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Truro ZBA

    LAND USE

    Truro Zoning Board Approves Ballston ‘Boathouse’ Move

    ZBA issues a single special permit with multiple conditions

    By

    TRURO — It took five months and a handful of major tweaks, but the zoning board of appeals voted Monday to allow Tom and Kathleen Dennis of Springfield to move the building they call the “Boathouse” from its original location at 133 South Pamet Road to a nearby property they recently purchased at 127 South Pamet. The approval came with a handful of conditions.

    Among them is that the Boathouse be moved by June 10; that it not be connected to utilities or given an occupancy permit until an existing studio at 127 South Pamet is removed; that the studio be gone by Oct. 15; that no short-term rentals of the property take place after this summer; and that the Dennises comply with all conservation commission requirements.

    The Dennises purchased 127 South Pamet on Dec. 17 for $2.34 million with the intention of using it as the new site of the Boathouse, which was already teetering on the bluff. Before they could secure the necessary permits, a January storm forced its emergency relocation to a spot straddling the rear of 133 and a neighbor’s property, where it has remained while the Dennises continued to seek permission for the move to 127. The entire area is inside the Cape Cod National Seashore.

    The biggest obstacle has been the town’s zoning bylaw, which prohibits more than one dwelling per lot. The 127 South Pamet property already has a house on it as well as a “habitable studio,” which was added in 2007 and is classified as an “accessory building,” not a dwelling.

    At a hearing in January, Ben Zehnder, the Dennises’ lawyer, suggested that the kitchen could be removed from the Boathouse to make it an accessory building rather than a dwelling. Lauren McKean, the National Seashore’s planner, objected that the property already had one accessory building; only one is allowed.

    Without taking action in January on either the variance or special permit applications, the ZBA continued the hearing on relocating the Boathouse for 90 days, at the request of the applicant.

    On Monday, Zehnder presented a proposal that had been tweaked yet again, this time suggesting that the existing studio be demolished or taken off the 127 South Pamet property, making the Boathouse, with its kitchen removed,  the sole accessory building.

    It would be a simple switch of one “habitable studio” for another, Zehnder said, and would eliminate the need for some of the previously requested zoning relief. Removing the studio would place the plan within the gross floor area allowed by right in the National Seashore district. The total floor area of the main dwelling and the Boathouse total 3,199 square feet. Up to 3,666 square feet is allowed in the Seashore district on a 3.3-acre lot, Zehnder said.

    All the Dennises needed for their new plan, the lawyer said, was a special permit for alterations on a pre-existing nonconforming lot.

    Clyde Watson, whose property abuts 127 South Pamet, expressed concerns about the proposal in a letter. Watson warned that the issuance of any special permits or variances would “establish an extraordinary precedent in the entire Seashore zone from Provincetown to Chatham.” She went on to cite potential damage to the dune and surrounding environment.

    “The new plan proposes a total of six significant environmental disturbances to this fragile area,” Watson wrote.

    Zoning board member Darrell Shedd and alternate Curtis Hartman were also concerned about the dune. “This is a lot of construction and deconstruction,” Shedd said. “I don’t understand why 127 can’t stay the way it is, and 133 moved to another location.”

    Zehnder reminded the board that the conservation commission had already approved “a very comprehensive plan to move the Boathouse” and would set requirements related to the removal of the studio as well.

    The purview of the zoning board, he said, was to determine whether the Dennises’ proposal would be more detrimental than what is currently on the 127 South Pamet property. He argued that the result would be less detrimental. The studio, which is at the highest elevation on the site, would be removed. Moving the Boathouse would preserve a historic structure.

    “If the board looks at the scale, massing, and viewshed, I don’t think the board would find it substantially detrimental,” Zehnder said. “You’re ending up with one of the most responsibly managed projects. It’s better than what’s there now.”

    One sticking point for the board was that the studio and Boathouse would both be on the site until the Dennises secured what they needed from the conservation commission to move or demolish the studio. The presence of both would boost the gross square footage beyond the allowable amount temporarily.

    Zehnder suggested a condition on the special permit: that the Boathouse can’t be connected to utilities or issued an occupancy permit until the studio is removed.

    Zehnder noted that the previous owner was given the right to rent the house and studio on the property this summer as part of the sale. As soon as the rental season ends, the studio would be removed, he said.

    Board chair Arthur Hultin urged approval of the permit. “This isn’t outside of what the zoning board can and should allow in special cases,” he said.

    The board granted the special permit, with Hartman casting the only opposing vote. Truro’s town planner and land use counsel Barbara Carboni will write up the formal list of conditions that will be attached.

    The Boathouse played a large role in the town’s history. Built in about 1885, the one-and-a-half-story building housed rescue boats for the former Pamet Life Saving Station. Around 1945, it was converted to a residence.

