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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5054 452 Route 28 Summary of Reasoning 1 Law Office of Singer & Singer, LLC 26 Upper County Road P. O. Box 67 Dennisport, Massachusetts 02639 Andrew L. Singer Tel: (508) 398-2221 Marian S. Rose Fax: (508) 398-1568 ______ www.singer-law.com Myer R. Singer (1938-2020) Yarmouth Board of Appeals Petition #5054 SUMMARY OF REASONING Sandbar Management, Inc. [“Applicant”] operates the Town ‘N Country Family Resort Motel at 452 Main Street (Route 28) in West Yarmouth [“Property”]. The Property is shown as Parcel 73 on Assessor’s Map 31 and is located in the B2 & HMOD1 Zoning Districts. The Motel on the Property consists of four, two-story buildings with a current total of 148 guest rooms. There is an indoor swimming pool in the front building and an outdoor swimming pool (permanently closed). There are also outside picnic table areas. The principal access to the Property is from Route 28, with emergency access from Abell’s Road to the side rear. There has been a hotel on the Property for approximately fifty years. In Petition #5008 (2023), the Board of Appeals granted the Applicant a one-year special permit authorizing use of seventy-two (72) of the motel rooms (49%) on the Property as seasonal employee housing for the 2023 season. The special permit was granted subject to the Code of Conduct the Applicant proposed and with the further condition that if the Applicant returns for renewal of the special permit, it is to provide a list of any complaints or incidents from the Police or Fire Departments during the 2023 season so that the Board and Applicant can review and discuss past and future measures to ensure successful seasonal employee occupancy at the Property in the face of the strong demand for such temporary housing. A Memorandum fulfilling this latter condition is submitted as a companion to this Summary of Reasoning. Additional measures the Applicant proposes to implement for the 2024 season are included therein and below. 2 Several additional businesses have reached out to the Applicant to check on availability for next season. Based on this demonstrated need the Applicant’s experience in the Town, the Applicant believes that if it can offer 100% of the rooms at the Property as seasonal employee housing, then the needs of all of the major employers in Town can be appropriately accommodated. These businesses include Wicked Waves Waterpark (the Applicant’s nearby business), Red Jacket Resort, Dunkin Donuts, Shaw’s, Pancake Man, Freebird Motor Lodge, Seafood Sam’s, Lobster Boat, and Cape Cod Commercial Linens (which services the majority of the motel properties in Yarmouth). The Applicant is thus seeking to renew its special permit with a request to use all of the motel rooms (to be reduced down to 143 as discussed below) in the four buildings on the Property as seasonal employee housing for the 2024 season. Section 404.5.2 of the Yarmouth Zoning By-Law [“Zoning By- Law”] authorizes seasonal employee housing. In this instance, since one of the ten requirements for by- right housing set forth in Section 404.5.3 of the Zoning By-Law will not be met (the limit of 15% of the total rooms to be used as such seasonal housing), a special permit is required as set forth and authorized in the Zoning By-Law. The Board of Appeals is authorized to grant this special permit upon a demonstration that the proposal will not create undue nuisance, hazard or congestion and that there will be no substantial harm to the established or future character of the neighborhood or Town. The Applicant respectfully submits that the proposal satisfies these special permit criteria and will not create any undue nuisance, hazard or congestion. There will be no substantial harm to the existing or future character of the neighborhood or Town. To the contrary, based on all of the measures set forth herein and the Applicant’s demonstrated efforts in working with the Town and area businesses, the proposal will result in a significant benefit in providing a safe and secure housing solution to meet an urgent, unmet need for local Yarmouth businesses, because: 1. Seasonal employee housing will continue to be no more than seven months per year between April 1st and October 31st; 3 2. The Property is adjacent to commercial properties fronting on Route 28 and further away from the three residential properties to the rear of the Property along Saddleback Lane; 3. All applicable Board of Health and State regulations governing such housing, including without limitation maximum occupancy per room, shall be met; 4. The Applicant has a positive track record of working with the Yarmouth Health and Building Departments in licensing the Property and obtains all necessary reviews, inspections, and permits; 5. The occupants of the seasonal housing rooms will be employees of local businesses and companies serving the needs of visitors, residents, and