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Wellfleet Conservation Commission

    SEAWALL SAGA

    House on Cliff Listed for Sale as Lawsuit Fails

    Trustees of the former Blasch house lose appeal on building seawall at ‘the Gut’

    By

    WELLFLEET — The house teetering on a coastal bank at 1440 Chequessett Neck Road is for sale again, less than two years after it was purchased by New York attorney John G. Bonomi Jr. The listing came less than two weeks after a judge upheld the Wellfleet Conservation Commission’s ruling that the owner of the house could not build a rock revetment to protect the house from erosion.

    The former Blasch house is on the market for $4.5 million. (Photo by Elias Duncan)

    The 5,153-square-foot house overlooks Cape Cod Bay just north of the narrow strip of sand known as “the Gut.” It has been the subject of controversy since it was built by Mark and Barbara Blasch in 2010. The coastal bank has been eroding by 6 to 7 feet per year, according to a 2020 estimate. The foundation of the house is now within a few feet of the edge.

    In December 2018, the Blasches requested permission from the Wellfleet Conservation Commission to build a 241-foot rock revetment to protect it from erosion and were turned down. They appealed, and in February 2021 their plan was rejected again. The 2021 decision cited both the feasibility of other solutions, such as demolishing and rebuilding the house further back from the bank, and the possible damage that a revetment might create to the natural flow of water and sand.

    In February 2019, following the first denial, attorney James Hoeland filed suit against the conservation commission as a trustee of the Blasches’ family trust. This suit was filed in Barnstable County Superior Court. When the Blasches sold the house in December 2021 for $5.5 million, the new owner, Bonomi, opted to continue the suit.

    On Oct. 2 of this year, Judge Michael K. Callan affirmed the conservation commission’s decision that a revetment would violate wetlands protection laws. Hoeland appealed Callan’s ruling  on Oct. 16 on behalf of the family’s trust.

    The house was listed for $4.5 million on Oct. 11, a million dollars less than Bonomi purchased it for. The listing agent is Michael Degnan, cofounder of Realty Executives of Cape Cod, based in Hyannis. It is unclear whether the ruling played any role in the listing. Neither Degnan nor Bonomi were available to comment on the record.

    John Cumbler, a former professor of environmental history at the University of Louisville and a member of the seven-person Wellfleet Conservation Commission, said that building a house in that location “guaranteed a problem” because of the geography of the area. According to Cumbler, the Gut is what is known as a nodal point. High velocity water hits the area and splits, flowing both north and south and carrying sand with it. This flow pattern means sand is being pulled away from the Gut without being replaced. It’s inevitable, he said, that the coastal bank there would be eroded.

    According to a 2020 estimate, the coastal bank under the house is eroding at 6 to 7 feet per year. (Photo by Elias Duncan)

    According to Cumbler, one of the problems with building a revetment is that it would disrupt the natural sedimentation process. This could result in unnatural sand buildups or deficits.

    “If you build a seawall there, that’s going to change everything in ways we have no way of predicting,” he said.

    What would likely happen, he said, is that the high velocity water would simply erode portions of the bank on either side of the seawall. Before long, it would become “like a fork in the middle, with water all around it,” before slowly turning into an island. This would be, Cumbler said, “a bizarre situation for the house.”

    The conservation commission has approved other measures to prevent the Chequessett Neck Road house from falling into the bay. In December 2020, the commission approved the Blasches’ request for emergency certification to pile biodegradable sandbags at the base of the bank. Cumbler said that this plan, despite requiring repairs at one point since its implementation, “turned out to be far more successful than I thought it would be.”

    From 2013 to 2021, the Blasches dumped large piles of sand annually in front of their property. This “sacrificial sand” was meant to be washed away by waves, theoretically preventing the erosion of the bank. From 2013 to 2019, 5,000 cubic yards of sand were dumped at the property, all of which was washed into the sea.

    The Independent reported that some oyster farmers have claimed their grants were buried by sacrificial sand of the kind that has been dumped at the former Blasch house.

    Despite the grim outlook for the house, Cumbler emphasized that there are other short-term solutions to the erosion issue besides building a revetment. The lot is large enough, he said, that the owner could move the house back on the property, although it may have to be reduced in size. “That would give them significantly more time on the property,” he said. He also suggested “aggressive” planting of beach grass on the bank; its roots can help hold sand in place and prevent erosion.

    Ultimately, Cumbler said, “Whoever owns that house has to understand that nature is going to take its course.”

    ENVIRONMENT

    Giant Seawall Plan Is Turned Down Again

    Commission stands firm in face of Blasch lawsuit

    By

    WELLFLEET — The conservation commission has again denied permission for the construction of a 241-foot rock revetment in front of the Blasch house on Chequessett Neck Road.

