Land Court judge has ordered residents appealing the town’s permitting of the Cloverleaf affordable housing development on Highland Road to post a $25,000 bond.

    Lawyers for the defendants in the suit, developer Ted Malone and the town’s zoning board of appeals, had asked the judge to require a $50,000 bond, the most allowed under the law.

    In her eight-page ruling, which set a Dec. 9 deadline for the posting, Judge Diane Rubin expressed doubt about whether 9 of the 10 plaintiffs had legal standing to bring the suit.

    “To succeed with their appeal, plaintiffs will first need to satisfy the standing requirement,” Rubin wrote. “In that regard, only one of the 10 plaintiffs is an actual abutter to the project site who is entitled to a presumption of standing.” The other plaintiffs will have to prove that their properties will suffer adverse effects from the project that are greater than the effects the project will have on the general public.

    “Fantastic,” said state Sen. Julian Cyr, a vocal advocate for affordable housing, in reacting to the judge’s decision.

    “I think it shows the legislation is working to rein in frivolous lawsuits and stem the ‘NIMBYism’ we see in many communities, including my hometown,” said Cyr. “I have no patience for people manipulating the courts to try to run out the clock on desperately needed housing.”

    The Cloverleaf project has been in the works since before he was elected in 2016, Cyr said.

    The plaintiffs are Lauren P. Anderson, Abby Lynn Corea, George Dineen, Barbara Golding, Samantha Hayman, Joanne Hollander, Donald Horton, Alice Longley, Eve M. Turchinetz, and Christine Maxwell.

    “We were surprised and disappointed in the order,” said attorney David Reid, who represents the 10 appellants. He added that they are “looking into the process” for posting the bond but also considering an appeal of the order.

    “We had been working on possibly engaging in settlement discussions with the town and developer, but that may have to wait given the posture of the case,” Reid said.

    At issue is a 39-unit affordable rental project to be built on state-donated land. It was permitted by the ZBA under the state’s Chapter 40B housing statute.

    Opponents filed suit in February in Superior Court against the zoning board and Malone, president of Community Housing Resource. The case was shifted to Land Court in June, with a tentative trial date set for the week of April 18, 2022.

    Last month, Truro officials and Malone invoked the new provision of the Housing Choice Act.

    In her ruling, Judge Rubin cited several reasons for requiring the bond, although she set the amount at $25,000 because it is limited to coverage of certain case-related costs.

    “With respect to the merits of the appeal, on the one hand I consider the lengthy due diligence by the town, beginning in 2017,” wrote Rubin. “The due diligence encompassed extensive engineering analyses to extend the water line along with various reports, site plans, and engineering plans.”

    Opponents have cited possible contamination of their wells from the project. Rubin noted that the planned wastewater system had been reviewed by a hydrologist and that the ZBA had held 26 hearings and set numerous conditions “to ensure protection of public health and safety with respect to private wells.”

    The town and Malone argued that the delay resulting from the suit would increase construction costs and could threaten the viability of the entire project.

    As of a July 16 case management conference, “the plaintiffs had yet to engage any experts such that their alleged concerns about potential traffic and wastewater harms were unsupported by engineering analysis and largely speculative,” Rubin wrote.

    In his arguments against the bond requirement, attorney Reid focused on a legal technicality, arguing that the new provision in state law “doesn’t expressly apply to appeals of comprehensive permits under Chapter 40B.”

    The specific paragraph in the amendment authorizing the bond “makes no reference to ‘affordable housing’ or appeals of ‘comprehensive permits,’ ” Reid wrote.

    Rubin disagreed, saying the amendment specifies that bonds can be required when a plaintiff appeals “the decision to approve a special permit, variance or site plan.” In issuing the comprehensive permit for Cloverleaf, the ZBA had granted variances from a handful of local density requirements and also approved a site plan, Rubin said.

    Malone said he was pleased with the decision as well as “the detail the judge provided.”

    “I hope that it’s precedent-setting and it gives people pause to think,” Malone said, adding that, with consultants and expert witnesses, the case will be costly for both sides.

    Cyr said it’s time people start “living their values” when it comes to progressive politics.

    “One of our biggest challenges is housing,” the senator said. “At this pace, we aren’t going to have year-round communities.”

    COURT REPORT

    6 Plaintiffs Are Dropping Out of Cloverleaf Suit

    Ten others will move forward with the case

    By

    TRURO — Six residents who were suing the town and the developer in an attempt to halt the proposed Cloverleaf affordable housing project on Highland Road have decided to withdraw from the case, leaving 10 who continue to pursue it.

    Rosemary Broton Boyle, Susan Grace, Helen Torelli, and John, Mary and Brianna Bobola “are unable to continue as plaintiffs in the matter,” writes attorney David Reid in the stipulation of dismissal he expects to file with the court on behalf of his clients this week. Once the judge approves the stipulation, the six will be formally dismissed from the case.

    None are talking about why they decided to pull out or when they asked Reid to remove them. At least one made the request two months ago.

    Grace, Torelli, and Boyle were contacted by a reporter but declined to comment on the reasons for their decision. Grace did say in an email that last week’s article in the Independent, in which she was listed as a plaintiff, “set off a trigger of nasty calls” to her home.

    A message was left for John Bobola, but he did not respond.

    Attorney Reid also declined to comment, other than to say, “They asked to withdraw for personal reasons.”

    The appeal of the comprehensive permit, granted for the 39-unit affordable project under the state’s Chapter 40B housing statute, had initially been filed in Superior Court in February. The suit was brought against the members of the zoning board of appeals and Community Housing Resource, the Provincetown development company that was awarded the project by the town.