    The Dennises own three houses on Ballston Beach as well as six other houses in town. Among them is the former Kline house at 27 Stephens Way.

    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.

    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.

    AFFORDABLE HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Plan Gets 5 of 12 Zoning Waivers

    Proposed development is halfway toward final ZBA approval

    By

    TRURO — The so-called Cloverleaf development, an affordable housing complex on South Highland Road at Route 6, received about half the approvals it needs for full permitting last week, while objections to the plan from neighbors continued.

    On Oct. 22, the zoning board of appeals granted five of 12 main waivers that developer Ted Malone, of Community Housing Resource, must have before construction on the largest affordable housing development in town can begin. The ZBA tentatively approved a sixth waiver, pending a review by a water quality specialist with the Cape Cod Commission (CCC).

    The Cloverleaf project has been before the zoning board for a year. Malone is seeking a comprehensive permit under the state’s Chapter 40B to construct the 39-unit complex, which would be a mix of affordable and moderate-income-restricted rentals, along with seven market-rate units. The comprehensive permit process allows the developer to receive relief or waivers from zoning restrictions that would otherwise preclude affordable housing, as long as the benefits of the project outweigh possible detriments.

    The ZBA members favored granting all the waivers before them during the Oct. 22 meeting. But they referred the most significant and controversial waiver, which would exempt the development from the town’s septic regulations, to a water specialist at the CCC. The hydrologist will conduct a peer review on the proposed alternative for treating wastewater, a BioMicrobics system that has been used elsewhere but is still considered “innovative.” ZBA Chair Art Hultin said the review was limited to 20 days to prevent a lengthy delay in the permitting.

    The BioMicrobics system has already been reviewed and approved by an independent engineer, Mark Nelson of the Horsley Witten Group, who determined that it will treat the development’s wastewater safely and effectively. Nelson recommended that the board grant the waiver.

    Truro Health Agent Emily Beebe told the board, “[The Cloverleaf] proposal would treat the wastewater to a vastly higher degree than anyone else [in the neighborhood.]”

    Still, four of the five ZBA members — Hultin, John Dundas, John Thornley, and Fred Todd — asked for the extra review. Only Chris Lucy did not want to see it headed to the CCC.

    “I just don’t understand why we’re going to continue to review and review and then review the review,” Lucy said.

    Lucy further commented on a report by Beebe that the real culprit causing poor water quality in the nearby Pond Village area has to do with homes that already exist and the old septic systems on those properties.

    “It’s the constant building and rebuilding in the Pond Village area,” Lucy said, “and no one pays attention to the fact that their [own] sewage is poisoning themselves.”

    A group calling themselves the “Members of the Pond Village Community” objected to the project in a three-page letter to the ZBA that was signed by 114 people. One of their main points is that the developer is proposing an “untested, pilot” septic system and that the town is being used as a guinea pig.

    Laura English, who signed that letter, told the ZBA that the Barnstable County Dept. of Health “is only aware of three sites that have one of these systems … and nothing with the same volume as the Cloverleaf development.”

    Earlier in the meeting, the Horsley Witten Group consultant said the system has been tested on a similar property, the 50-unit affordable housing development in Westport called Noquochoke Village. Beebe told the Independent that it was “a very close comparison with the same residential wastewater characteristics.”

    The other waivers granted on Oct. 22 were to allow use of an alternative septic system, allow multifamily development on the nearly four-acre lot, allow the town to issue more than 50 single-family dwelling units in a single year, and to exceed height and floor area limits.

    The waivers that are still pending include relief from the site plan review process, parking requirements, and subdivision regulations, such as size limits for dead end roads, grading standards, and vegetation standards.

    CURRENTS

    This Week In Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to Truro-ma.gov and follow the “helpful link” to Truro Channel 18.

    Thursday, Oct. 22

    • Human Services Committee, 11 a.m.

      There was no waiting in Truro, as Town Clerk Susan Joseph welcomed Carol and Richard Pesiri on the first day of voting.
    • Commission on Disabilities, 3:30 p.m.
    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Monday, Oct. 26

    • Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.

    Wednesday, Oct. 28

    • Planning Board Work Session, 1 p.m.

    Covid-19 Update

    As of Oct. 17, Truro had one active case of Covid-19, 16 cases considered resolved, and no deaths.

    Cloverleaf at the ZBA

    Major decisions on the Cloverleaf Truro affordable housing project are expected to be reached at Thursday’s zoning board of appeals hearing.

    The 39-unit development proposed at 22 Highland Road in North Truro has been before the ZBA for nearly a year. The developer, Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource, has presented his plans and made alterations based on local concerns. Ultimately, Malone must get what is known as a comprehensive permit from the ZBA, which would allow him to construct the project outside of the usual bylaws that govern the size and appearance of Truro buildings.

