EASTHAM — After two years of study, surveys, and discussion, the committee charged with considering how three town-owned properties on or near Route 6 can best be used has made its initial recommendations.

The T-Time Development Committee is studying the 11-acre former T-Time Driving Range; the Town Center Plaza, whose acquisition by the town was approved in June; and the two-acre council on aging property on Nauset Road.

Responses to an earlier survey helped the group develop recommendations for the T-Time property. But just over half of the survey’s respondents (52.7 percent) were year-round residents, and 70 percent of those responding were over 55 years old. The committee hopes three public forums will generate more perspectives.

The first forum will be at 5 p.m. on Sept. 16 via Zoom. The second will be outdoors at the Salt Pond Visitor Center Amphitheater at 5 p.m. on Sept. 22 (rain date, Sept. 29). The third, another virtual meeting, is set for Oct. 6.

Last week, postcards were sent to residents age 40 and younger with directions for connecting to a another survey. Other methods, including focus groups, for reaching younger people are also in the works. Those interested in participating should write to the committee at [email protected].

So far, the group’s vision includes a community center anchored by the council on aging and recreation dept. It also includes housing, with an emphasis on senior and so-called workforce apartments, meaning housing for those who can’t afford market rents but earn too much to qualify for subsidies.

Also on the table are artist shacks, pop-up spaces for entrepreneurs, and open areas for gathering and recreation. A swimming pool made the list, too, but more information will be needed to assess its feasibility.

The list of uses deemed unacceptable for the T-Time property includes big box stores, medical and professional offices, industrial space, buildings of three or more stories, very high density use of a large percentage of the site, the sale of the property to a developer, or dedication of the entire site to any one specific purpose.

The committee set some guidelines for development. The buildings should “look and feel like Eastham,” and the property should support a mix of uses and maintain overall low density, with green space and public gathering space. Uses should support a multi-generational connection, and promote “environmental stewardship” in building design.

Some uses the committee felt were not appropriate for the T-Time site were shifted to the other two properties. Plans for Town Center Plaza must include space for the six existing businesses there.

Draft recommendations include medical office space, retail and restaurant space, and “top of shop” housing with retail below and senior and workforce housing above. That final suggested use “had come through very strongly in the survey and discussions,” said Barker.

The town will also be looking at ways to connect the T-Time and the plaza sites, which are separated by the properties where Willy’s Gym, Mac’s Market and Kitchen, Landmark Fence, and the Friendly Fisherman are located.

The committee’s draft recommendation for acceptable use of the council on aging property is focused solely on affordable, workforce, and senior housing, or other development compatible with the town’s updated housing production plan.

After the three forums, the committee will refine its recommendations for the properties. The plan is to submit them to the select board by Thanksgiving.

EASTHAM — The T-Time Committee has begun homing in on its recommendations for development of the town-owned 11-acre property at 4790 Route 6, agreeing at a July 20 meeting a new community center should be built there. The idea received unanimous support from the members present.

Committee members Andrea Aldana and W. Davis Hobbs were absent from the meeting. The committee has not taken a formal vote on its recommendations.

“I think we can take that as our first recommendation,” said committee chair Karen Strauss, “that we’re going to have a community center with the council on aging and rec. dept. shared space and some discrete spaces as well.”

Committee member Scott Kerry concurred.

“I always felt like we have a large population of elderly citizens that depend on those services,” said Kerry. “They pay an exorbitant amount of our overall tax base, and if we’re going to have young kids in this town, we need to have recreation to supplement education.” He called a community center the “hallmark of the project.”

The committee also agreed to take a closer look at whether to include a swimming pool in its recreation recommendations.

“It’s a hot spot,” said committee member Steve Garran of the pool idea. “A lot of people really, really want it, and they have really good reasons, and then there’s a lot of people that really, really don’t want it.”

Committee member Jacqueline O’Rourke advocated for a pool, citing a need for year-round facilities for swimming lessons and fitness programs.

“When I look at a pool,” said O’Rourke, “I think that’s space that can get used all day by all different groups of people.”

The discussion followed the outline of a worksheet given to members, with section one about a community center and recreation, section two addressing housing, and business and economic preferences addressed in section three. The three sections of the worksheet corresponded to the three categories included in a survey on T-Time uses conducted earlier this year.

A fourth section asked members what guidance or requirements were critical to any development on the site.

“I’ve already had a few people messaging me, concerned that T-Time is only going to be a community center and pool,” select board member Jared Collins noted via Zoom. He suggested that, for the public’s benefit, the committee explain how information was being presented. While the meeting, held at town hall, was open to the public, the only audience members tuned in via Zoom.

“We’re not just looking at a community center and a pool,” said Strauss. “We’re going to be talking about housing and economic business services, we’re going to be talking about every single thing we reached out and asked in our survey and looking at all the information we collected to date across all the categories.”

The survey drew the most responses, 2,227, to its “Community Center/Recreation” section, which was listed first, with 1,834 people responding to survey’s second section, “Housing,” and 1,814 responding to the third section, “Business/Economic Uses.”

The survey results are available online at easthamttime.org.

Town Administrator Jacqui Beebe noted the committee had more sites to consider in their deliberations than just the T-Time property.

“You have a lot of elements from the survey,” said Beebe, “and now you have more spots to put those elements on, because now we have Town Center and, if you move the COA to T-Time, you have Nauset Road [the COA’s current site].”