    The case was shifted to the state Land Court in June. A tentative trial date has been set for the week of April 18, 2022.

    Earlier this month, Truro officials and Ted Malone, president of Community Housing Resource, invoked a new provision in the state’s housing choice law that allows judges to order those who appeal permits for affordable housing to post bonds of up to $50,000. It is aimed at discouraging frivolous suits. The town and Malone asked the Land Court judge to require a $50,000 bond in the Cloverleaf case.

    If the court grants the request and the neighbors lose their appeal, they also lose their bond money, which would go toward covering the town’s and Malone’s costs, including the increasing cost of building the Cloverleaf as time passes.

    Reid, who called the bond request “totally unjustified,” said he didn’t think the threat of a bond was the reason that the six residents decided to back out of the case.

    Reid focused partly on a legal technicality in filing his opposition to the bond with Land Court on Monday. He argued that the new provision in state law “doesn’t expressly apply to appeals of comprehensive permits under Chapter 40B.”

    “While the insertion of this new paragraph into section 17 may have been part of a larger bill dealing with various issues relating to the promotion of affordable housing, the paragraph itself makes no reference to ‘affordable housing’ or appeals of ‘comprehensive permits,’ ” Reid stated in his filing.

    If the town’s and Malone’s contention that the legislature’s intent was to facilitate affordable housing and that the bond provision was meant specifically to discourage appeals of comprehensive permits is correct, “one would think they would have no difficulty in adding words to this effect in their bill,” argued Reid.

    He further argued that the costs claimed by the town and Malone as the basis for their motion “do not constitute ‘costs’ awardable within the scope of the act.”

    In another filing made by Reid on Monday, he asked the judge to dismiss the town’s request for an injunction against Christine Maxwell, barring her from using a driveway on the town’s Highland Road property as an access from Route 6 to her property next door.

    Reid argued the matter should not be part of the court case. The issue is a “simple trespass that has nothing to do with the permit or the appeal,” he wrote.

    In order for some of the plaintiffs to withdraw from a suit, the opposition — in this case the town and Community Housing Resource — must sign off, saying they are not opposed to the change.

    The attorneys for the defendants confirmed Tuesday that they had signed off on the stipulation so that it could be filed with the court.

    It had not yet been listed among the court documents at this week’s deadline.

    The next status hearing on the case is set for Nov. 8. The judge can act on the various requests from both sides prior to that date or wait to consider arguments during the hearing.

    The 10 residents who are continuing with the suit are Lauren Anderson, Abby Lynn Corea, George Dineen, Barbara Golding, Samantha Hayman, Joanne Hollander, Donald Horton, Alice Longley, Eve Turchinetz, and Christine Maxwell.

    COURT REPORT

    Cloverleaf Plaintiffs May Have to Post $50,000 Bond

    Town and developer invoke a new law meant to discourage frivolous suits

    By

    TRURO — A group of residents who have filed suit to block the Cloverleaf affordable housing development at 22 Highland Road in North Truro may be required to post a $50,000 bond with the Land Court to cover the extra expenditures their appeal is requiring of the town and the project developer.

    Truro officials and Ted Malone, the president of Community Housing Resource of Provincetown, have invoked a new provision in the state’s housing choice law that allows judges to order those who appeal permits for affordable projects to post bonds of up to $50,000.

    If the court grants the town’s request for the bond and the neighbors lose their appeal, they also lose their bond money, which would then go toward covering the town’s and Malone’s related costs.

    That includes attorney fees and increases in the cost of building the Cloverleaf as time passes.

    This new provision in the housing choice law, which was signed by Gov. Charlie Baker in January, is designed to discourage neighbors from filing frivolous suits to delay affordable housing developments or prevent them from being built.

    At the heart of the Truro case is the 39-unit project planned for four acres the state gave to the town in 2017 for the specific purpose of constructing affordable housing. The state furthered its commitment to the venture by awarding the town a $2.1-million grant to build a water line to the target site.

    The town selected Community Housing Resource as the developer and plans to retain ownership of the property under a long-term lease.

    After a year of contentious hearings, with residents circulating petitions and arguing that the project’s wastewater treatment system would contaminate their drinking water, the town’s zoning board of appeals granted Malone a comprehensive permit under the state’s Chapter 40B affordable housing law.

    The permit was quickly appealed by opponents of the project in Barnstable Superior Court. The case was moved over to state Land Court during the summer.

    While towns sometimes step back and let developers deal with court battles like this one, Truro has filed a motion to intervene in the case and plans to take an active role.

    The list of plaintiffs suing the town includes Lauren Anderson of 30 Highland Road; Helen Torelli of 9 Twine Field Road; John, Brianna, and Mary Bobola of 7 Windago Lane; Rosemary Broton Boyle of 43 Knowles Heights Road; Abby Lynn Corea of 1 Toms Hill Path; George Dineen of 22 Great Hollow Road; Susan Grace of 28 Windago Lane; Barbara Golding of 17 Great Hollow Road; Samantha Hayman of 17C Great Hollow Road; Joanne Hollander of 13 Toms Hill Path; Donald Horton of 5 Longnook Road; Alice Longley of 39 Knowles Heights Road; Eve Turchinetz of 22 Great Hollow Road; and Christine Maxwell, whose property at 24 Highland Road abuts the Cloverleaf site.