    The 5,817-square-foot house, built in 2010, is now 12 to 14 feet from the edge of an eroding coastal bank just north of “the Gut,” the narrow strip of sand and marsh separating Wellfleet Harbor from Cape Cod Bay. The latest action came on Feb. 17 at a court-ordered remand hearing.

    As reported by the Independent on Dec. 24, in the last two years the coastal bank has lost six to seven feet per year and the house is at grave risk of collapsing. Its owners appealed the commission’s December 2018 rejection of the seawall plan in Barnstable Superior Court, where it remained in litigation until last week.

    mapThe Feb. 17 vote was 5-0. The commission cited three reasons for the denial: first, that the owners did not effectively explore alternatives to the seawall; second, that the commission “did not have the chance to thoroughly look at the evidence around the consequences” of constructing the seawall; and third, that feasible alternative solutions do exist, including demolishing the house and rebuilding farther from the edge of the bank.

    The seawall proposal has been vigorously opposed by officials of the Cape Cod National Seashore, in which the house is located.

    In comments delivered at the hearing, Seashore Supt. Brian Carlstrom again urged the commission to deny the permit and called the design of the house itself “flawed and deficient.”

    “We believe the applicant’s need for a solution to the natural coastal bank erosion is directly attributable to the architectural engineering of the house piling foundation, which design is uniquely high-risk and apparently inadvisable in this type of vulnerable coastal bank location,” Carlstrom said. “We continue to believe that solutions such as the routine replacement of the coir envelopes or retreat to a new house location should be considered, as is widely practiced on Cape Cod, particularly given this is such an important and prominent location within the national park area.”

    Commissioner John Portnoy, who was traveling and unable to attend the hearing, submitted a written comment.

    “I think it’s highly relevant that the proposed hard coastal structure would be the only impediment to natural coastal processes from Jeremy Point to Pamet Harbor — a distance of eight miles,” Portnoy wrote. “Undisturbed shorelines of this extent, second only to the 40-mile backshore of the Cape, are extremely rare throughout the nation and even the world. Further, the Gut, Griffin Island, and Great Island are within a national park, lands held in trust by the U.S. government for the enjoyment of all citizens. The proposed hard structure will permanently compromise public values and public access associated with National Seashore resources appreciated by thousands of people every year.”

    On Dec. 2, the urgency of the erosion prompted the owners to request emergency certification from the commission for a “soft solution,” involving installation of three biodegradable coir (coconut fiber) cylindrical envelopes filled with sand — essentially, giant sandbags.

    On Feb. 17, before the remand hearing, the commission approved an order of conditions for the “soft solution,” including regular monitoring of the envelopes. Despite losing some sand in an early February nor’easter, the sand-filled envelopes, which typically last from two and a half to three years, are doing their job and “continue to be in good shape,” according to Seth Wilkinson, who installed them.

    In the original application submitted by the trust that owns the Blasch house in September 2018, the alternatives analysis did not include the sand-filled envelopes, noted Commissioner Michael Fisher. Therefore, the application was incomplete, and the sand-filled envelopes should be considered a feasible alternative, he said.

    Moving the house is the only logical solution to the problem, said Commissioner John Cumbler.

    Commissioner Barbara Brennessel agreed.

    “Long-term, this house should probably be moved,” she said, “if the owners want to enjoy the property.” But in the short term, said Brennessel, the current alternative structure in place — the sand-filled envelopes — should continue to be monitored.

    Commission Chair Deborah Freeman agreed that “it is functioning and protecting the bank.” Freeman said, “This indicates that there is another solution — or at least one that has to be looked at and tried.”

    The virtual hearing was attended by nearly 30 people, many of whom were adamantly opposed to the seawall.

    Referring to the findings of technical reports prepared for the National Park Service, Carlstrom said, “We have previously raised eight points of concern, which remain unaddressed by this proposal.” Among those concerns, he said, was the applicant’s failure to address “end scour and other impacts on the Gut and Great Island.”

    “End scour” refers to the removal of underwater material by waves and currents, especially at the base or toe of a shore structure, according to the Mass. Barrier Beach Task Force.

    According to the findings of the commission in 2018, installing the seawall “is likely to lead to significant erosion on abutting properties — the land to the south is a sand dune which protects Wellfleet harbor,” said conservation agent Hillary Greenberg-Lemos. The evidence provided by the Park Service — in the form of technical reports — supports those findings, she said.

    The decision to deny the notice of intent for a seawall will be drafted, reviewed at the next conservation commission meeting on March 3, and then filed, said Town Counsel Amy Kwessel.