    On Thursday, the ZBA members are expected to vote on whether to grant waivers to some of the zoning bylaws. Just how those votes go will decide the fate of the project, said Art Hultin, the ZBA chair.

    It is not legally required for the developer to state exactly how many waivers are needed from local bylaws, Hultin said. That information is likely to come out on Thursday, however, when the waivers begin to be decided, Hultin added.

    Among the waivers requested are relief from Truro’s height limit and septic requirements.

    If approved, construction would begin in 2022. Most of the units are reserved for low- and moderate-income renters, but seven units will be “market rate” rentals.

    Community Preservation Deadline

    The deadline for Truro Community Preservation Act fund applications is Monday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m. Community Preservation grants are made in the areas of community housing, historic preservation, open space, and noncommercial recreation.

    Applications and guidelines are available online at the town of Truro website on the Community Preservation page. Completed applications should be mailed or placed in the town hall drop box on or before the deadline. —K.C. Myers

    Register to Vote Now

    The last day to register to vote on Nov. 3 is Saturday, Oct 24. You can register online atsec.state.ma.us/OVR/. You can also verify that you’re properly registered at that site. You can also register at your town hall on Thursday and Friday this week. —Paul Benson

    CLOVERLEAF PROJECT

    Water Quality Issues? Check Your Septic, Says Beebe.

    Truro health agent points to inspections and testing

    By

    TRURO — Health and Conservation Agent Emily Beebe had a lot of things to say about water quality and the Cloverleaf affordable housing proposal, both in a letter to the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals and at the Oct. 8 continuation of the ZBA’s hearing on a comprehensive permit for the project. Many of her comments came down to one simple premise, however: if it’s well water you’re worried about, look at your own septic system — and your neighbors’.

    “[The Cloverleaf] proposal would treat the wastewater to a vastly higher degree than anyone else in your neighborhood,” Beebe told the ZBA. “Where you should be looking is not upstream at this site, but at what’s adjacent to you,” she added.

    “It’s good to know that folks already have some [well water] test results,” Beebe said. “What you’re looking at now is what’s happening because of your own septic system and your neighbor septic systems.”

    Water quality has come to dominate discussion of the Cloverleaf project, which would include 39 affordable apartments with 68 bedrooms. The Cloverleaf parcel is just shy of four acres. It is upstream of Pond Village, a neighborhood of homes clustered around the historic Pilgrim Pond.

    This blue box stationed at the Chapel on the Pond at 17 Pond Road was the distribution and collection center for water test kits in Pond Village. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    Water quality in Pond Village is not a new concern. “The Board of Health has long held concerns about the eutrophication of Pilgrim pond…, nutrient inputs to this area, and private wells in general,” Beebe wrote to the ZBA in a letter dated Oct 7. “It is important to distinguish between the concerns noted in the Pond Village letter and the proposed Cloverleaf proposal before the ZBA,” the letter continued [emphasis in original].

    Beebe’s reference to “the Pond Village letter” was about a public comment to the ZBA filed on Oct. 5, which included a cover letter signed by 77 residents who live near the Cloverleaf site and two appendices — one including new private well-water test results, and the other a 40-page report on nitrates in drinking water.

    The water test results may have been obtained through a private effort to distribute test kits based at the Chapel on the Pond in Pond Village. The Independent was unable to determine who had organized that effort.

    The 40-page report in nitrates was allegedly written by seven M.D.s and Ph.D.s in various specialties who have formed a group called Docs for Truro Safe Water. The report reviews new and recent studies on the connection between nitrates in drinking water and various cancers. It argues for a change in the regulatory standards for drinking water.

    Repeated attempts by the Independent to contact the Docs for Truro Safe Water for comment have been unsuccessful.

    The test results described in the Pond Village letter include 11 tests (out of a total of 27) in which the sample had more than 3 mg/L of nitrates, which is the board of health’s threshold of concern, said Beebe.

    “At 3 mg/L, we send out a letter to the property owner and let them know that that level is higher than you want,” said Beebe. “We then proceed with an education piece with the property owner” about mitigation, she added.

    To a great extent, mitigation is about finding and replacing failed septic systems.

    “These plans may include mandatory septic inspection and maintenance … reduction of fertilized areas, stormwater mitigation on public and private ways, and the requirement for private or clustered advanced wastewater treatment systems,” Beebe wrote.

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

    “There’s about five cesspools in the [Pond Village area],” said Beebe. “About 8 percent of the entire town is still on cesspools. We have a multitude of triggers to catch those and help them convert to Title 5 systems.” (Title 5 is the current standard for residential septic systems and has been in place since 1995.)

    In September, Truro hired the Cape Cod Commission to do a watershed study of the Pilgrim Pond area. In addition to systematic well-water testing, the study will look at septic systems, runoff patterns, and possible funding sources for mitigation.

