Traffic Remains An Issue For Snow Inn Project

HARWICH – Neighbors continue to be concerned that the redevelopment of the Snow Inn hotel at the Wychmere Beach Club will increase traffic along Snow Inn Road. 

A Cape Cod Commission subcommittee held an initial development of regional impact hearing on the proposal at the community center on Dec. 16, drawing a mix of support and opposition from the 75 people who attended. The project calls for the demolition of the historic 32-room Snow Inn and its redevelopment into a 72-room hotel with a restaurant and lounge. 

The subcommittee voted to send the project to the full commission for its Jan. 22 session but wanted more information about traffic mitigation. The subcommittee was weighing one more meeting before the full commission session, but no date was set as of The Chronicle’s deadline.

 A previous plan to redevelop the Snow Inn was before the commission last spring but was withdrawn to allow the owner to explore alternatives, said Andrew Singer, the attorney representing owner Wychmere Harbor Real Estate. The new proposal reduces the hotel from 80 to 72 rooms and from 83,307 square feet to 75,322 square feet. It moves the building to the north and reduces space at ground level within the floodplain by 353 square feet, compared to the existing Snow Inn. All habitable space will also be elevated to three feet above FEMA’s base flood elevation.

The focus of opposition from neighborhood residents was over traffic safety, especially along Snow Inn Road, Davis Lane and the intersection of Route 28, Snow Inn Road and Freeman Street. That intersection was noted as a Massachusetts Department of Transportation high-crash cluster, averaging 3.4 crashes a year. 

 “The biggest obstacle is access and egress,” said Linda Simard of Davis Lane. “Snow Inn Road is small and not capable of handling this traffic. If traffic is going to double, what’s it going to look like? There are no sidewalks or shoulders and there are bushes there. There’s just no room.” 

Snow Inn Road is 16 to 19 feet wide, said Bob Nickerson, adding that a minimum width is 20 feet and normal is 24 feet, leaving little space to accommodate a state law that requires vehicles to provide four feet of separation when passing someone walking or on a bicycle. Nickerson said the fire department does not want speed bumps placed in the road, which is one of the recommendations to slow speed.

 Snow Inn Road resident Carol Kanin took exception to the traffic impact and access study prepared by VHB, Inc. and a traffic management plan that said there will be less traffic on her road. With the addition of 40 rooms, a restaurant and a lounge in the new inn, the idea of fewer vehicles does not pass the “smell test,” she said. 

 Kanin said when she and her grandchildren walk on the side of the road she feels like she’s taking “their lives in my hands.” She said vehicles speed by

 “People have to get there and it means more traffic on our narrow street. It’s an accident waiting to happen,” said Kanin. 

As for the intersection of Route 28, Snow Inn Road and Freeman Street, the staff report reads that the applicant asserts limited sight distance from northbound approach is a contributing factor to crash patterns there. The traffic report says the MassDOT sidewalk project taking place there will improve sight line distance. The report also proposed additional signage, including intersection ahead warning signs and flashing speed warning signs. 

 Among the traffic safety improvements proposed in the traffic study are prohibiting 50-passenger and larger motor coaches from entering the resort. Tractor-trailer deliveries will be made to the off-site commissary located at 741 Route 28, with smaller electric vehicles used to make onsite deliveries from the commissary. 

 A transportation demand management plan (TDM) will be developed and a manager provided to address rideshare programs for employees and shuttle service in an electric vehicle to off-site parking. There is a 70-vehicle off-site parking lot available, according to the plan. There will be valet parking at the beach club site.

 Ed McManus praised Wychmere for addressing the previous concerns, including the elimination of deliveries to the resort through the use of smaller electric vehicles. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Cyndi Williams called the Wychmere resort a community partner.

 The former manager at the Chatham Bars Inn and Wequassett Resort and Golf Club, Tony Guthrie, praised the owners and their team for what he termed “an amazing job.” He praised the expansion of year-round and shoulder season jobs the project will create. Guthrie, who assists at The Family Pantry of Cape Cod, noted the increase in family service at the pantry when Wychmere shuts down each year. 

Former state senator Dan Wolf also spoke in favor of the project, citing the economic and environmental benefits to the community.

However, Rocky Clark said the project seeks to squeeze a square peg in a round hole. Matt Sutphin said he learned in physics that when you put a large volume into a pipe, pressure happens, and Snow Inn Road is that pipe. Both are former Davis Lane residents who said the project is too big for the resources around it.

Jacqueline Etsten, Harwich’s representative to the Cape Cod Commission and a subcommittee member, also said the project is too big and doesn’t fit on the site.

Singer said there will be an increase of about 70 seasonal and 25 year-round employees with competitive pay.

 “The addition of hotel rooms at Wychmere enhances its ability to attract and book corporate and social events, particularly in the shoulder seasons,” Singer said. “This increased demand supports local accommodations, stores, restaurants, attractions and vendors, strengthening the regional economy and fostering year-round vitality for the community.”

 Wychmere Harbor Real Estate was also seeking a waiver to the coastal resilience provisions within the regional policy plan that seek to minimize development in the floodplain and reduce the built environment’s vulnerability to coastal hazards. Singer that the 40-year-old wastewater treatment facility will be relocated outside the floodplain. The present treatment facility has a cap of 26,925 gallons per day, and the new plant will be increased to 40,000 per day.

The stormwater management system has been designed to effectively control onsite runoff and mitigate off-site impacts, which can flow directly into Wychmere Harbor, according to Singer. Utilizing upgraded wastewater treatment and stormwater improvements, the project is expected to reduce site-wide nitrogen loading to 3.14 parts per million.

 “Due to the project’s location immediately adjacent to Wychmere Harbor and within the lower reaches of the watershed, the proposed reduction in nitrogen will provide immediate water quality benefits while Harwich continues to advance its comprehensive wastewater management plan,” according to the commission staff report. The staff report also provided suggested findings of consistency for the project.