HomeMy WebLinkAboutCape Cod Commission - Chase Brook Park 2/11/25 �F }
3225 MAIN STREET • P.O. BOX 226 ,
BARNSTABLE, MASSACHUSETTS 02630
CAPE COD
(508) 362-3828 • Fax (508) 362-3136 • www.capecodcommission.org COMMISSION
CERTIFIED MAIL- RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
TRACKING NUMBER: 7022 0410 0000 9817 7787
February 11, 2025
RECEIVED )
Tighe & Bond
53 Southampton Road FEB 13 2025
Westfield, MA 01085
ATTN: Briony Angus BUILDING DEPARTMENT
By
RE: Chase Brook Park Restoration & Pedestrian Bridge Project, CCC File No: 24024
Dear Ms.Angus
Enclosed please find a copy of the Development of Regional Impact(DRI) Exemption decision for the
Chase Brook Park Restoration & Pedestrian Bridge Project Exemption that was approved, with
conditions, by the Cape Cod Commission at its regular meeting on Thursday,January 31, 2025. After
the 30-day appeal period has elapsed and no appeals have been filed (or if such an appeal is filed,
after it has been dismissed or adjudicated in the applicant's favor),the Cape Cod Commission will
record the original decision with the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.
Sinc ely,
Lsa Dillon
Commission Clerk
CC w/enc:
Certified Mail:
Mary Maslowski, Town Clerk, Yarmouth Tracking Number: 7022 0410 0000 9817 7794
Mark Grylls, Building Commissioner,Yarmouth Tracking Number: 7021 2720 0002 1079 3108
Regular Mail:
Kathy Williams, Town Planner Julie Mockabee, Chair, Historical Commission
Jeff Colby, DPW Director Jay Gardiner, Health Director
Steven DeYoung, Chair, ZBA Brittany DiRienzo, Conservation Administrator
3225 MAIN STREET • P.O. BOX 226 ��;, •: 1
BARNSTABLE, MASSACHUSETTS 02630
CAPE COD
(508) 362-3828 • Fax (508) 362-3136 • www.capecodcommission.org COMMISSION
DEVELOPMENT OF REGIONAL IMPACT EXEMPTION DECISION
DATE: January 30, 2025
PROJECT: Chase Brook Park, Yarmouth (File No. 24024)
APPLICANT/
PROPERTY OWNER: Town of Yarmouth
1146 Route 28, South Yarmouth, MA 02664
PROPERTY/SITE: 261, 275, 281 Route 28, Yarmouth, MA 02637
(Parcel IDs: 37-61, 37-60, 38-1)
TITLE REFERENCE: BCRD Book 12301, Page 348
BCRD Book 32664, Page 305
BCRD Book 22511, Page 319
SUMMARY
The Cape Cod Commission ("Commission") hereby approves the application of the Town of
Yarmouth ("the Applicant")for a Development of Regional Impact ("DRI") Exemption, with
conditions, pursuant to Section 12k of the Cape Cod Commission Act ("Act"), c. 716 of the Acts of
1989, as amended, for the proposed restoration and connection of three adjacent parcels along
Route 28 in West Yarmouth to create a public park. The Decision is rendered pursuant to a vote of
the Commission at its meeting on January 30, 2025.
FINDINGS
The Cape Cod Commission hereby finds and determines as follows:
F1. The Applicant is proposing installation of a new wooden pile-supported pedestrian bridge
across Chase Brook, ADA-accessible walking paths, invasive species management, and
restoration and management of new native plants across three parcels to create an
expanded public park. The eastern and western parcels are existing public parks, Chase
Brook and Mill Creek, respectively. The middle parcel is the site of the former Yankee
Village Motel which has since been demolished. Existing driveways and parking lots at the
Chase Brook Park, Yarmouth, MA- Commission File No. 24024
Development of Regional Impact Exemption Decision -January 2025 - Page 1
Chase Brook and Mill Creek parks will not be altered as part of the Project, and no new
pavement or parking is proposed ("the Project").
F2. The Project underwent review pursuant to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act,
M.G.L. c. 30, §§ 61-621 ("MEPA") because it requires Agency Action and meets/exceeds
MEPA thresholds related to alteration of coastal dune, barrier beach or coastal bank, a new
structure within a velocity zone or regulatory floodway, and alteration of/z acre or more of
wetlands. The Secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and
Environmental Affairs required the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report("EIR")
due to its location within a Designated Geographic Area around one or more
Environmental Justice ("EJ") populations.
F3. The Project literally qualifies as a DRI because it meets or exceeds the DRI review threshold
appearing in Section 2(d)(i) of the Enabling Regulations Governing Review of Developments
of Regional Impact, ChapterA of the Code of Cape Cod Commission Regulations of General
Application, as amended November 17, 2021 ("Enabling Regulations"). Said Section 2(d)(i)
provides:
"Any proposed development for which an Environmental Impact Report(EIR)is required to be
prepared under the provisions of MEPA shall be deemed a DRI. The Applicant shall file a DRI
application for the proposed development to the Commission for review as a DRI"
F4. Where a proposed development literally qualifies as a DRI, Section 12(k) of the Cape Cod
Commission Act and Section 7 of the Enabling Regulations state:
"Any applicant may apply to the Commission for an exemption from Commission review... where
the location, character and environmental effects of the development will prevent its having any
significant impacts on the values and purposes protected by the Act outside of the municipality
in which the development is to be located."