    Funding would be welcome, because septic systems aren’t cheap. Brian Baumgaertel, director of the state’s Alternative Septic System Test Center, said a residential system runs between $12,000 and $50,000.

    Most systems are upgraded only when the property is sold. Older houses that haven’t changed hands recently are more likely to have antiquated systems. A review of the Truro assessor’s records shows that the Pond Village area has a good mix of houses that were built or sold recently and houses that haven’t sold in decades.

    The ZBA put off any votes on the Cloverleaf project until its next meeting, scheduled for Thursday, Oct 22. After an Oct. 8 hearing that was consumed almost entirely by public comments, board members indicated they might hold votes at the beginning of the next meeting instead of the end.

    AFFORDABLE HOUSING

    Planning Board Continues Its Campaign Against Cloverleaf

    As ZBA approval nears, opponents change tactics

    By

    TRURO — Health and Conservation Agent Emily Beebe told the zoning board of appeals last week that the proposed treatment system at the 39-unit Cloverleaf development would reduce nitrogen in wastewater to levels far below what most home septic systems achieve.

    A campaign against the Cloverleaf project waged by planning board member Peter Herridge and others had claimed that excess nitrogen from wastewater would contaminate nearby wells, especially in the Pond Village neighborhood to the west.

    The well water quality in North Truro’s Pond Village has been the subject of concern. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

    While the affordable housing plan has been edging closer to a final vote on a comprehensive permit from the ZBA, with signoffs from technical experts and other committees, the planning board continued to raise objections, with Chair Anne Greenbaum arguing falsely that its approval would go against a 2016 town meeting vote.

    Greenbaum said that town meeting voters had approved only 12 to 16 units of housing at the Cloverleaf. She referred to Article 20 from 2016, which authorized the town to accept state land for affordable housing. (See box.)

    “Things changed and the town issued a request for proposals for 30 to 40 units,” Greenbaum told the ZBA. “You are voting on something different than you voted on at town meeting.”

    While no one at last week’s meeting could recall the history of the project, Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer later told the Independent that Greenbaum’s statement was not true. Palmer noted that the comment accompanying the warrant article mentioned numbers of units; the actual article authorized only the transfer of the land.

    The change in number of units occurred after 2016, Palmer said, when the town received a $1.2 million state grant to extend a public water line to the site. Using town water instead of a private well meant the density of the development could be increased. The select board publicly reviewed and approved the density to be 40 units, Palmer said.

    Greenbaum declined to comment, writing by email, “The board speaks through its written comments and the testimony I was authorized to provide at the public hearing.”

    But Herridge has been outspoken in opposing Cloverleaf. “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,” he told the Independent last month. “My motto is never give up, never surrender.”

    At last week’s meeting, Beebe said the redesigned bio-microbics septic system at the Cloverleaf would reduce the concentration of nitrogen in wastewater to 10 milligrams per liter in the effluent and 9 milligrams per liter at the property line. This is “better than the standard residential Title 5 systems found in the neighborhood of this parcel, including the Pond Village area,” she wrote. “Standard systems typically generate wastewater with nitrate/nitrogen concentration of 35-80 milligrams per liter.”

    Much ado has been made about the Pond Village neighborhood’s water quality. Herridge has said the wells there have high concentrations of nitrogen and have the poorest quality water in town. Thus, he argued, homes there would be vulnerable to high concentrations of nitrogen from a development of 39 units on just four acres to the east, across Route 6.

    Beebe attested to the ability of the septic system to protect the surrounding wells. She also reviewed water quality data in Pond Village and found that 28 wells there had been tested over a 10-year period. The most recent results, she said, showed four wells, or 14 percent of the total, had nitrogen levels exceeding 5 milligrams per liter. (The state safe drinking water standard is 10 milligrams of nitrogen per liter.) Another four wells had nitrogen levels between 2 and 5 milligrams per liter. The rest of the wells recently tested showed less than 2 milligrams of nitrogen per liter.

    Beebe concluded that there are a number of wells with between 5 and 10 milligrams per liter of nitrogen, but “this does not appear to be widespread, or trending generally, as the results that we have show vast variation from one sampling/testing session to another.”

    Cloverleaf developer Ted Malone also received a positive review from the Truro Energy Committee, which had recommended that the Cloverleaf’s 11 buildings be set up for solar panels.

    Malone said his architect has made adjustments to the roof designs so that the buildings could be fitted with solar panels if the funding and rebates are there to make it happen.

    “So, we’re very much on the same page,” Malone said. “We started to meet with the energy committee 10 months ago.”

    Brian Boyle, chair of the energy committee, said, “We’re very encouraged.”