The purchase and sale agreement for Town Center Plaza on Route 6 has been signed, inspections are scheduled in August, and the closing on the property is expected at the end of September. The $3.1 million purchase of the plaza was approved at the June 12 town meeting (the $2.8 million purchase price, plus $280,000 to cover incidental costs) after the owners offered the town the 3.5-acre parcel, which includes a five-unit, 10,381-square-foot strip mall, a 1,511-square-foot retail building, and a 672-square-foot office building.

“We have to move forward with some speed,” said Beebe. “It’s no longer, ‘If it takes 10 years to develop T-Time, it’s good.’ There’s also some big funding opportunities we are aware of, so we need to be ready to get those.”

Beebe gave the committee a deadline of Thanksgiving to have its recommendations ready for the select board.

Member Steve Garran told the Independent on July 27 that the committee would be doing more public outreach and would be looking for opportunities to get input from people 35 and under, the most underrepresented demographic in the survey.

EASTHAM — People in Eastham are enthusiastic about using the town-owned 11-acre T-Time property at 4790 Route 6 for recreation or a community center. According to the results of a recent survey, they want a space to gather outdoors.

The “Community Center/Recreation” category came first on the three-section survey of residents’ opinions about potential uses of the property. The survey was designed by town staff, the T-Time Development Committee, and consultants Rose, Sandberg & Associates, who specialize in public relations. That section drew the most responses, with 2,227 people weighing in on the subject.

“Housing,” the survey’s second section, got responses from 1,834 people; and the “Business/Economic Uses” portion, which came last, drew the fewest comments, 1,814.

The survey was not designed to rank the three categories against each other, or to gauge public opinion on specific mixed uses that combined two of the categories — or all three.

This survey is considered the starting point for gathering public input and is part of phase one of the town’s work to research potential uses for the property. Recommendations for the parcel are expected to be presented to the select board in 2022.

Just over half of the survey’s 2,252 total respondents were year-round residents (52.7 percent). Part-time residents (32 percent) and Eastham business owners (8 percent), as well as others who were renters or had other ties to the town, made up the rest.

Almost half of the respondents were home owners (47 percent), and many were retirees (42 percent). Seventy percent of those participating were over 55 years old.

Eastham’s economic development planner, Lauren Barker, said that there were not major differences in responses based on residency, age, or work status, except on the subject of housing.

“For retirees, housing was not rated as important as it was for working people who responded to the survey,” said Barker. “That was really the only thing that jumped out.”

‘An Outdoor Gathering Space’

Among a list of possible amenities for a community center/recreation use, an “outdoor gathering space” came in first among 14 choices that included a “community TV facility,” which was at the bottom of the list, a “large multipurpose space,” and a “community garden space,” which were in the number two and three spots in this part of the survey.

Mid-ranked amenities included an indoor pool and a full-size indoor basketball court, which, T-Time committee member Steve Garran noted, may have been affected by an assumption by respondents that facilities at the renovated Nauset Regional High School would be available for use by the public.

“I know that a lot of people mentioned, ‘Oh, you can go to the high school and do that,’ ” said Garran. “Well, you can’t go to the high school in the middle of the day and use the basketball court.” Committee member Jacquelin O’Rourke noted there may have been a similar assumption that other indoor pools were available in town.

“When we talk about accessibility, it’s not just that the pool exists, it’s who can actually get to it and use it as a resident,” said O’Rourke.

“And who can afford it,” added Town Administrator Jackie Beebe.

‘Mixed-Use Housing’

Among the 1,834 responses to the housing section of the survey, just 39 percent rated housing as “important at T-Time” with 43 percent rating it as “not important at T-Time.”

“I was stunned by that,” said committee member Scott Kerry after getting the results at the June 15 T-Time committee meeting.

Leslie Sandberg, the consultant who does communications work for the town, said her interpretation of that result was that survey respondents may want housing — just not at the T-Time location.

“They said all the taxpayers paid for it,” Sandberg said, referring to the property. “So let all the taxpayers use it.”

“There were several comments — quite a few actually — about how people don’t want what Nauset Green looks like,” noted Barker.

The majority of those commenting on housing uses, 62 percent, said “mixed use” development would be important. Respondents rated workforce housing as the “most preferred” housing type (57 percent) with senior housing (53 percent) and starter homes for families (48 percent) coming in second and third, according to the June 15 presentation.

Committee member Andrea Aldana said that, while it was typical for communities to prefer “workforce housing,” also known as “community housing,” the data from applications submitted for the Village at Nauset Green demonstrated a significant need for housing for people with income levels below what would be required for “community housing.”

“This is one of those areas where we’re really going to have to look at people’s preferences against the strategic plan and what the town actually needs,” said Aldana.

‘A Farmer’s Market’

A farmer’s market was at the top of the list for those who commented on “Business/Economic Uses” for the site. But there is a permanent deed restriction on the property prohibiting take-out food establishments or markets of any type. According to the FAQs on the T-Time website, “The town would need to negotiate with Stop & Shop to get this deed restriction lifted.”

“I think we absolutely can do a farmer’s market, we just need to find a better location,” said Beebe.

This part of the survey generated a “business wish list,” according to the presentation: a coffee shop, pharmacy, health-care offices, nicer restaurants, a book shop, and a brewery are on it.

Listed under “not desired” were storage, visitor-oriented businesses, casual dining, “big box” retail, and nonlocal businesses.

The committee has plans for further public input. “If you missed your opportunity,” Barker said, “there will be plenty more opportunities.”

A slide show summarizing the survey results is available on the T-Time website at easthamttime.org. Click on the news tab and follow the link from there.