    TIPPING POINT

    Cliffhanger at the Blasch House

    Conservation Commission OKs sandbagging to prevent imminent slide

    By

    The Wellfleet Conservation Commission approved the use of biodegradable sandbags made from woven coconut fiber to shore up the coastal bank on which the Blasch house was built. (Photo courtesy Susan Spear)

    WELLFLEET — The long-running drama of the Blasch house continues, as the structure is now just 12 to 14 feet from the edge of the coastal bank high above Cape Cod Bay. Its owners received emergency certification on Dec. 2 to use sandbags to slow erosion of the bank while they wait for the Barnstable Superior Court — or Mother Nature — to act.

    Mark and Barbara Blasch have been trying for over a year to get permission to erect a 240-foot stone seawall to keep their 5,817-square-foot, $4.5 million house at 1440 Chequessett Neck Road from falling over the edge. On Dec. 5, 2019, the Wellfleet Conservation Commission denied their application to build the seawall. The couple is appealing that decision in Barnstable Superior Court. The house, on a thin strip of land, known as “the Gut,” between the bay and the Herring River, was built only 10 years ago.

    Nathan Jones, project engineer at Coastal Engineering Company, told the commission on Dec. 2 that the cliff has lost about six to seven feet a year over the last two years, so the deck of the Blasch house is now within a foot of the escarpment. The deck, which includes a hot tub, is just one storm away from hanging over the cliff, he said.

    That is why the Blasches, through their attorney, Ben Zehnder, asked the commission for emergency certification to add three “cylindrical biodegradable envelopes” made from woven coconut fiber to the base of the coastal bank. The envelopes would be three feet high and four feet wide, and stacked on top of each other, said Seth Wilkinson, owner of Wilkinson Ecological Design in Orleans.

    The commission voted 6-0-1, with Barbara Brennessel abstaining, to grant permission for the sand envelopes. But they denied the use of wood timbers as support. In addition, the Blasches have been granted permission to add “sacrificial sand” regularly to the cliff. Last year they dumped 6,000 cubic yards of sand there, said Jones. It’s all gone.

    Commission members noted several inconsistencies in Zehnder’s argument for the emergency erosion measure. John Cumbler said the erosion issue was well known when the house was constructed in 2010, so the use of special support beams, called helical pilings, which are especially threatened by shifting sand, was not a good design choice.

    Commissioner John Portnoy said the old septic system from the Blasch property fell onto the beach years ago and was left there, so the owners’ current assertion that they want to prevent debris was not credible.

    “You folks have a poor record of cleaning up hazards on the beach,” Portnoy told Zehnder.

    But the commissioners felt they had to grant the emergency certification because of health and safety concerns. The Blasches’ engineer, John Harrison of Harrison-Hamnett in New Jersey, provided a dramatic description of how unsafe it would be for beachgoers.

    “Once you lose a couple piles, the additional piles won’t take the load,” Harrison said. “There is a good probability it will slide down the beach and rip away from a portion of the house.”

    Commission Chair Deborah Freeman said, “I don’t feel comfortable with a concrete slab hanging over the beach. I don’t want to be responsible for someone getting hurt.”

    Meanwhile, the Blasches’ lawsuit seeking to overturn the commission’s decision on the stone seawall is still pending. In its written denial, the commission warned that the wall could alter the movement of sand along the coast and cited potential harm to wildlife, shellfish habitats, and abutting properties: “Any interruption of the natural flow of sand (even with replenishment) and any increased rate of erosion and sand loss threatens the sand spit and ultimately Wellfleet Harbor’s protective barrier.”

    That lawsuit is now before Barnstable Superior Court and the Mass. Appeals Court. Since the original filing, Superior Court Judge Thomas Perrino has remanded it back to the conservation commission, which has taken its case to the Mass. Appeals Court regarding Perrino’s interpretation of a local bylaw, according to Amy Kwesell of KP Law, the town’s attorney. The Blasches have filed motions in Superior Court to block the appeal.

    CIVICS

    Conservation Work Lags With Volunteer Shortage

    Travel, conflicts, and controversy combine to make recruiting difficult

    By

    WELLFLEET — The conservation commission has struggled in recent months to do its work with fewer than a full complement of seven members. According to interviews with several current commissioners, with some being out of town for extended periods and some members having to recuse themselves because of potential conflicts it has been difficult to assemble a quorum. The commission needs four people in order to meet. And decisions require a majority of four.

    Commissioners Barbara Brennessel and John Portnoy have both taken long out-of-town trips this winter. Commissioner Michael Fisher and former Commissioner Lauren McKean have had to recuse themselves from some cases, Fisher because he is on the board of the Wellfleet Conservation Trust and McKean because she works for the Cape Cod National Seashore; both organizations control properties that have been subjects of commission action.

    “If someone has to recuse because of a conflict, we can’t move projects forward or deny them,” said Brennessel. “That has happened on a number of occasions.”

    The conservation commission’s inability to maintain a full roster has a variety of causes.