    The next ZBA meeting on the Cloverleaf is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

    From the 2016 Truro Town Meeting Warrant

    ARTICLE 20: ACQUISITION OF STATE PROPERTY

    To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to acquire from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts a parcel of land containing 4 acres, more or less, located near the intersection of Highland Road and Route 6 for affordable housing purposes, and for the purpose of conveyance and/or lease (which may be a 99-year lease), and further to authorize the Board of Selectmen to dispose of said property and grant easements therein for the purpose of developing affordable housing, said acquisition and disposition to be on such terms and conditions consistent with this authorization, and for such consideration, which may be nominal consideration, as the Board of Selectmen deems appropriate; or take any other action relative thereto. Requested by the Board of Selectmen

    Finance Committee Recommendation: 3-0-0 in favor. Board of Selectmen Recommendation: 5-0-0 in favor.

    Comment: This land, located north of Highland Road and east of Route 6 is currently owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The parcel is being made available to the Town under the Governor’s initiative to make State owned land available to communities for affordable housing. It is the goal of the Board of Selectmen to recruit a developer who will build between 12 and 16 units of community and affordable housing.

    AFFORDABLE HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Developer Addresses Wastewater and Accessibility Issues

    Opponents of Truro’s Cloverleaf dispute anti-affordable housing label

    By

    TRURO — As opposition to the design of the affordable housing project known as the Cloverleaf continued last week, the developer responded to wastewater concerns and objections by the disability commission at another hearing before the zoning board of appeals, which must decide whether to grant a comprehensive permit for the project.

    The Cloverleaf is a 39-unit development proposed by Ted Malone of Community Housing Resource Inc. of Provincetown, which has been building affordable housing for 24 years. If the Cloverleaf is approved, it would become the largest such development in Truro’s history.

    Developer Ted Malone. (Photo courtesy Community Housing Resource)

    It has been controversial mostly because of the waivers required for its wastewater treatment system and because of the scale of the 15-unit apartment building at the center of a cluster of 10 other smaller town houses on 3.9 acres at 22 Highland Road in North Truro.

    Though the ZBA has not yet voted on the project and its review will continue at a July 30 meeting, several issues were addressed on July 16, including the redesign of the septic system and handicap accessibility. There were also personal jabs at both the developer and the project’s opponents.

    The Horsley Witten Group did an independent review of a revised design of the wastewater treatment system and found it adequate.

    If it performs like a similar system in a development in Westport, it will reduce nitrogen to 5 milligrams per liter, which is half the state standard limit of 10 milligrams per liter for safe drinking water, said Mark Nelson of Horsley Witten.

    The system should reduce the amount of nitrogen in the effluent to no more than 9 milligrams per liter at the property boundary, said Nelson. The outflow will be monitored monthly for the first year, he said.

    The development itself will be served by town water, but the treatment system would protect neighboring private wells, said Nelson. Other filters included in the new design will catch more contaminants in the wastewater, he added.

    “So, I think it is a reasonable request to grant that waiver,” said Nelson, referring to the ZBA’s upcoming vote on a waiver of local board of health septic regulations.

    Susan Howe, chair of the Truro Commission on Disabilities, listed her concerns about the 39 units’ accessibility. She recommended that they meet universal design standards, which would require all the components of a home be accessible to the greatest number of people regardless of their physical abilities. Or, she added, the units should at least meet so-called “visitability” standards, meaning that they should be accessible for a visitor with physical disabilities.

    “A disability is not a special condition but will affect most of us for some part of our lives,” Howe said.

    The three basic features of visitability, she said, are no-step entrances, 32-inch-wide doorways, and a half bath on the first floor.

    The Cloverleaf’s architect, Jessica Snare, said all the units except four, which are on the second stories of townhouses, meet visitability standards. The townhouses have one-step entrances, which meets the design team’s interpretation of visitability, Malone said.

    The apartment building with 15 units has an elevator, and all those units exceed visitability standards, Malone added. Half baths were added to the first floors of townhouse units. Doors are 2.8 or 3 feet wide and the units have grab bars, Snare said.

    “We are reassured to hear those things,” Howe said.

    Malone also addressed some of the other objections listed in a letter signed by over 75 Truro residents.

    For one, he said, he cannot make unlimited profit from the development, as some have suggested. State subsidized projects such as this are highly regulated. The development fee is limited to 10 to 12 percent, and the return on equity is capped at 10 percent, Malone said.

    The residents’ letter also contends that congregate housing is dangerous in the time of the coronavirus, a criticism that Malone said confuses overcrowded housing with multifamily housing.

    “Overcrowding is more people living in a unit than allowed by code, such as what has happened at the Truro Motor Inn,” he said, referring to a motel inhabited year-round and recently ordered closed by the board of health. In subsidized affordable housing developments, on the other hand, occupancy is closely monitored.

    A number of people called in to list other grievances, among them opponents being attacked as “anti-affordable housing.”

