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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM-052726 May 27, 2026 Page 1 of 6 1 Zoning Board of Appeals MINUTES Wednesday, May 27, 2026 7:00 PM To all persons interested in or affected by the actions of the Zoning Board of Appeals, you are hereby notified, pursuant to Section 11 of Chapter 40A of the General Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and all amendments thereto, that a public hearing on the following appeals will be held on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at the time indicated: The Zoning Board of Appeals Public Hearing will be held by remote participation methods. Public access to this meeting shall be provided in the following manner: 1. The meeting will be televised live via Xfinity Channel 18 or high definition Channel 1072. It may also be accessed via the Government Access Channel live stream on the Town of Barnstable’s website: https://barnstable.cablecast.tv/internetchannel/watch -now 2. Real-time access to the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting is available utilizing the Zoom link or telephone number and Meeting ID provided below. Public comment can be addressed to the Zoning Board of Appeals by utilizing the Zoom link or telephone number and Meeting ID provided below: Join Zoom Meeting Option Telephone Number Option https://townofbarnstable- us.zoom.us/j/81266057264 US Toll-free: 888 475 4499 Meeting ID: 812 6605 7264 Meeting ID: 812 6605 7264 Applicants, their representatives and individuals required or entitled to appear before the Zoning Board of Appeals may appea r remotely, and may participate through accessing the link or telephone number provided above. Documentary exhibits and/or visu al presentations should be submitted in advance of the meeting to anna.brigham@barnstable.gov so that they may be displayed for remote public access viewing. Copies of the applications are available for review by calling (508) 862-4682 or emailing anna.brigham@barnstable.gov. Call to Order Chair Jacob Dewey calls the meeting to order at 7:02 PM with an introduction of Board Members: Also present is Jim Kupfer, Director of Planning & Development; Jan Kendrick, Assistant Town Attorney; Anna Brigham, Principa l Planner; and Genna Ziino, Administrative Assistant. Notice of Recording This meeting of the Zoning Board of Appeals is being recorded and broadcast on the Town of Barnstable’s Government Access Channel. In accordance with MGL Chapter 30A §20, I must inquire whether anyone is recording this meeting and if so, to please make their presence known. Minutes March 11, 2026 & April 22, 2026 – Herb Bodensiek moves to approve the minutes. Paul Pinard says he wasn’t present at the March 11 meeting but attests that he reviewed the minutes and they are accurate. Aaron Webb seconds. Member Present Absent Dewey, Jacob – Chair X Bodensiek, Herbert – Vice Chair X Pinard, Paul – Clerk X Alves, Manny X Dworkis, Debra X Hurwitz, Larry X Webb, Aaron X Page 2 of 6 2 Vote: Aye: Jake Dewey, Herb Bodensiek, Paul Pinard, Manny Alves, Debra Dworkis, Larry Hurwitz, Aaron Webb Nay: None Old Business 7:00 PM Appeal No. 2025-025 **READVERTISED** Great Marsh Development LLC Great Marsh Development LLC has applied for a Comprehensive Permit pursuant to MGL Ch. 40B Sections 20, 21, 22, and 23 and 76 0 CMR 56.00 et seq. The Applicant proposes to develop an affordable housing community on 6.764 acres. The Homes at Centerville Cove will consist of 20 detached, 3-bedroom, single-family dwellings. The Residences at Centerville Cove will consist of 36 rental units in one building with a mix of 2- and 3-bedroom apartments. The subject property is located at 39, 51, 61, and 75 Great Marsh Road, 195 Phinney’s Lane, and 40 Richardson Road, Centerville, MA as shown on Assessor’s Map 210 as Parcels 124, 125, 126, 13 4- 003, 134-004, and Map 209 as Parcel 020, respectively. They are located in the Residence C (RC) and the Highway Office (HO) Zoning Districts and the Resource Protection Overlay District (RPOD). Members assigned: Dewey, Bodensiek, Webb, Alves, Dworkis. Continued from January 14, 2026, February 11, 2026, and April 8, 2026. *REVISED PLANS SUBMITTED APRIL 1, 2026* NOTE: This matter was continued from October 22, 2025, after 2025 -024 Egan Capital Variance request was withdrawn. Both items were related, so Comprehensive Permit 2025-025 was readvertised to give the public notice of the revised application. Attorney Andrew Singer is representing the applicant and is joined by Randy Hart, Michael Egan, Kurt Raber, and Matt Eddy. Attorney Singer says they have generated engineering site plans to a 90% formal standard, even though only preliminary plans are required. They have made several modifications to the proposal, including significant ones (removing apartment building, including 40 Richardson Road, only single-family homes, no rentals, increased affordability numbers). Plans for wastewater and drainage are almost complete, not preliminary. Internal sidewalk was added, as well as gated access requested by COMM Fire. A “Not a through street” sign is proposed at Juniper Road across the street. COMM Water sent confirmation that there is no water moratorium and the proposal is designed adequately. The location of the proposed curb cut has received much public comment. The applicant’s materials have been reviewed by DPW and the Cape