    In his filing for the town, attorney Jonathan Silverstein of KP Law noted that the project involves “significant cooperative efforts between the town, the Commonwealth and [Community Housing Resource] for almost four years.” He pointed out that only 2.3 percent of Truro’s housing stock is certified as affordable by the state.

    “Every month of additional delay caused by the plaintiffs’ appeal imposes substantial carrying costs and delays and jeopardizes the town’s ability to provide critically needed affordable housing,” wrote Silverstein.

    He also questioned whether the residents who signed on to the suit had legal standing as aggrieved parties. Other than Maxwell, who was belatedly added to the list of plaintiffs, none are abutters of the Highland Road target site. They do not live down-gradient from the site, so their wells would not be in jeopardy of contaminated from the development’s wastewater, Silverstein argued. The plaintiffs won’t be affected by increased traffic from the project, he also argued, any more than “the general public” would be.

    Attorney David Reid of South Yarmouth, who represents the residents who filed the suit, said in an email that he will oppose the request for the $50,000 bond. “We do not believe it is justified or warranted,” he said.

    Land Court Judge Diane Rubin could rule on the request for the bond soon or wait and hear arguments during a hearing scheduled for Nov. 8, Silverstein said.

    The Land Court has set aside the week of April 18, 2022 for a trial on the Cloverleaf suit.

    Cease-and-Desist Order

    Silverstein has also asked for an injunction, on behalf of the town, against Christine Maxwell, who has habitually used a driveway on the town’s Highland Road property as an access from Route 6 to her own property next door. She also has her own driveway.

    The town sent a cease-and-desist order to Maxwell during the summer, telling her to stop using the driveway on the town-owned property. She, and those visiting her, continued to use the driveway despite the town order, Silverstein said in his court filing. The town was forced “to erect concrete barriers to effectively block her access, at significant expense to the town,” the attorney wrote.

    Maxwell’s continued use of the driveway “constitutes an invasion of the town’s interest in the exclusive possession of its land, and of the town’s control over such land to ensure that it is used for affordable housing purposes,” wrote Silverstein.

    Historic use of the driveway could work in favor of Maxwell and the other plaintiffs in the suit because it might give her some claim to continued use and upset the layout of the development.

    In his email, Reid said he is still researching how long the driveway through the town property has been there.

    “It was certainly there for many years before the town acquired the property, and they knew about it before being deeded the property by the state,” Reid wrote. “It’s even shown on their own plan of the property.”

    HOUSING PLANS

    Truro and Wellfleet Will Fail to Meet Their Housing Goals

    Production of affordable units falls far short of stated targets

    By

    The two Outer Cape towns with the poorest records of creating affordable housing — Truro and Wellfleet — will both surely fail to meet upcoming deadlines in their existing housing production goals. Those goals, laid out in housing plans that are set to expire within the next two years, are based on state guidelines that are themselves clearly inadequate to meet the actual need for housing of local residents.

    Truro’s housing plan, issued in 2018, predicted that the town would produce 34 new affordable units by March 2023. In fact, as of December 2020, the number of those units in Truro had declined by two in the previous five years. The Cloverleaf project will potentially create 20 to 25 new affordable units, but it is mired in a court challenge, and there is no chance that construction could be completed in the next year and a half.

    Wellfleet’s 2017 housing plan called for the creation of 45 new affordable units by October 2022. As of last December, a total of four new units had been created. But the 95 Lawrence Road project, now in the planning stage, is expected to add as many as 46 new units within a few years, though certainly not by a year from now.

    Towns submit Chapter 40B housing production plans (HPPs) to the state to establish five-year goals for the creation of deed-restricted affordable housing. To be considered affordable by the state, housing must cost no more than 30 percent of a household’s income. Based on perceived need and total number of year-round units in a community, towns set production targets for households making below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) and another target for those making between 80 and 120 percent of the AMI — sometimes called “workforce” or “community” housing.

    The Mass. Dept. of Housing and Community Development takes special interest in towns’ subsidized housing inventory (SHI), the number of deed-restricted affordable rental and home ownership units for those making 80 percent or less of AMI. Towns that increase their stock of SHI by 0.5 percent in a year can, for one year, deny developers comprehensive permits for 40B applications they deem inconsistent with local needs.

    Chapter 40B is a provision of state law — sometimes called the “anti-snob zoning law” — that allows developers to bypass some local zoning regulations if a certain percentage of units in a development are reserved as affordable. Towns that implement one-percent increases over one year can deny such permits for two years.

    A community can deny 40B comprehensive permits in perpetuity if it has reached the state’s overall goal of having 10 percent of its year-round units qualifying as SHI. Though HPPs are not mandatory, Eastham, Wellfleet, and Truro all have them.

    Eastham met the production goals in its last plan, which expired this year. Provincetown has another five years to reach its 10-year goal.

    Though most of the data from the 2020 census have not yet been released, Eastham’s most recent HPP shows that subsidized housing options are badly needed. It reported that, while median rent in Eastham nearly doubled from 2010 to 2019, median wages in rental households fell by roughly 15 percent between 2014 and 2019. The median renter in Eastham could afford to pay $955 per month in rent. A standard market-rate rent for a two-bedroom unit, the report found, was $1,900.

    Truro Falls Further Behind

    A community needs analysis conducted in Truro in 2015 identified a deficit of 62 year-round units for workers and seniors and predicted that another 96 to 116 units would be needed between 2015 and 2030. At the time of the study’s release, Truro had 27 SHI units.

    Truro’s 2018 HPP reported to the state that 34 new SHI-eligible units would become available by the plan’s expiration in March 2023. In addition, the plan predicted that 11 non-SHI-eligible accessory dwelling units (ADUs) would be ready by 2023.