    One of the callers, Regan McCarthy, former president of the Truro Part-Time Resident Taxpayers Association, said people are too intimidated to speak out.

    State Sen. Julian Cyr, a Truro native and resident, submitted a letter in support of the Cloverleaf. (Cyr has also written an op-ed column on the subject that appears on page A3 of this week’s Independent.)

    “It’s very intimidating to have a state senator basically write and say, ‘Think about this again,’ ” McCarthy said. “The community has a right to ask questions without being labeled bad actors.”

    Daniel Holt, son of resident Joan Holt, said the reaction by some members of the public to those questioning the Cloverleaf has been “incredibly hostile.”

    Kevin Grunwald, chair of the Truro Housing Authority, said that some of the objections to the project, such as those reported in last week’s Independent, display “classism.”

    To those who complain that they are being labeled anti-affordable housing, Grunwald said, “If the shoe fits, wear it.”

    HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Plan Adds Cedar Shingles, Wastewater Treatment

    ZBA continues its review of Truro’s largest affordable housing development

    By

    TRURO — The proposed affordable housing complex known as the “Cloverleaf” will have the cedar shingles and painted trim that have typified other housing developments by the Provincetown-based Community Housing Resource (CHR).

    Ted Malone, president of CHR, designed the Sally’s Way complex behind the Truro Public Library, as well as Stable Path, off Race Point Road in Provincetown. The design of Malone’s latest proposal was reviewed on June 25, when the zoning board of appeals reopened its public hearing on the permitting of the Cloverleaf, which will include 11 buildings on 3.9 acres of land acquired at no cost from the state at 22 Highland Road in North Truro.

    Due to the coronavirus, the ZBA had taken a long hiatus, but last Thursday the board was back in action, with town planner Jeffrey Ribeiro explaining his assessment of the Cloverleaf’s design and size.

    The plan now comprises 39 rental units, down from the original 40, due to reconfiguration of the entrance as required by the fire dept.

    Among the 11 buildings in the project, the largest, located at its center with 15 apartments, has generated the most questions, said Ribeiro.

    A rendering of the Cloverleaf affordable housing development shows 11 buildings with 39 apartments. (Image courtesy Community Housing Resource)

    He compared it to familiar local buildings: the front is about 29 feet tall, the same as Truro Vineyard’s main structure. The rear of the apartment building is about 39 feet tall, the height of the former town-owned Grace Gouveia Building on Provincetown’s Cemetery Road. The proposed building is 20 feet longer than the Grace Gouveia or the Vineyard building, Ribeiro said.

    Truro’s planner also conducted a “balloon test,” that is, he flew a balloon to the proposed height of the structures and took pictures from different viewpoints, including Route 6. The balloon did show above existing trees, but just barely.

    “You can see — the relative height is still within the tree line, so even if the tree line is thinned, it won’t be sticking out like a skyscraper on the horizon,” Ribeiro said.

    The statements of opponents during this virtual hearing were much less heated than in December, when Peter Herridge, a member of the planning board, warned that such dense development could cause water quality at nearby Pond Village to plummet in an area that already has the lowest water quality in Truro. A fact check of his statements, however, found some to be untrue. He said that nitrogen levels in some private wells in Pond Village are over 10 mg (the maximum allowed). Both Truro Health Agent Emily Beebe and board of health chair Tracey Rose told the Independent they were unaware of any tests over 5 mg.

    Nonetheless, the ZBA required the project to have a more rigorous septage treatment system, which was designed by engineer J.M. O’Reilly & Associates. The new design added a layer of treatment beyond a traditional Title 5 system, Ribeiro said. The Horsley Witten Group, which was hired to do an independent review of O’Reilly’s design, will present its findings at the next meeting, scheduled for July 9.

    Other objections came from Chuck Steinman, of Shore Road, who argued in a letter that the coronavirus is a “game changer” for congregate housing for seniors, and that a building with 15 individual units and common spaces may not be safe or marketable.

    To this, Andrea Aldana, director of housing advocacy for the Eastham-based Community Development Partnership, said his concern “is not founded in fact.”

    “Solid affordable housing stock reduces overcrowding and makes public safety less of an issue,” Aldana said. “Density is not linked to Covid-19.”

    The ZBA has two more meetings scheduled, the last on July 13, at which the board may approve the project. That would give the developer time to apply for state financing in August. If that happens, groundbreaking could begin as soon as June 2021, Malone said. But if permitting takes longer and funding must wait until 2021, it will be February 2022 when the first shovel hits the ground, Malone said.

    Ribeiro said Chapter 40B of the state’s zoning laws, which allows for waivers that make projects like this possible, is not just about affordable housing but civil rights: laws governing land use may effectively keep out people of certain income levels.