Cod Commission with no objections raised. Since last meeting, Mr. Egan met with the Temples in their home. Despite the Temple’s unproven claims of sightline issues, the fact is that the site plan submitted will meet or exceed requirements. The predictive behavior concern is unfounded—it is going to be easier, faster, safer, and more attractive for residents to not go through Juniper. The Town Engineer said there are sufficient sightlines, and the typical practice is to align new roadways with existing. He confirmed that in this case, a single intersection is preferable to two staggered intersections. The proposed curb cut is the safest and best practice. The applicant requests the Board accept the site plans and vote to close the public hearing and approve the comprehensive permit. Matt Eddy, professional engineer with Baxter Nye, says they have met with DPW, COMM Fire, and COMM Water. Revised plans were submitted on 5/1. He walks through the changes that were made: the entrance road is in general alignment. Proposed is a 20- foot-wide paved road, same as Juniper. This is the preferred location for how you would design an intersection. Sub division regulations say that a road should be in continuous alignment. They have widened the pavement by 4 feet at the entrance. They have added a sidewalk section along the main entrance area, where kids could wait for the bus. Secondary emergency access was requested by COMM, so they added it back in and moved the turnaround in a little bit so a fire truck could be off Phinney’s Lane while waiting to unlock the gate. There is a paved sidewalk on the north side of Route 28 to Belltower and past, so they added an additional crosswalk and small paved sidewalk to tie into the existing sidewalk. They will be adding one street tree per every 30 feet. They removed the waiver request for town stormwater review. A sight difference plan was added, and their plan meets the intersection sight difference requirement (which is more strenuous to meet than stopping sight lines). Town Engineer and COMM Water confirmed adequate wastewater capacity and approved for connection. Back to the Board for questions. Chair Dewey says the Board could have a peer review for the intersection if they want to. Attorney Singer explains that the Board is entitled to request a peer review, which under 40B is a review of the materials submitted to the Board, which is VHB’s report. The peer review would not be looking at any further alternative options. There was no update to the traffic study after the apartment was removed. Aaron Webb thinks the intersection is a “compelling reason” and would like to investigate the staggered option further. It would impact residents’ quality of life. Randy Hart of VHB Transportation doesn’t disagree that offset intersections can work well. But if they have the opportunity to align with a cross street, that is always preferred. There is not enough separation between these roads to offset —150 feet, 2 offset intersections is too confusing. Attorney Singer says the Board has asked repeatedly for comments from the town about this intersection and now they have them. They need to consider their rationale if they are going to disagree. Chair Dewey asks Jim Kupfer for a scope of what the Board can ask for in a peer review. Jim Kupfer says what Attorney Singer said is correct—staff would provide the consultant with what’s been provided Page 3 of 6 3 to the Board and will be looking at what is proposed and if there are safety concerns. They might provide some insight but would not be looking at alternative options or if they should locate the driveway elsewhere. The Board has concerns over the impact of putting it where they’re proposing. Herb Bodensiek lives in this area and doesn’t think people going down Juniper will be an issue, and thinks the experts agree. Chair Dewey would like a third party to make the determination about intersection locations. Mr. Eddy says the Town Engineer confirmed this is the preferred location in his comment. Mr. Egan says the traffic report has been reviewed at several levels. They considered alternative locations, and it’s a judgement call of tradeoffs. Moving the intersection would affect other driveways on Great Marsh. Chair Dewey requests new public comment. Roger Berman asks when the proposed homes would be hooked up to sewer and how many vehicles are estimated per house. He is concerned that cars parked in the street will affect the fire dept. Hillary Temple says they support the project and think it should be accepted and conditioned to change the intersection. She thinks there are compelling safety concerns regarding the placement. She thinks the TIA report needs to reanalyze the data using 801-13 sight distances. Her team analyzed the data using that and discovered that most of the stopping sight distances fail. There are increased conflict points. She spoke with Councilor Thomas Keane and Senator Cyr’s office, and she reached out to a civil engineer to do evaluations of their neighborhood. There are people in the neighborhood with disabilities, and the roadway is dangerous. Jeff Temple of 67 Brezner says DPW did not comment on the review that was sent in a month ago from him. The Commission did not review current changes to the project. 