    As of December 2020, though, Truro had just 25 total SHI units, a decline of two since the 2015 analysis.

    If the Cloverleaf project creates between 20 and 25 additional SHI units, Town Planner Barbara Carboni said, Truro’s SHI number would rise to 5.87 percent from 2.3 percent, where it currently sits.

    Future affordable housing in Truro could be sited at Town Hall Hill if the DPW relocates to a new building. The 2018 HPP lists the Town Hall Hill project as a priority for 2020 to 2023.

    Wellfleet Crawls Ahead

    Wellfleet’s October 2017 community needs assessment found that there were 34 SHI-eligible units in town and did not mention the existence of any non-SHI units for those making between 80 and 120 percent of AMI. The 2017 housing production plan called for an additional 45 SHI and 40 non-SHI units by the plan’s expiration in October 2022. In December 2020, the town had a total of 38 SHI units, according to the state’s website.

    The 95 Lawrence Road project should produce an additional 46 units, though the three competing proposals divide them up at different levels of affordability. A proposal from one developer, the Community Builders, projects completion of the project by the end of 2025, three years after the HPP’s expiration.

    Wellfleet’s HPP also lists the hiring of a part-time housing coordinator among its priorities for the years 2018-2019. According to the plan, the coordinator would, among other things, help research funding sources and communicate with residents about opportunities for housing and financial support. No coordinator has been hired.

    Provincetown Welcomes 40B

    Provincetown is the only Outer Cape community without an official housing production plan. Michelle Jarusiewicz, the community housing specialist, said the town has “never seen a need” to submit an HPP to the state because the rewards for complying are of no benefit. “We welcome 40B applications,” she said.

    Instead, the town puts out its own plan for creating housing which, similar to a state HPP, sets time-bound goals for producing a specific number of affordable units based on community need.

    Provincetown’s most recent Housing Playbook, published in 2016, set a goal of creating between 190 and 240 new affordable units in 10 years. That goal matched the need calculated in the town’s 2013 analysis.

    In February 2014, Provincetown had 184 SHI-eligible units and 16 non-SHI units, according to its Housing Action Plan. As of December 2020, those numbers had increased to 206 SHI-eligible and 59 non-SHI-eligible, an overall increase of 81 units.

    The number of SHI units makes up 9.71 percent of all year-round housing in town, based on a 2020 estimate of 2,122 year-round units. The planned affordable housing development at the former VFW property on Jerome Smith Road will yield a number of deed-restricted units, though a developer has not yet been chosen.

    The 2016 Housing Playbook notes that future sites for such housing could include the former community center at 46 Bradford St., the second floor of Fire Station #2, and the Coastal Acres Campground, among others. (See related story on page A1.)

    Eastham Exceeds Goal

    A side-by-side comparison of Eastham’s 2021 HPP and its previous plan, which was drafted in 2016 and expired this year, shows that the town met its primary production goals but pushed off some administrative ones. The 2016 plan called for a minimum of 65 new SHI-eligible units (50 rental and 15 home ownership) to increase stock by an average of 0.5 percent per year, with a higher “moving target” number of 242 based on total community need.

    Eastham exceeded its 2016 base goal, adding 69 net units, according to the latest plan; 65 of those units are in the Village at Nauset Green on Brackett Road. Eastham now has a total of 119 SHI units.

    Two zoning changes listed as priorities in 2016 were not made and have been written into the 2021-2026 plan. The first is inclusionary zoning, which requires that housing developers set aside a percentage of units as affordable (16.67 percent in Provincetown), or pay a certain sum into an affordable housing fund. Over one-third of Massachusetts communities have adopted inclusionary zoning. The planning board is responsible for introducing new zoning bylaws at town meeting. The 2021 plan says this change will happen in one to two years.

    Also not completed under the previous plan was a change in Eastham’s Open Space Residential Subdivision Development bylaw. The bylaw “promotes a ‘smarter’ and more compact type of development pattern” by giving the town the option to require that units in a development be built in a cluster rather than a traditional grid system, leaving a portion of the plot permanently protected open space. Though the town has not used the bylaw to date, the 2016 and 2021 plans recommend that the Residential Zoning Task Force adopt density bonuses (increasing the total number of potential units in a given development) for including affordable housing.

    Eastham’s recently approved 2021 HPP outlines similar production goals to its previous one: a minimum of 65 SHI-eligible units and a “moving target” number of 263 units. If the previous five years are indicative of the next five, the town will likely struggle to hit the higher mark. At a Sept. 27 select board meeting, however, Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe said reaching the number looked “doable” in her “back-of-the-napkin” calculations.

    HOUSING

    Abutter Joins Lawsuit Against Cloverleaf

    Other plaintiffs live far away, with questionable standing

    By

    TRURO — Christine Maxwell says she should have been the first, not the last, to sign onto a lawsuit appealing the zoning board’s granting of a comprehensive permit for an affordable housing development known as the Cloverleaf at 22 Highland Road.

    But Maxwell, 58, of Glastonbury, Conn. and 24 Highland Road, said she didn’t know the 39-unit project had been approved or that a lawsuit to appeal that approval had been filed in Barnstable Superior Court on Feb. 25. She recently read about the Cloverleaf and the appeal in the Independent. “I found the lawyer and called him,” Maxwell said. The plaintiffs’ attorney, David Reid, has not returned calls from the Independent for comment.