    “We always talk about inclusionary zoning, but there is exclusionary zoning that keeps people out of a community,” Ribeiro said.

    There are currently 687 employees working in Truro who earn an average weekly wage of $822, Ribeiro said. Without affordable housing, workers at that income level are prevented from living in Truro.

    CURRENTS

    This Week in Truro

    By

    Meetings Ahead

    Meetings are held remotely. To watch live, go to truro-ma.gov.

    Thursday, June 4

    • Select Board, 9 a.m.

    Tuesday, June 9

    • Select Board, 5 p.m.

    Wednesday, Jun 10

    • Planning Board, 10:30 a.m.

    Conversation Starters

    Covid-19 Update

    As of May 29, there were zero new cases and 10 resolved cases in Truro.

    ZBA Hearings May Resume

    After two months of delays of public hearings and most other substantial business, the Truro Zoning Board of Appeals may begin to hold hearings again in the next few weeks.

    Jeff Ribeiro, the town planner, told ZBA members on May 28 that there does not appear to be a foreseeable end to the limits on social gatherings. He said he would speak with Town Manager Rae Ann Palmer and possibly town counsel to determine if ZBA hearings can be done virtually, as already happens in many other towns.

    Since March, ZBA meetings have been limited to “procedural only” and the public has been asked to hold off on submitting any new applications for zoning relief.

    Virtual meetings are “certainly not ideal,” Ribeiro said at the May 18 meeting. “There are connectivity issues in Truro.”

    The hearing on the Cloverleaf, which would be the largest affordable housing development in Truro’s history with 40 units, has been put off due to the restrictions on public meetings. But Ribeiro now has it on the schedule for June 25 at 5:30 p.m.

    There are other cases before the ZBA as well, including an application to demolish and rebuild a pre-existing nonconforming cottage at 379 Shore Road, Ribeiro said. —K.C. Myers

    HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Developer Must Upgrade Septic Treatment Plan

    Revised plan has 39 affordable housing units

    By

    TRURO — An independent review of the Cloverleaf, the largest single affordable housing development in Truro’s history, found it needs a more powerful septic treatment system than was originally proposed.

    Community Housing Resource Inc. of Provincetown, developer of the Highland Road project, is now investigating the cost of installing such a system, after the review found the proposed system would not break down nitrogen enough to adequately protect nearby private wells.

    Ted Malone, president of the development company, told the zoning board of appeals on March 12 that he had been expecting this outcome. He said he would come back with a new plan on April 2.

    He also told the ZBA that he has had to reconfigure the entrance and exit to the development to make it easier for emergency vehicles to turn around. The new design caused the loss of one apartment, so now there will be 39 units instead of 40, Malone said.

    ZBA members agreed the septic treatment issue was the most important at this stage. The technology exists to provide a higher level of treatment; one such system has been used successfully at the Brackett Landing affordable housing in Eastham for over a decade, said Mark Nelson, a principal at the Horsley Witten Group of Sandwich, which conducted the review.

    “It buys an additional level of safety protecting the private wells,” Nelson told the ZBA.

    Nelson came to this conclusion after installing three monitoring wells in January to see where the groundwater flows from the proposed Cloverleaf site. He found that it moves south into Pilgrim Pond and the marsh in the Pond Village area, he said.

    The state Dept. of Environmental Protection has set a limit of 10 milligrams of nitrogen per liter for drinking water. Nelson found the nitrogen level would be above that outside the boundaries of the development using a traditional treatment system. Therefore, he said, private wells on neighboring properties could be affected.

    Town Planner Jeffrey Ribeiro as well as the town’s attorney, Barbara Carboni of KP Law, recommended that the ZBA condition approval of the project on an upgraded treatment plan, and the board agreed.

    “The people in that neighborhood need that kind of protection that high levels of septic treatment can provide to them,” said Chair Art Hultin. “There are issues with groundwater quality in that neighborhood and we don’t want to be adding to it.”

    The ZBA is reviewing the project under chapter 40B of the state’s General Laws, which provides for waivers for affordable housing construction. The ZBA can grant relief from certain zoning laws, though state sanitary codes and wetlands protections must be maintained.

    A few neighbors of the Cloverleaf project on Highland Road had questions for Nelson at the March 12 meeting. And Peter Herridge of the planning board, a resident of Overlook Drive, repeated his assertions that the Pond Village area has the worst water quality in Truro.

    Herridge said 22 private wells have been found to have nitrogen levels that the EPA would consider contaminated — and a few have levels much higher than that. He made similar claims in a “fact sheet” distributed in December and said that the Truro Board of Health had sent letters to residents warning them about their unsafe water.

    But when the Independent tried to verify these claims, Truro Health Agent Emily Beebe said, “I’m not aware of any tests over 10 milligrams in that neighborhood. There are some readings that are over 3, and a couple over 5. The average in Pond Village of all the samples we could find is less than 2.”