F5. On November 29, 2024, The Secretary issued a final Certificate which determined that the
EIR adequately and properly complied with MEPA and its implementing regulations.The
Applicant submitted a DRI Exemption application for the Project to the Commission on
December 23, 2024, which was determined to be complete on January 6, 2025. The
Commission opened the DRI public hearing period on the Project by staff hearing officer
on January 13, 2025.
F6. The Cape Cod Commission held a hearing on the DRI Exemption application during its
meeting on January 30, 2025. At that hearing, the Commission voted to approve the DRI
Exemption, with conditions.
F7. The location, character and environmental effects of the Project will prevent it having any
significant impacts on the values and purposes specified under the Act outside of the Town
of Yarmouth.
CONCLUSION
Based on the above Findings, the Commission hereby further finds and determines that,though
the Project literally qualifies as a DRI, it may nonetheless be exempted from Commission DRI
Chase Brook Park,Yarmouth, MA- Commission File No. 24024
Development of Regional Impact Exemption Decision -January 2025 - Page 2
review because the Project will have no significant impacts on the values and purposes specified
in Section 1 of the Cape Cod Commission Act outside of the municipality in which it is proposed
due to the Project location, character, and environmental effects. As such, the Commission hereby
approves the DRI Exemption requested by the Applicant for the Project described herein, subject
to the Conditions below.
CONDITIONS
C1. This Decision shall be final when the appeal period set out in Section 17 of the Cape Cod
Commission Act has elapsed without appeal (or if such an appeal has been filed, when the
appeal has been finally settled, dismissed, adjudicated, or otherwise disposed of in favor
of the Applicant). Thereafter, pursuant to Section 12(k) of the Act, the Applicant has three
(3)years from the date of this written decision to exercise the right granted hereunder.
C2. A copy of the Decision, when final, shall be recorded with the Barnstable County Registry
of Deeds.
C3. This Decision applies only to the public park construction, restoration, and management
activities as described herein. If further development that meets or exceeds the
mandatory DRI Review thresholds under ChapterA of the Code of Cape Cod Commission
Regulations of Genera/Application is proposed on the Property, the development shall be
referred to the Commission.
SIGNATURE PAGE FOLLOWS
Chase Brook Park,Yarmouth, MA- Commission File No. 24024
Development of Regional Impact Exemption Decision -January 2025 - Page 3
SIGNATURE PAGE
Executed this �ay of February 2025
For the Cape Cod Commission by:
- rd______MIdat---
aii
Harold Mitchell, Chair
COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS
Barnstable, ss
February // , 2025
Before me, the undersigned notary public, personally appeared AMtiro.heil ,
in his capacity as Chair and on behalf of the Cape Cod Commission, whose name is signed on the
preceding or attached document, and such person acknowledged to me that he/she signed such
document voluntarily for its stated purpose. The identity of such person was proved to me
through satisfactory evidence of identification, which was [] photographic identification with
signature issued by a federal or state governmental agency, [loath or affirmation of a credible
witness, or [X] personal knowledge of the undersigned.
a
Notary Public y�
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USA P.DILLON
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CommommeNt of Massachusetts
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August 28,a
Chase Brook Park,Yarmouth, MA- Commission File No. 24024
Development of Regional Impact Exemption Decision -January 2025- Page 4
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection
Chapter 91 Waterways Water-Dependent, Nonwater Dependent, Amendment Application
Municipal Zoning Certificate
Note to Permittee: This form should be submitted, with the top portion completed, to the municipal clerk or zoning
official along with the complete application and project plans.
Town of Yarmouth
Name of Permittee
261, 275, 281 Route 28 Chase Brook Yarmouth
Project Address Name of Waterway City/Town
Description of project and use or change in use (this field is not limited to the one line shown).
The Chase Brook Park Restoration and Pedestrian Bridge Project(or"Project") entails connecting Chase Brook
Park and Mill Creek Park through the former Yankee Village Motel property that is now vacant and underutilized.
The pedestrian walkways in Chase Brook and Mill Creek Park will be improved and new connection pathways will
be constructed across the Yankee Village Motel property for a contiguous, conjoined park. To increase
accessibility and continuity across all three properties, a prefabricated timber pedestrian bridge will be constructed
on timber piles. The Project will also remove invasive plants and replace with native species to improve the
vegetation from both an aesthetic and ecological standpoint. Additionally, the Project includes a long-term Land
Management Plan with a focus on invasive plant management. This License application is being file for the
pedestrian bridge portion of the Project. Please refer to the attached application and project plans for additional
information
To be completed by the municipal clerk or other municipal zoning official responsible for administering zoning
ordinances and by-laws.
"I hereby certify that the project described above and more fully detailed in the Permittee's Waterways License
application and plans is not in violation of local zoning ordinances and/or by-laws."
/11,4ilk 1f/L�JGl�' 2/2 Print Name Name of Mun Zordn Official Date
3'/ 1/"fr /f'.0 y, eiJ.
Signature of ffia al Title City/Tow(i
Zoning.doc Rev_1021 Page 1 of 1