    Maxwell is the only one of 16 plaintiffs who is a direct abutter to the Cloverleaf site. Her joining the suit is potentially important, because abutters have presumed standing in court, which gives them the right to file an appeal. Those not abutting must go through a lengthy and often unsuccessful process to prove they have a case.

    Even with standing, however, it’s difficult to win appeals overturning affordable housing permits. Neighbors often do it to delay a project in the hopes that funding sources run dry. This scenario is so common that the state recently passed an “abutter appeals reform” law aimed at preventing frivolous lawsuits by neighbors.

    Only one other plaintiff, Lauren Anderson of 30 Highland Road, lives on same road as the Cloverleaf, though she’s not an abutter. The others own property at least a mile away, on Knowles Heights Road, Windigo Lane, Twine Field Road, Great Hollow Road, and even as far away as Longnook Road.

    Maxwell said she believes that because the Cloverleaf is so large it will affect properties farther away. But, she added, she has never spoken to any of the other plaintiffs. She said a man came to her home twice when only her college-age daughter was home, but that seeing a stranger, her daughter did not answer the door.

    The Cloverleaf residents “are going to be right on top of me,” said Maxwell, whose home in North Truro is assessed by the town at $450,000. “I have the worst-case scenario of anyone in Truro.”

    Maxwell, the mother of five grown daughters, lives in Connecticut part of the year. She said she bought her Truro property in 2017, having no idea that town meeting voters had acquired the state-owned land the year before for the purpose of building affordable housing. She said she did eventually hear about the project but thought it was not a sure thing.

    Her concerns are loss of privacy, traffic, and road runoff. “I need big walls, so people cannot see me,” she said.

    After a year-long review of the project, the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals wrote a 21-page decision granting the comprehensive permit under a section of state law that allows the zoning board of appeals to give affordable housing developments waivers under certain conditions and when the tradeoffs are deemed beneficial to the town.

    That decision, however, still requires that the project meets health and safety codes, and those have been met in the Cloverleaf case. The development will have town water. Its stormwater management systems must meet state and local guidelines. The wastewater treatment system, approved after months of discussion and two independent reviews by engineers, will be able to reduce the nitrogen in the effluent down to 5 mg per liter, far less than a traditional Title 5 system, which typically reduces nitrogen levels to 26.25 mg per liter.

    This Week In Truro

    Meetings Ahead

    By

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online.

     Thursday, March 25

    • Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.

     Wednesday, March 31

    • Planning Board joint meeting with Highland Affordable Housing, 5 p.m.

     Thursday, April 1

    • Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.

    Conversation Starters

     Truro and Malone Will Mount Joint Defense

    The taxpayers of Truro will help pay for the legal defense of the Zoning Board of Appeals granting a comprehensive permit for the construction of a 39-unit affordable housing development known as the Cloverleaf at 22 Highland Road.

    Fifteen people have appealed the ZBA decision. Located on a Route 6 highway cloverleaf, the land was given to the town by the state for the purpose of constructing affordable housing.

    “The town has a lot of interest in this, and affordable housing is one its main goals and objectives,” Town Manager Darrin Tangeman told the Independent.

    Members of the board of appeals and the select board agreed it was worth helping developer Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource of Provincetown defend the case, added Tangeman.

    Malone and the town will each pay their attorneys to jointly defend the case, Malone said. The town will be represented by Jonathan Silverstein of KP Law, Tangeman said.

    “The zoning board of appeals issued a thoughtful and careful decision,” Tangeman said in a statement. “The town fully supports the zoning board of appeals’ decision and will be aggressively defending the decision.”

    David Reid, the attorney for the plaintiffs, did not return a call seeking comment.

    The case will be heard in Barnstable Superior Court. A new law, passed by the state legislature in January, may be helpful to the town. The so-called Abutter Appeals Reform act aims to combat meritless legal challenges that are brought by opponents of housing projects. Often, such lawsuits have no chance of succeeding, but they nonetheless lead to costly delays. —K.C. Myers

    THE DRAWING BOARD

    Petition Seeks Elected ZBA, Health Board

    Weinstein: it’s the ‘usual suspects’ who oppose affordable housing

    By

    TRURO — The signers of two petitioned articles that will be on the June 26 annual town meeting warrant want the zoning board of appeals and the board of health to be elected by the public rather than appointed by the select board.

    “For me, it is a matter of democracy,” said Joan Holt, who helped circulate the petitions. “I think we all realize how precious our votes are.”

    But many in Truro don’t agree, including the chairs of the select board and board of health.

    Tracey Rose, the health board chair, said no one has ever brought this up with the members of the board.

    “I can only presume it comes from a special interest,” Rose said. “If it was a more universal town-wide request, then absolutely. But I do believe this is a small group of people and that’s disturbing. It’s very suspicious to me.”

    The “special interest” Rose referred to is most likely opposition to the proposed Cloverleaf affordable housing development on Highland Road. The ZBA and board of health have both been instrumental in the town’s approval of the project, which has now been challenged in court. (See related article on page 5.)

    “It’s a terrible idea,” said Robert Weinstein, the select board chair, of the two town meeting petitions. “One need only look at our planning board, which is elected and which has continued to be an embarrassment to the community.”

    Weinstein said the planning board had done nothing to accomplish the development of affordable housing, which is one of the select board’s main goals. Creating housing that’s attainable for year-round residents in a town where the median-price house now sells for $1.2 million has been a priority for years, he said. And yet, the planning board has “done everything in their power to prevent the progress of diverse housing stock,” Weinstein said.

    Several planning board members have actively opposed the Cloverleaf development. No one on the planning board responded to calls for comment from the Independent.