801-13 distinctly talks about intersections in the town. He thought the emergency gate was only going to be for exit but tonight, the applicant mentioned it would be an entrance. He thinks moving the intersection eliminates the cut-through option and doesn’t affect economic feasibility or density. Linda Lauzon works at the Harbor Point memory care facility that abuts this project and has concerns over residents using their parking lot. She would like the project to be fenced in to stop this. Tara Lewis of Brezner thinks offsetting the intersection would be safer, while maybe not engineering best practice. She requests the Board leave public comment open. Sandy Jones of Centerville thinks the project will work well with the neighborhood character. She requests they use a lottery program to give preference to town residents and employees. Lauren Peruzzi of Brezner Lane has concerns over the validity of the reports paid for by Mr. Egan. She thinks the intersection will affect quality of life and requests to move it 200 feet. Paul Phalan has concerns over the quality of the Commission review. He requests sidewalks. Councilor Betty Ludtke suggests moving the intersection if there are no adverse impacts. She also wants the roads to be built to the standard of public roads. Councilor Tom Keane says this development is within his precinct and asks the Board to proceed with a peer review. Mr. Egan reiterates that he met with the Temples and Councilor Keane. A peer review would not present alternatives. The work the Board has requested is not preliminary review—it is fully engineered plans. COMM and the Town Engineer said this is the safest place for the intersection. He has concerns over the Board deciding that the residents’ needs are greater than the preferred safest recommendation. Attorney Singer says in response to questions raised by the public, the houses will be hooked to sewer from the start, and will have two-car driveways. The Board discusses whether to request a peer review or whether to condition the road be moved. Aaron Webb moves to continue to July 8 with preliminary plans for an alternative road to be submitted as soon as possible. They are also looking for a revised traffic study from Mr. Hart. Matt Eddy says he will provide a layout plan, turning plan, and intersection plan. He will reach out to COMM Fire and Griffin Beaudoin. Manny Alves seconds the motion. Vote: Aye: Jake Dewey, Herb Bodensiek, Manny Alves, Aaron Webb, Debra Dworkis Nay: None Page 4 of 6 4 Appeal No. 2025-025 Great Marsh Development LLC is continued to July 8, 2026. New Business 7:01 PM Appeal No. 2026-009 Church of the Redeemer/Kopelman Church of the Redeemer CC, Inc. has applied for a Modification Permit pursuant to Section 240 -8 A. (3) Exempt Uses. The Applicant seeks to occupy Unit 19 for its religious use with up to 40 seats, which shall require relief from the Zoning Ordinance’s par king requirements in Section 240-56. Section 240-57 allows the Board to grant a Special Permit for certain circumstances warranting reduction of parking requirements. Unit 19 has been allocated 6 parking spaces under the original permitting, which would al low occupancy by approximately 18 persons. The proposed 40 seats would require 15 total parking spaces, so the Applicant is seeki ng relief for the remaining 9 required parking spaces. The subject property is located at 11 Enterprise Road, Hyannis, MA, as sh own on Assessor’s Map 293 as Parcel 004-20A. It is located in the Business (B) Zoning District. Aaron Webb recuses himself and leaves the meeting. Chair Dewey assigns himself, Herb Bodensiek, Paul Pinard, Manny Alves, and Larry Hurwitz. Attorney Eliza Cox is representing the applicant and is joined by Senior Pastor Thiago Reis. She also represents the owner, Robert Kopelman. She explains that the property is developed with a building that was constructed in 1985 as a multi-unit office retail building. It was put in a condo form of ownership. There are 90 parking spaces that serve the property and are all part of the shared area. The church is proposing minor interior renovations to run as a 40-seat church. Originally, this unit was allocated 5-6 parking spaces, which would allow for an occupancy of 15-18 people. The 5-6 spaces are adequate during the week for small study groups. The relief they’re seeking only deals with Sunday services. The congregation is about 22 members, but the pastor would like to grow to 40 members. This would equate to 15 parking spaces needed. The majority of other occupied units are retail or personal services. 17 of 21 units are closed on Sunday. She received letters from 7 of the businesses indicating no objection to this request. Two public comment letters came in today—one from the owner of a salon that is closed on Sunday, and another from the owner of Unit 6, whose comments she found unfair because that unit also houses a church that during SPR claimed there was adequate parking much like this application. For four Sundays, the applicant counted cars in the parking lot. It ranged from a maximum of 11-21 parking spaces being filled. They are seeking a modification permit. It is not a nuisance to surrounding properties and will not impair their use. Back to the Board for questions. Manny Alves asks when the parking space allocation to individual units happened . Attorney Cox says they are all shared, not allocated—the confusion comes from the existence of a predicted parking ratio based on square footage and use. Manny Alves thinks