Calico Cat Plans Withdrawn

Calico Cat Plans Withdrawn From Cape Cod Commission

CHATHAM --- The controversial proposal to restore the historic Calico Cat building in the Old Village National Historic District has been withdrawn from Cape Cod Commission review.

William F. Riley, attorney for owners Hilary and Tina Foulkes, said he sent a letter to the commission requesting the withdrawal last Friday on the instructions of his client. Riley said he did not know what the Foulkes’ immediate plans were for the distinctive yet rundown Greek Revival building at 193 Main St.

“I have no idea what they’re going to do,” he said.

The former Calico Cat building at 193 Main St. Its future is now uncertain after the owners withdrew an application to restore the historic structure from the Cape Cod Commission. TIM WOOD PHOTO

In the Old Village neighborhood, there has been nearly unanimous opposition to the proposal, which involves renovating and restoring the structure, also known as the John Hallett House, the oldest portion of which dates to 1800. That section of the building is a half-Cape, which is melded onto the distinctive Greek Revival portion that was built as a store in about 1840.

The Foulkes’ plan called for adding a dormer to the half-Cape, removing non-historic additions and building a new addition, as well as adding a dormer and widow’s walk to the Greek Revival section.

Moving the building and adding the widow’s walk garnered the most opposition and were key reasons the zoning board of appeals denied a special permit for the project last year. Despite the rejection, the Foulkes filed the same plans with the historical commission, which referred the project to the Cape Cod Commission as a development of regional impact, required because the structure is within a National Historic District.

At a hearing last month, commission staff members said absent the special permit, the project did not meet local zoning requirements and could not be approved. The hearing was slated to close Sept. 22.

In an e-mail Monday from his home in Germany, Hilary Foulkes said it was appropriate to withdraw the application given circumstances he cited in an Aug. 14 letter to the editor. In the letter, the couple said they were committed to a complete restoration of the building, both interior and exterior, and called the “vicious and adversarial” response to their plans unfair.

“Our future plans are uncertain at this stage,” Foulkes wrote in the e-mail.

Historical Commission Chairman Donald Aikman said he was disappointed that the project was being withdrawn.

“I think we could have worked out a compromise along the way,” he said. However, some of the changes his commission, the zoning board and even the state historic commission opposed appeared not to be negotiable from the owners’ point of view, which he said was unfortunate. He hoped that someone, either the Foulkes or a new owner, will preserve the important building.

Commission Planner Sarah Korjeff said because of timing, an advertisement announcing the closing the hearing may still appear. The project can’t be formally withdrawn until the commission receives a request to withdraw the development of regional impact application and the application for a building permit is withdrawn, she said.

Meanwhile, the board of health held a show-cause hearing two weeks ago after officials learned the property’s septic system had not been upgraded after the Foulkes purchased the property nearly three years ago. Under health department regulations, septic systems must be inspected at the time of sale and upgraded if they do not meet current standards. Health Agent Judith Giorgio said while the system at 193 Main St., has not failed, it is a cesspool and therefore requires upgrading to current Title 5 standards.

Although funds were escrowed for the upgrade at the time of the sale, the work was delayed because of the renovation plans, said Riley. It is customary when significant work is being planned to install a new septic system after the work is done, he said.

“Things have taken longer than normal,” he said of the delays in getting approval for the work the Foulkes want to do.

He added that no one has been living in the building, and the failure of the system is “technical in nature.” Giorgio agreed there are no environmental concerns.

“The system is not causing any public health threat,” she said.

However, an art gallery that has operated in the former Calico Cat shop space in the Greek Revival section of the building must close by Sept. 15, Giorgio said. Riley said he did not know how long the Old Village Co-Op Art Gallery had planned to remain open.

Riley said the owners are having new septic plans drawn up that will incorporate the changes proposed in the plans that have yet to be approved. The plans were to be filed early this week, and the Foulkes’ would likely go forward with the upgrade, so that the gallery can remain open.

9/4/08