    Holt argued that elected board members are accountable to the people instead of the five select board members who appoint them. This lessens “the concentration of power,” which she claims is increasing nationally, internationally, and “even locally.”

    But, practically speaking, Truro’s planning board members have rarely been elected in a competitive race, said Jay Coburn, a former Truro selectman and director of the nonprofit Community Development Partnership, which promotes and manages affordable housing on the Outer and Lower Cape.

    “It’s a complete fallacy that the planning board reflects the will of the people,” Coburn said.

    According to Town Clerk Susan Joseph, six members of the current board — Bruce Boleyn, Anne Greenbaum, Peter Herridge, Paul Kiernan, John Riemer, and Steve Sollog — all ran unopposed. Richard Roberts was appointed to fill Karen Tosh’s unexpired term. Coburn pointed out that, when filling an unexpired term, the planning and select boards collectively vote, and there are more planning board than select board members — so, in effect, the planning board can control the filling of vacancies.

    Weinstein said several of the petition signers are the “usual subjects” who oppose affordable housing efforts. Herridge, Kiernan, Riemer, Sollog, and Boleyn all signed the petitions.

    The authors of these articles got their idea from another petitioned article, which was first presented a year ago but got delayed and so will also appear on the warrant in June, Holt said. It asks voters to make the planning board appointed by the select board rather than elected.

    Weinstein supports that article, he said, because “you want the goals and objectives of the policy-making body to be carried out by the regulatory boards.”

    This upcoming town meeting is expected to be especially long, since there are 64 articles on the warrant, including nine new petitions and five petitions that were postponed from 2020 in an effort to shorten the town meeting during the pandemic. It begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 26 at the Truro Central School ball field.

    Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article gave the date of the annual town meeting as May 1. On Tuesday evening, the select board voted to move the date to June 26.

     

    CLOVERLEAF

    More Plaintiffs Sign On to Fight Truro Housing

    Opponents appear to seek delay with a lawsuit that’s unlikely to be won

    By

    TRURO — The attorney for property owners suing the developer of the 39-unit Cloverleaf project and the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals has added 13 plaintiffs to the suit filed last month in Barnstable Superior Court.

    Neither David Reid, the lawyer, nor any of the now 15 named plaintiffs would answer questions about their motives, but affordable housing advocates see the suit as a delaying tactic that could jeopardize state funding for the project.

    Attorney Reid, of Stone & Reid in South Yarmouth, is suing developer Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource of Provincetown and the five ZBA members who approved a comprehensive permit for the project on Jan. 14. Initially, there were just two plaintiffs: Lauren Anderson of 30 Highland Road and Helen Torelli, who lives in New Jersey and at 9 Twine Field Road.

    But on March 4, Reid added the names of 13 other people he says will be harmed by the development, bringing the total number to 15. None of the new people on the list are abutters, and most live more than a mile from the proposed site at 22 Highland Road.

    An aerial view from above the Cloverleaf housing site in North Truro looking south. (Photo Ryan Fitzgerald)

    Robert Weinstein, chair of the Truro Select Board, said it seems clear the objective of the lawsuit is not to win, because none of the plaintiffs has standing — that is, the statutory right to appeal a ZBA decision. In order to show standing, plaintiffs must prove they could be harmed by the development. According to Sharon Petrillo, a zoning law specialist at Greenbaum, Nagel, Fisher & Paliotti in Boston, that will be a high hurdle.

    “The harms cannot merely be alleged as something that may happen,” said Petrillo, but rather require a “valid and definite” experience of harm, or expert opinions supporting the claim of potential harm.

    The opponents know they cannot win, Weinstein said, but they want to run out the clock in hopes that state funding falls apart. “Delay, delay, delay” would be the best strategy to stop the development, planning board member Peter Herridge, a vocal opponent of the Cloverleaf, told the Independent last year.

    Reid has not returned multiple calls seeking comment.

    The delay tactic is common enough that the state legislature in January passed an economic development bond bill that includes a section titled “Abutter Appeals Reform” to address meritless legal challenges. The law gives judges the authority to require a party appealing a decision to post up to a $50,000 bond if the judge deems “that the harm to the defendant or to the public interest resulting from delays caused by the appeal outweighs the financial burden of the surety or cash bond on the plaintiffs.” The law further specifies that “the court is directed to consider the relative merits of the appeal and the relative financial means of the plaintiff and the defendant.”

    Taxpayers could be paying for part of this legal battle. The select board is now in the process of deciding how much the town will help the developer defend the project in court.

    As for the lawsuit’s potential to jeopardize the project’s funding, Malone said he has already missed the deadline to apply for low-income housing tax credits. The deadline was in January, but pre-approval was in November, and at that point the project still needed a permit from the ZBA, Malone said. This means the project will be pushed out a year in any case, even without the complication of the lawsuit.

    The first two plaintiffs in the suit are Lauren Anderson, who lives three houses away from the Cloverleaf at 30 Highland Road, and Helen Torelli, whose Truro property is nearly a mile away at 9 Twine Field Rd. Those now joining the suit are John, Brianna, and Mary Bobola of 7 Windago Lane, Rosemary Broton Boyle of 43 Knowles Heights Road, Abby Lynn Corea of 1 Toms Hill Path, George Dineen of 22 Great Hollow Road, Susan Grace of 28 Windago Lane, Barbara Golding of 17 Great Hollow Road, Samantha Hayman of 17C Great Hollow Road, Joanne Hollander of 13 Toms Hill Path, Donald Horton of 5 Longnook Road, Alice Longley of 39 Knowles Heights Road, and Eve Turchinetz of 22 Great Hollow Road.