    Tracey Rose, chair of the board of health, told the Independent, “To the best of my knowledge, no letters have gone to Pond Village residents nor has anyone’s well tested at that high level.”

    Herridge also told the ZBA in December that the high concentrations of nitrogen could lead to “blue baby syndrome,” and that he did not want Truro to become the next Flint, Michigan.

    “I know people thought the blue baby [comment] was very funny,” Herridge said last week. “Yeah, very funny — until it’s your baby.”

    The zoning board will meet again on April 2, at 5:30.

    HOUSING

    Cloverleaf Foe Raises Fears of Blue Baby Syndrome

    Truro ZBA to weigh affordable housing benefits against health issues

    By

    TRURO — Several residents, including three members of the Truro Planning Board, objected to the so-called Cloverleaf affordable housing development during a zoning board of appeals hearing on Dec. 5.

    Developer Ted Malone has proposed building 40 units at 22 Highland Road in North Truro. To do so, he needs several waivers from local zoning laws. The development is denser and taller than allowed by Truro’s bylaws. Among other exceptions, Malone is seeking a waiver from Truro’s regulations for wastewater.

    This request caused the most controversy at the meeting, with one speaker, Peter Herridge, warning about blue baby syndrome.

    “I wouldn’t want North Truro to become another Flint, Michigan,” Herridge said.

    The Cloverleaf plan calls for 70 bedrooms on 3.9 acres of land. Truro Board of Health regulations require 10,000 square feet of land per 110 gallons per day, which in this case would mean 17.8 acres is needed to support the septage flow at the Cloverleaf.

    The developer has proposed including the undevelopable land surrounding the project as part of the total acreage. The Cloverleaf got its name from a one-time plan to build ramps to Route 6 there. The state dept. of transportation never built the ramps and gave the land to the town for affordable housing.

    If the ZBA includes the entire layout of the proposed Route 6 interchange, adding 15.6 acres to the 3.91-acre parcel, the undevelopable land would therefore contribute to the “aggregate nitrogen loading land area,” according to report written by town staff for the ZBA.

    “Similarly,” the staff report continued, “the abutting land of the Cape Cod National Seashore will not be developed and could also be considered as contributing to the aggregate nitrogen loading analysis.”

    ZBA members asked Malone to hire a consultant to analyze the wastewater, stormwater, and groundwater impacts. This review would provide an outside source on the effect of the development. The consultant would be asked to consider if an alternative sewage treatment system would be necessary on the property.

    But that didn’t satisfy the half dozen speakers who opposed the plan.

    Herridge introduced himself as a medical doctor, lawyer, and member of the planning board. Tonight, “I’m going to talk about medicine,” he began.

    Pond Village
    Well water samples were taken near Pond Village in 2010. (Photo Mike Potenza)

    He said the groundwater in the Highland Road area flows toward Pond Village and the Shearwater development, south of Pond Village. Herridge said that well testing in 2010 found that the worst nitrogen loading in town was at Pond Village and Shearwater. Out of 169 samples, 5.9 percent had 5 mg of nitrogen per liter or higher at Pond Village.

    The EPA standard set 40 years ago is 10 mg of nitrogen per liter. But the safety standard in Germany is 4.4 mg per liter, Herridge said. The reason for the safety standards, he added, was to prevent blue baby syndrome, which he then described graphically.

    “By Germany’s standard, people in these hot spots in Pond Village are already drinking toxic water,” Herridge said. He asked whether anyone had seen a baby who had died of blue baby syndrome. “I have, in the slums of the South Bronx when I was a medical student,” Herridge said. “I don’t think we want to see that in North Truro.”

    Two other planning board members, who said they were speaking as private citizens, also voiced concerns. One, Paul Kiernan, said the wastewater would produce an enormous amount of flow in North Truro. And Jack Riemer, of Fisher Road, cited a judge’s ruling in Reynolds v. the ZBA of Stow, Mass. The judge, at the end of his decision, stated, “Faced with evidence that one or more adjacent private wells will have elevated nitrogen levels,” it would be unreasonable to conclude that the need for affordable housing outweighs the health concerns of abutters.

    Riemer also said he worried about the chemicals being dumped down people’s toilets and the effect they would have on the groundwater.

    The other three speakers had similar concerns about water and property maintenance.

    Debra Best-Parker of Waterview Heights Road in North Truro asked why the developer was bringing forward a plan that needed so many waivers from building regulations. KP Law attorney Jessica Bardi explained that the state’s Chapter 40B statute promotes affordable housing by allowing greater density and waivers of local bylaws. In 40B cases, the ZBA must decide whether the need for affordable housing outweighs health and safety concerns, she said.

    The ZBA will continue to discuss the project on Dec. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at Truro Town Hall.

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