guests in the Town of Yarmouth. Many employees will be able to walk to work, while others will go to and from work in shuttle vans provided by respective businesses for their employees as well as by bicycle, private car, and public transportation; 6. These employees will provide additional patronage to other nearby businesses, including without limitation, CVS, Dollar General, and area restaurants; 7. There will be little vehicular trip generation nor negative impact to traffic safety on Route 28 as a result of the rooms being used for seasonal employee housing instead of guest rooms. In addition, new for the 2024 season, the Applicant will install a centralized, commercial bicycle-rack system for all employees’ bicycles; 8. There is an onsite, live-in property manager as well as full-time maintenance personnel. The manager will ensure that all seasonal employees are apprised of the rules and code of behavior prior to and during occupancy (see below). 9. New for the 2024 season, the Applicant is proposing to install a gate with gatehouse at the Route 28 entrance. This gate will be closed and manned by a security detail from 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. nightly to restrict unwanted access and will be located approximately at the back of the front portion of the building so that the existing front parking spaces will 4 remain open for temporary usage. There will also be a gate installed at the rear of the Property from Abell’s Road which will remain closed and be used as an emergency egress. Knox boxes will be provided as necessary for Police and Fire Department emergency access; 10. Each seasonal housing room is provided with a refrigerator, pillows, sheets, and blankets; 11. There will be eight (8), fully-equipped kitchens on the Property to be used by the seasonal employee occupants, and all employees will have access to a kitchen. To accomplish this with the requested increase in employee housing room usage on site, the Applicant is reducing the total number of motel rooms from 148 down to 143 rooms; 12. Trash at the Property is collected and disposed of every day during the morning hours by the maintenance staff, and the Applicant further provides daily kitchen cleaning and daily package/mail delivery; 13. There will also be eight (8) laundries with washers and dryers on the Property; 14. The Applicant will ensure that all of the seasonal employees to be housed at the site demonstrate maintenance of a principal place of residence elsewhere; 15. The Applicant shall keep records of all employees utilizing such housing, including name, permanent address, and length of stay; 16. The Applicant’s proposed amenities, conditions, and rules and regulations to ensure a good environment for the Property and the neighborhood include, in addition to those items mentioned above, the following: A. Each employee will be required to sign the Code of Conduct. This Code of Conduct (revised for 2024) will provide that: 1. Enforced quiet hours, including no outside parties and noise, are from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. daily; 2. Alleged nuisances and disturbances to first be reported to onsite manager and/or security for resolution; 5 3. There will be weekly room inspections; 4. Smoking is prohibited in the buildings and is allowed in designated smoking areas only; 5. Overnight guests are prohibited; 6. No personal items are to be left outside (in parking lot, over railings, on stairs, etc.); 7. All bicycles must be placed in designated bike racks and locked; 8. All cars must have a permit, be locked, and parked in designated spaces; and 9. For a first violation of the Code, there will be a warning. A fine will be assessed if there is a second violation. If there is a third violation, the employee will be removed from the Property; and B. Employees of the Wicked Waves Waterpark are automatically enrolled in a Bonus Program, whereby at the end of every month, park employees who live in housing will be given a bonus provided there are no issues; 17. There will be no negative impact to drainage, septic flow or stormwater; 18. Based on past experience, the proposal will have less of an impact to the neighborhood and the Town than the longstanding motel use of the overall Property; and 19. The proposal will be in keeping with and compatible with the character of the neighborhood and will not cause or contribute to any undue nuisance, hazard or congestion in the neighborhood, zoning district or Town. There will be no building or parking changes, and the existing screening of the two buildings in question results in the seasonal employee housing being virtually invisible. For all of the above reasons, the Applicant respectfully requests that the Board of Appeals make findings that the proposal satisfies the criteria of Sections 103.2.2 and 404.5.2 of the Zoning By-Law and grant the special permit as requested to allow the proposed seasonal employee housing at the Property.