    All of the plaintiffs either could not be reached or refused to comment.

    DELAYS

    Residents File Suit to Appeal Cloverleaf OK

    Legal move is expected to delay affordable housing for a year

    By

    TRURO — Two residents are appealing the town’s approval of the Cloverleaf, a 39-unit affordable housing development at 22 Highland Road.

    The legal challenge was filed in Barnstable Superior Court on Feb. 25, the last day such an appeal could be entered. It could delay the project for a year, according to attorneys and housing experts. Approved by the zoning board of appeals on Jan. 14, the Cloverleaf would be the largest affordable housing project in Truro’s history.

    The plaintiffs are Lauren Anderson of 30 Highland Road and Helen Torelli of 9 Twine Field Road. Neither of them has been prominent in the vocal opposition to the project. Their names don’t appear among the 77 signatures on recent letters from a group calling itself Concerned Members of the Pond Village Watershed Community.

    Jason Talerman of Mead, Talerman and Costa, the attorney for the Pond Village group, said the plaintiffs are not among his clients. The people Talerman represents in Pond Village, whom he declined to name, opted against legal action, he said, because they had gotten “half” of what they wanted from the ZBA when the developer, Community Housing Resource, came up with added protections built into the proposed wastewater system. With their “glass half full,” Talerman said, they decided to advocate for more monitoring of the wastewater system when it goes through permitting by the board of health.

    Torelli, an attorney who lives in Short Hills, N.J. as well as on Twine Field Road, and Anderson, who appears to live year-round in Truro, are represented by David Reid of South Yarmouth. Torelli refused to comment when reached by telephone, as did a man who answered the door at Anderson’s home. Both directed a reporter’s questions to attorney Reid, who did not respond to requests for comment.

    In the legal filing, Reid states that Torelli, whose Truro home is about one mile from 22 Highland Road, is “down-gradient” of the Cloverleaf. Anderson lives much closer, only three houses away from the development site, near the intersection of Highland Road and Route 6. Reid wrote that Anderson “may also be down-gradient of the development.”

    Like the Pond Village group, Reid’s clients claim that the wastewater treatment system won’t work and their private wells will be contaminated with nitrogen from effluent.

    Reid stated that the “innovative/alternative” wastewater system “is unproven” and the ZBA’s approval fails to protect groundwater and the health and safety of the residents. He also stated that the decision “fails to provide appropriate site design in relation to traffic and vehicle parking….”

    The issue of the wastewater system was reviewed repeatedly during the permit approval process, which lasted more than a year. Two different engineers attested that the system at the Cloverleaf will treat wastewater to a much higher standard than traditional Title 5 systems, which reduce nitrates in effluent to 26.25 milligrams per liter (mg/L).

    The final decision by the ZBA to grant the comprehensive permit states that the Cloverleaf wastewater system, a BioMicrobics BioBarrier treatment facility, is designed to reduce nitrogen to an average of 5 mg/L, that is, less than one-fifth the level for a Title 5 system. There are monitoring conditions imposed on the developer to ensure the system operates as designed.

    Anderson and Torelli have a difficult case to win. It’s not clear that either of the plaintiffs has “presumed standing,” meaning an automatic right to appeal a zoning board decision. Only a direct abutter or property owner within 300 feet of a development has a presumption of standing. Torelli definitely does not have it. Reid did not respond to email and phone messages asking about Anderson’s standing.

    To establish standing, the plaintiffs must provide a “plausible claim of a definite violation of private rights, private property interest, or legal interest,” and that cannot be diminution of property value, said Sharon M. Petrillo of Greenbaum, Nagel, Fisher & Paliotti, a Boston real estate and property lawyer.

    In other words, Petrillo said, it’s hard to successfully appeal a comprehensive permit under the state’s Chapter 40B, sometimes called the “anti-snob zoning law.” But the court challenge will delay the project for about one year, said Jay Coburn, executive director of the Community Development Partnership. And that is not good news for those who need an affordable place to rent on the Outer Cape. Just one year ago, when the 65-unit Village at Nauset Green opened in Eastham, 290 people applied for rental units.

    One of the most vocal opponents of Cloverleaf project over the past year was planning board member Peter Herridge, who warned that wastewater from the site would cause “blue baby syndrome” in neighborhood infants. After that argument was debunked by engineering and health authorities, Herridge said, “The thing to do now is to delay in every way possible, because there may be state and federal money available now, but there sure as hell will not be next year. My motto is never give up, never surrender.”

    Carl Brotman, a member of the Truro Housing Authority, said this is the third lawsuit against affordable housing efforts during his 10 years on the board. A legal challenge delayed Sally’s Way for years, and three Habitat for Humanity homes at 181 Route 6 are still unbuilt because of a lawsuit, he said.

    “It’s a very arduous process to bring housing to Truro,” he said.

    This Week In Truro

    Meetings Ahead

    By

    Meetings are held remotely. Go to truro-ma.gov, click on the meeting you want to watch, and open its agenda for instructions on how to watch or take part online.

    Thursday, Feb. 25

    • Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.

    Friday, Feb. 26

    • Community Preservation Committee, 4:45 p.m.

    Monday, March 1

    • Conservation Commission, 5 p.m.

    Tuesday, March 2

    • Board of Health, 4:30 p.m.

    Thursday, March 4

    • Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Feb. 22, Truro had 10 active cases of Covid-19, according to the town. The state has reported 38 total cases and no deaths related to the virus.