it needs to be made clear that it’s not for any day other than Sunday. The Board discusses whether this applicant is even required to be before the Board for this. Attorney Cox says the Building Commissioner felt they needed to come before the Board. Manny Alves is concerned that the Board is not actually modifying the ordinance the way this was advertised. Director of Planning & Development Jim Kupfer says every time a new use takes up an existing unit, they ask the new tenant to provide a parking schedule during SPR. For a plaza, they require parking as a whole to check totality. A modification permit can be granted, and the Board can consider a reduction in parking and here the use as it relates to hours of operation , so the practical need for spaces is not there. The Board would be granting specifically for this use. The group discusses the numbers of the meetings—5 or 6 people including the pastor. Attorney Cox says zoning requires one space per every 3 people. Chair Dewey opens public comment. Linda Lauzon owns an abutting property and is concerned about there being not enough parking. The notice didn’t say anything about the days. Chair Dewey says the Board received two letters: one from Bornstein and one from Armenti, concerned about parking and not in support. They also received 7 letters of no objection. The Chairman moves to close public comment. Herb Bodensiek seconds. Vote: Aye: Jake Dewey, Herb Bodensiek, Paul Pinard, Manny Alves, Larry Hurwitz Nay: None Chair Dewey thinks it makes sense and either process would make sense. Attorney Cox requests that condition no. 3 from the staff report be stricken, as it would affect the other units. The Board can grant the relief just to this applicant and just for 40 seats. If specific time matters, Pastor Reis says 9 AM-1 PM would work. Chair Dewey moves to close the public hearing. Paul Pinard seconds. Page 5 of 6 5 Vote: Aye: Jake Dewey, Herb Bodensiek, Paul Pinard, Manny Alves, Larry Hurwitz Nay: None Paul Pinard makes findings: 1. The application falls within a category specifically excepted in the ordinance for a grant of a special permit. Section 240-8 A. (3) Allows for a modification of parking requirements for exempt uses. 2. After an evaluation of all the evidence presented, the proposal fulfills the spirit and intent of the Zoning Ordinance and would not represent a substantial detriment to the public good or the neighborhood affected. He finds that there is enough parking—maximum noted spots occupied was 21 where 90 are available. 3. A Site Plan has been reviewed and found approvable with conditions. Site Plan Review not required. See email from Brian Florence, Building Commissioner, dated May 20, 2026. Herb Bodensiek seconds. Vote: Aye: Jake Dewey, Herb Bodensiek, Paul Pinard, Manny Alves, Larry Hurwitz Nay: None Paul Pinard reads the conditions as follows: 1. Modification Permit No. 2026-009 is granted to Church of the Redeemer CC, Inc. to occupy Unit 19 for its religious use with up to 40 seats, which shall require relief from the Zoning Ordinance’s parking requirements in Section 240 -56. Section 240- 57. Unit 19 has been allocated 6 parking spaces under the original permitting, which would allow occupancy by approximately 18 persons. The proposed 40 seats would require 15 total parking spaces, so the Applicant is seeking relief for the remaining 9 required parking spaces. The subject property is located at 11 Enterprise Road, Hyannis, MA . 2. The site development shall be constructed in substantial conformance with the plan entitled “Proposed Site Plan” prepared by BSC, dated February 18, 1985. 3. This parking change is only on Sundays from 9 AM-1 PM. 4. This decision shall be recorded at the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds and copies of the recorded decision shall be submitted to the Zoning Board of Appeals Office and the Building Division prior to issuance of a building permit. The rights authorized by this Modification Permit must be exercised within two years, unless extended. Herb Bodensiek seconds. Vote: Aye: Jake Dewey, Herb Bodensiek, Paul Pinard, Manny Alves, Larry Hurwitz Nay: None Chair Dewey makes a motion to grant Modification Permit No. 2026-009 based on findings, with conditions. Paul Pinard seconds. Vote: Aye: Jake Dewey, Herb Bodensiek, Paul Pinard, Manny Alves, Larry Hurwitz Nay: None Modification Permit No. 2026-009 Church of the Redeemer CC, Inc./Kopelman is granted with conditions. Correspondence • Cape Cod Commission – June 11 Falmouth Marine improvements • June 11 sandpit road ANR hearing Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair Chair Dewey says there are two open seats on the Board. Upcoming Hearings June 10, 2026 (in person), June 24, 2026 (in person), July 8, 2026 (in person) Adjournment Chair Dewey moves to adjourn. Paul Pinard seconds. Page 6 of 6 6 Vote: Aye: Jake Dewey, Herb Bodensiek, Paul Pinard, Manny Alves, Larry Hurwitz Nay: None Adjourned 9:59 PM. Documents Used at this Meeting • March 11, 2026 & April 22, 2026 minutes • Application packet for Appeal No. 2025-025 Great Marsh Development LLC • Appeal No. 2026-009 Church of the Redeemer/Kopelman • Staff Report dated May 14th, 2026 for2025-025 Respectfully submitted, Genna Ziino, Administrative Assistant Further detail may be obtained by viewing the video via the Barnstable Government Access Channel on demand at town.barnstable.ma.us