Appeals Board To Begin Deliberating Pine Oaks Project

 HARWICH – The board of appeals will begin its deliberations on Monday on the comprehensive permit for the proposed 242-unit Pine Oaks Village IV housing development proposed along Queen Anne Road in North Harwich. The board last week wrapped up the last of seven meetings at which residents protested the size of the project and its impacts on the environment, traffic conditions and community character.
 At the start of the Nov. 17 meeting, appeals board Chair Brian Sullivan spoke to the lengthy public participation in the review, saying those comments have led to a better plan with improved safety, design and community benefits.
 The project put forward by Queen Anne Acres LLC and Mid-Cape Church Homes, Inc, calls for the construction of 242 units, containing 424 bedrooms of primarily affordable housing in 10 buildings on 32.2 acres located off Queen Anne Road and Main Street. The proposal stipulates that 193 of the units will meet the guidelines for affordable housing. 
The structures would include five large buildings, four of which would contain 42 units and one building would have 36 units. There would be five townhouses built, four with eight units and one with six units. The units would consist of one, two and three bedrooms.The development would also contain a 7,200-square-foot community center (5,700 square feet) in which a childcare facility (2,600 square feet) would be located.
Richard Claytor, a principal engineer with Horsley and Witten Group, said 21.8 acres of the site would be open space, with 13.6 acres remaining undisturbed. He said the project will create a compact, walkable village for residents and visitors with community amenities and open space. It will be environmentally sensitive, sustainable and affordable, he added.
But residents of the area remain concerned about the environmental impacts of such a large development on the Herring River watershed. Traffic and pedestrian movement are also a major concern as well as community character impacts on North Harwich, a traditionally Cape Verdean neighborhood that has suffered types of uses such as the town’s industrial activities, a municipal landfill, and trash transfer station; and now a proposed housing development that residents say is too large for surrounding infrastructure to accommodate.
West Harwich resident Sally Urbano said the Cape Cod Commission’s regional policy plan emphasizes the preservation of land and provides a clear vision of what should and should not be located in sensitive neighborhoods. Urbano also said the town is making major inroads in addressing affordable housing in the community, citing the planned 60 unit development proposed further east on Queen Anne Road to be developed through the town’s affordable housing trust.
Urbano called for the appeals board to refer this project to the Cape Cod Commission as a development of regional impact. 
Attorney Peter Freeman, representing the project proponents, said the comprehensive permit statute does not allow for the review  by the Cape Cod Commission. 
North Harwich resident Sherri Stockdale cited the potential for a negative environmental impact on the Herring River from the development, which she said would generate 47,640 gallons of wastewater per day, or 17 million gallons per year. Each of the buildings would have its own laundromat, she said. 
Stockdale said groundwater flows toward the Herring River watershed and Sand Pond, and road runoff already goes into the Herring River.
“The project is way too big, everybody knows it,” she said.
North Harwich resident Jim Pina also questioned the potential for nitrogen impacts to the watershed. He spoke to the first phase of the development, and the treatment of 9,900 gallons per day, just under the 10,000 gallons that would trigger a groundwater discharge permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection. 
“The margin of error of one percent is not enough,” Pina said of the first phase being only 100 gallons below that state mandate.
Claytor responded that while Title 5 regulations calculate 110 gallons per day per bedroom, the actual number of gallons generated per bedroom across the state is half of the daily calculation. He added if the flow generated gets to 75 percent of the daily limit, DEP would step in to address operation and maintenance, and could even require system expansion.
Claytor said the wastewater treatment plant will require a state groundwater disposal permit starting with the second phase, and the five phases of development are expected to take 10 years. In the first phase, the Title 5 system would also have an innovative/alternative nitrogen mitigation unit attached, providing seven times the nitrogen reducing capacity, according to Claytor. He also said the completed system would likely have a downgradient reactive barrier resulting in zero nitrogen discharge to groundwater.  
Traffic is also a major concern to residents in the area.
“This board is not going to dictate how the town addresses traffic in the area relating to such issues,” Sullivan said.
During the lengthy sessions held on this project, Sullivan has said the comprehensive permit provisions do not allow the board to place infrastructure improvement conditions on the permit that are outside of the project property. The board has clearly stated such improvements are the responsibility of the town. But Claytor stressed that the applicant is willing to work with the town on short term and low cost projects such as adjusting the signal timing at the Queen Anne Road/Pleasant Lake Avenue intersection, and would collaborate on an intersection improvement study. The applicant has also agreed to work on the placement of radar speed signs, review signage and pavement markings along Queen Anne Road.
The developer has also agreed to help the town apply for state grants to assist with upgrades of infrastructure in the neighborhood of the development, including sidewalks along Queen Anne Road and geometric intersection improvements at Queen Anne Road and Main Street.
“Sidewalks and bike lanes in an industrial area seem pretty dangerous to me,” North Harwich resident Teresa Johnson said. “Board members, please save our town against this massive development. The future of Harwich is in your hands.”
Stockdale called for an industrial zone traffic study to be done.
“Does anyone on this panel want to be responsible for what will happen on Queen Anne Road in five to 10 years?” inquired Stockdale. “Don’t put yourselves on the hook.” 
Freeman, the attorney representing the applicant, said his client has met the issues raised by the town’s peer consultants, including VHB, Inc. on traffic related issues, and TRC on health related issues.
“It has been a very thoughtful and thorough process and we thank you and commend you,” Freeman told the board. “We have satisfied your peer reviewers in every single area. There is a huge housing need, and by allowing this project it will make a huge difference for Harwich.”
The board’s deliberations will begin in the hearing room in town hall at 9 a.m. on Monday, Dec.1