    Kristen Reed to Run Again

    Select board member Kristen Reed, who joined the board in 2018, is running for a second term, she told the Independent on Feb. 23.

    Both she and Jan Worthington, a select board member since 2006, are up for re-election. Worthington did not return a call by deadline seeking comment on whether she was going to try for a fifth term.

    Reed said she has more than the necessary 20 signatures for nomination.

    Reed has lived on the Outer Cape for 16 years, and is co-founder of Chequessett Chocolate, a craft chocolate business in Truro that has created over 22 jobs, she stated on her website, kristenmreed.com. She also works as a certified nursing assistant caring for seniors.

    The town election is May 11.

    No Appeal Filed Yet

    As of Tuesday, Feb. 23, the Concerned Members of the Pond Village Watershed Community had not filed an appeal of the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals approval of the Cloverleaf, a 39-unit affordable apartment development, according to Susan Joseph, the town clerk.

    Jason “Jay” Talerman, of Mead, Talerman and Costa, who was hired by some members of the Pond Village Watershed group, has until Friday to file an appeal, Joseph said. Talerman did not return a call from the Independent on Feb. 23.

    —K.C. Myers

    HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Is OK’d, but Foes May Appeal

    A bitter controversy will have lasting effects

    By

    TRURO — After more than a year of hearings, on Jan. 14, the Cloverleaf — which will give Truro 39 units of mostly affordable rental housing at 22 Highland Road — received unanimous approval from the zoning board of appeals.

    The decision caps a year of sometimes acrimonious disagreement, confusion, and misinformation spread among neighbors by advocates including Docs for Truro Safe Water (a group of advanced-degree holders who are not hydrogeologists).

    It’s unknown if a group of residents calling themselves the Pond Village Watershed Community will appeal the decision. Their attorney, Jason “Jay” Talerman of Mead, Talerman and Costa in Millis, said his clients “are pretty disappointed” but have not yet called for an appeal. They have 20 days from Jan. 14 to appeal the ZBA’s decision.

    The developer’s rendering of the Cloverleaf affordable housing project on Highland Road in North Truro.

    They had wanted a hydrogeologic study to see where wastewater leaving the Cloverleaf housing would go. And they wanted a back-up system to be in place in case the planned BioMicrobics BioBarrier wastewater system failed.

    Though the approval ended a year of suspense for developer Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource Inc., Malone remained on guard after the vote.

    “It has been a long process,” Malone said. “I appreciate the diligence of ZBA members, chairman, and town staff. And I am hopeful that the final comments of Pond Village community attorney Jay Talerman are an indication that there won’t be an appeal of the decision.”

    Art Hultin, the zoning board’s chair, struck a similarly wary tone.

    “We can only hope there is smooth sailing for the applicant,” Hultin said.

    The Pond Village group includes about 75 people, many with addresses on Bay View Drive, Pond Road, and Twine Field Road. If they do decide to appeal the ruling, they must first prove in court that they have “standing.” Owners of property within 300 feet of a proposed project have an automatic right to appeal; those beyond that distance must show that they face potential harm from the development, Talerman said.

    In this case, Talerman said, the ZBA members have acknowledged the already existing poor water quality in the Pond Village neighborhood, which he believes could give his clients standing.

    Wastewater is what opponents of the project say they are worried about. Some Pond Road properties have wells with low water quality, most likely created by the existence of malfunctioning septic systems and cesspools in the low-lying village. Its residents argue that the area is vulnerable. Some have proposed that the town provide the neighborhood with a municipal water system.

    An independent review of the Cloverleaf wastewater system by Horsley Witten Group engineer Mark Nelson found that the system planned for the development can remove nitrogen from the wastewater to a very low level — 5 milligrams per liter (5 mg/L). A traditional Title 5 septic system treats effluent to a concentration of 35 mg/L, according to Brian Baumgaertel, director of the Mass. Alternative Septic System Test Center in Mashpee.

    A series of conditions regarding monitoring the system are included in the ZBA’s approval. If the treated effluent should exceed 10 mg/L, Malone would have one week to notify the board of health, and then get the system fixed, said Darrell Shedd of the ZBA.

    To answer the neighbors’ call for stricter review of the water quality leaving the site, the developer agreed to install a third monitoring well.

    Given all the work on the wastewater system, Fred Todd of the ZBA said, “We’ve come a tremendous distance … I feel really confident it will perform and I feel very supportive of it.”

    All but six of the 39 Cloverleaf units will be rented to people at restricted income levels. Those income limits were left somewhat flexible in the ZBA’s approved comprehensive permit so that Malone can work with funding sources at the state level. There will be 20 units available to people earning up to 80 percent of area median income (AMI), and eight units for people earning up to 120 percent of AMI. Five were not assigned an income eligibility level pending funding requirements; six units will be rented at market rate.

    The Cloverleaf would be the largest affordable housing development in Truro. Its path so far has been rocky, and the surrounding controversies will have lasting effects. For one, Peter Herridge, a member of the planning board, was censured by the select board in November for deceitful and abusive language, including calling the project developer “a little scumbag.” Herridge agreed to stop talking about the Cloverleaf as a member of the planning board, but he defended his vulgar outbursts and lies on his desire to “preserve Truro from overdevelopment.”

    The select board voted Jan. 12 to place an article on the annual town meeting warrant to pursue an engineering study to investigate the cost of giving residents of Pond Road and Twine Field Road access to the public water supply that is shared by Provincetown and North Truro. The estimated cost of the study is $77,670.

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