Former Nursery Property Marketed As ‘Potential 40B’ Development

by Tim Wood

            CHATHAM --- The former Fougere’s Nursery property in Chathamport is being marketed as a potential 40B affordable housing development site.

            Advertisements for a May 2 auction of the 1.3 acre site at 615 Orleans Rd. state the lot is a “proposed 40B,” while property information on the auctioneer’s website promotes the land for its “40B potential.”  A possible site plan showing eight units in three buildings is also included in the packet and in ads.

            While a 40B development could be proposed for the property, the town has not been notified of a filing for site eligibility with Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, the first step in the process, according to Principal Planner Terry Whalen. 

            He said a realtor had been in the planning department asking about the range of options for development of the property, which is zoned residential.  He assumed the site plan was designed to show a potential 40B layout.

            “It’s interesting they went to that effort,” he said.

            Under the state’s 40B comprehensive permit law, most local regulations can be waived if at least 25 percent of the units in a project are affordable.  A 40B development was recently approved for the South Cape Seafood property on Main Street, and another has been proposed for the Highlander Motel property.

            The property is owned by Ryder’s Cove Boatyard (as My Girls Marine, LLC).  Owner Alan Cohen bought the land in 2002 intending to use it as boat storage and a workshop, but a special permit to convert from the landscaping use it had been under for decades, was denied by the zoning board of appeals.

            While a shop building, office and garage used by Fougere’s remain on the property, it hasn’t been used commercially for several years and has lost its standing as a non-conforming commercial use in a residential district, according to Community Development Director Kevin McDonald.

            “He would have had to maintain a landscaping business there to maintain that,” McDonald said.  Since the town does not allow use variances, the only legal use for the property is residential.  There is not enough land to subdivide or add a guest house.

            However, a 40B project can be proposed in any district in town, Whalen said.

            According to the property information package available on the auctioneer’s website, the land is being auctioned as “surplus property,” an “accelerated method of marketing” that allows bidders to set the market price. The information states the property could be used “to create your own Cape Cod dream home or pursue 40B potential.”  It is a “rare development opportunity in the prestigious Chatham community.”

            The package also includes 113 pages of environmental reports as well as copies of the town’s zoning bylaw and the state’s 40B regulations.

            Cohen could not be reached for comment.

            The auction by J.J. Manning Auctioneers of Yarmouth is scheduled for Friday, May 2, at 2 p.m.

4/17/08