    McKean’s conflicts were so extensive that she ultimately had to resign from the group, according to her colleague John Cumbler. Trudy Vermehren, who served on the commission while running her own landscaping business, stepped down in June 2018 after opening a cafe in town, the Fox and Crow. The work load of being on the commission while running a restaurant was just too much, she said.

    This winter, with the cafe business at a slower pace, Vermehren agreed to accept a two-month appointment to the commission to help it plow through a backlog of cases.

    She named another reason why recruiting new members is hard.

    “It’s a controversial board to be on,” Vermehren said. “You get a lot of pushback from people. Not everybody understands the reason the conservation commission is even there. It’s a difficult position to be in when you have to argue for the environment versus the market value of a home. As Americans, we have property rights. If you own property, people think you can do whatever you want with it.”

    “A lot of people don’t like what we say,” Cumbler said. “You have to be willing to have people really dislike you. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

    Barbara Brennessel pointed out that younger townspeople may be reluctant to serve on the commission because of the need for both evening meetings and daytime site visits. “It’s hard if you have a job and family to go to site visits in the daytime,” she said. “We might want to think about doing site visits on the weekend.”

    Cumbler noted that questions of conflict and recusal would likely arise when permitting for the Herring River Restoration Project comes before the group.

    “There are lots of issues,” he said. “Two members of the commission are on the Friends of Herring River board, one is a consultant to the project, I’m technically an abutter to phase two of the project, and the Conservation Trust is an abutter. Only one person is not in some way involved.”

    Last year’s annual town meeting approved a charter revision adding two alternate members to the conservation commission to help avoid these problems. But no alternates have been appointed.

    “There are no alternate members on these boards,” wrote administrative clerk Jeanne Maclaughlan in an email, “because there are no volunteers.”

     

    ENVIRONMENT

    Without Pump, Preservation Hall’s Yard Could Flood

    Support but no action yet for a swamp solution that suits community

    By

    WELLFLEET — Back in 1970 the Wesley’s Swamp Drainage Committee installed a pump in a wetland to prevent flooding downtown.

    Fifty years later, the pump in Wesley Swamp (now called “Wesley,” not “Wesley’s”) is in violation of the state Wetlands Protection Act and the town Environmental Protection Bylaw. The pump also threatens the protected spadefoot toad that breeds there in the early spring before the wetland dries in the summer. Newts, salamanders, and peepers also live in the so-called swamp, said Deborah Freeman, chair of the conservation commission.

    Wesley's Swamp
    The town’s pump and Wesley Swamp are adjacent to the shops along the south side of Wellfleet’s Main Street. (Photo K.C. Myers)

    The one-acre wetland is hard to recognize as little more than a sliver of mud and phragmites extending behind Main Street. But it’s officially certified by the Mass. Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program as a vernal pool. It is not connected to groundwater, said Hillary Greenberg-Lemos, Wellfleet’s health and conservation agent.

    The Wellfleet Conservation Commission has been studying the swamp since 2013 to figure out if there could be a way to get rid of the pump and allow the wetland to exist in a more natural, healthy state.

    It’s surrounded by homes, businesses, lawns, and parking areas and has been filled in over the years by many property owners, including the Catholic Church in the early part of the 20th century. The church is now Wellfleet Preservation Hall.

    After years of study, town health and conservation officials have determined the one negative consequence of removing the pump that drains the wetland would be possible flooding of Preservation Hall’s backyard.

    “We are concerned,” said Janet Lesniak, Preservation Hall’s executive director.

    She and other abutters have a good idea what will happen if the pump is simply removed. In the nine years since the nonprofit took over the former church, the pump has broken at least four or five times.

    “We’re the first ones to know, because we have a lake in the backyard pretty quickly,” Lesniak said. “Inevitably it’s in winter, and it’s not swimmable.”

    Lesniak said Preservation Halls wants “to be part of the solution.”

    In 2018, town meeting approved $37,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to plant a garden and install a fence in the hall’s back yard. That work has been done. The land is actually town-owned and is maintained as a public park, Lesniak said.

    It’s unknown if a berm or a wall to protect the property from flooding would require removal of the garden.

    “It’s always a challenging compromise between the community and the natural world,” Lesniak said.

    Like many wetlands all over Cape Cod, Wesley Swamp was filled and pumped to prevent flooding and add to the land usable for human activities. For now, it looks like the pumping will continue.

    On Jan. 28, the Conservation Commission presented its conclusions to the select board, saying Preservation Hall’s back yard would be affected, and that an engineer or consultant should take a look at the situation to see if a sheet pile wall or berm would help.

    The commission did not, however, even go so far as to ask the select board to take any action on hiring a consultant.

    “I left that meeting last week feeling much better,” Lesniak said, with select board members concerned about any impact on the Hall, “each one making a point in saying that Preservation Hall is good for the community.”

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