HomeMy WebLinkAboutPublic Comment from Kimball attachmentPotential sites identified for new Cape Cod homeless shelter
Geoff Spillane
gspillane@capecodonline.com
Updated March 8, 2016, 6:40 a.m. ET
HYANNIS — Six properties in Barnstable – including a former school in Marstons Mills and land
across Route 132 from the police station – are being considered as potential new locations for
the homeless shelter currently located in downtown Hyannis.
More than 30 community leaders, state officials and local legislators received an update on the
project during a meeting Monday at Barnstable Town Hall of the Transitional Living Center of
Cape Cod Steering Committee.
The Housing Assistance Corp., which operates the existing NOAH Shelter on Winter Street, last
year retained the services of Boston-based Oxbow Partners, a real estate development company
specializing in securing sites for complex, community-supported initiatives.
“A homeless shelter is the hardest to site,” said Kevin Maguire, a partner with Oxbow.
The steering committee has been working for more than a year to relocate the shelter away
from the town's tourist and commercial center and replace it with a facility more focused on
providing rehabilitative services to the homeless. The planned center would have 35 overnight
beds, and include outreach workers, medical and mental health services and recovery
programs.
The center needs to be located in a non-residential area, not adjacent to a school, away from
Main Street and off so-called “gateway” roads into Hyannis — Route 28, Route 132, West Main
Street, Yarmouth Road, according to requirements determined by the committee.
The property must be at least one acre, served by public transportation and have a sewer
connection. It would be purchased through a combination of public and private funds.
Maguire presented a map of several locations that would meet the criteria, including the former
Marstons Mills Elementary School, the former Knights of Columbus on Route 28, two locations
in the Old Yarmouth Road and Ferndoc Street area, a Barnstable Housing Authority property off
Mary Dunn Road and a five-acre county-owned parcel on Phinney's Lane, across the street from
the Barnstable police station on Route 132.
Since none of the properties are yet under committee control, Maguire appealed to the
audience for other suggestions.
“I’m here to try to find land. I can’t find it,” he said, adding town and county land options are
scarce, and a land deal would likely have to come from the private real estate market. “I’m
coming to the people of Barnstable to help me.”
State Rep. Brian Mannal, D-Barnstable, recommended that land located behind Cape Cod
Hospital near Hyannis Park and into Yarmouth be evaluated.
“My first choice would be in the Old Yarmouth Road or Ferndoc Street area,” said Barnstable
Police Chief Paul MacDonald.
Peter Martino, owner of the Heritage House Hotel on Main Street in Hyannis asked why the
search for a property did not extend into Yarmouth. Yarmouth had been looked at, but an
appropriate location could not be found, Maguire said.
“I encourage all of you, if you think you have a site, let us know,” said Maguire. “Talk to a
landowner. Maybe they’ll sell.”
A location on Old Yarmouth Road near the airport was considered a prime location for the
center, but it was determined to be located in a airport crash zone, making it ineligible for
federal funds, according to Maguire. Rose Evans, deputy undersecretary of the Massachusetts
Department of Housing and Community Development said she would contact her federal
counterparts to determine if there is a possibility of negotiating a workaround for the property.
By the end of Monday's two-hour meeting, the leading contender appeared to be the Phinney’s
Lane location, which could be fronted on Attucks Lane, shielding it from traffic heading to
Hyannis. Maguire agreed to conduct a feasibility study for the property before the next
committee meeting.
A homeless center at the former Marstons Mills Elementary School is unlikely, since
conversations are well underway about other uses of the property, said Town Councilor Sara
Cushing, who represents Marstons Millls.
Once a site is acquired, it will take about three years for a center to be built and opened,
Maguire said.
— Follow Geoff Spillane on Twitter: @GSpillaneCCT