CONTACT | DONATE | EVENTS

Barnstable Clean Water Coalition
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • BCWC Board of Directors
    • BCWC Staff
    • Contact Us
  • EVENTS
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Educate
    • Monitor
    • Mitigate
    • Advocate
  • NEWS
  • GET INVOLVED
  • RESOURCES
    • BCWC Video Library
    • Native New England Garden
    • Cape Cod Water Quality Management Plan (208 Plan)
    • Affiliated Organizations
    • APCC’s Cyanobacteria Monitoring
    • Water Quality Information
    • Town of Barnstable Resources
  • DONATE
  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • BCWC Board of Directors
    • BCWC Staff
    • Contact Us
  • EVENTS
  • WHAT WE DO
    • Educate
    • Monitor
    • Mitigate
    • Advocate
  • NEWS
  • GET INVOLVED
  • RESOURCES
    • BCWC Video Library
    • Native New England Garden
    • Cape Cod Water Quality Management Plan (208 Plan)
    • Affiliated Organizations
    • APCC’s Cyanobacteria Monitoring
    • Water Quality Information
    • Town of Barnstable Resources
  • DONATE
Homepage > News > Zoning for the future: ‘We’re going to get a lot louder,’ says Barnstable Clean Water Assoc. (11/15/18)

Zoning for the future: ‘We’re going to get a lot louder,’ says Barnstable Clean Water Assoc. (11/15/18)

November 15, 2018 In News

The Barnstable Patriot
By Bronwen Howells Walsh

Posted Nov 15, 2018 at 1:28 PM
Updated Nov 16, 2018 at 12:45 PM

Zoning for the future: ‘We’re going to get a lot louder,’ says Barnstable Clean Water Assoc.

Barnstable Town Council was poised to vote Nov. 15 on expanding the highway business district on Route 28 in Centerville and Hyannis, and along West Main Street in Hyannis.

Drafted by Barnstable’s Zoning and Regulatory Committee, the proposed zoning amendments are designed to encourage investment in Barnstable’s aging commercial corridors, help meet housing demands, promote increased property values, and make the areas more pedestrian-friendly.

The zoning amendments would increase the types of businesses that could operate in the highway business districts, raise the maximum building height from 30 to 38 feet (or three stories), reduce commercial setback requirements, and ease the regulatory process for multi-use development in those areas.

The Zoning and Regulatory Committee chaired by Jim Crocker, vice president of the council, who owns land along Route 28; however, the proposal clearly states that the changes are unanimously supported by all committee members, including Councilors Crocker, Jessica Rapp Grassetti, Matthew Levesque, Paul Neary, and member-at-large Hank Farnham. At the full council’s Nov. 1 hearing, Crocker said he would recuse himself from the final vote.

The proposal also pledges “to protect adjacent residential land and maintain Barnstable’s unique character and exceptional quality of life.” Approval of the highway business district zoning changes requires a 2/3 majority vote of the council and planning board. Public comment was continued until Thursday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m., and the town will notify residential abutters.

Meanwhile, Barnstable Clean Water Association (BCWA) is now monitoring for marine invasive species at seven locations in Barnstable. The cover of the organization’s fall newsletter shows a close-up of angry-orange algae growing in Barnstable Harbor.

BCWA said two new Hyannis Harbor sites also contain numerous invasive species not seen at other sites until this year. The most commonly observed species at all seven sites were the Star Tunicate (Botryllus schlosseri) and the Sheath Tunicate (Botrylloides violaceus). Both tunicates were found growing on docks, lines, buoys and boat hulls.

At the same time, BCWA’s quarterly data demonstrates decreasing dissolved oxygen levels – an indicator of declining water quality – in Prince Cove, likely caused by high levels of nitrogen.

“We’re going to get a lot louder,” Zenas Crocker said in a Nov. 12 interview, his office working through Veterans Day.

“I’m not against sustainable development or sewering, but the untested tools are the missing link,” Crocker said. “Mill Pond would be Barnstable’s first pond restoration. Stormwater treatment, wetlands restoration, dredging – these are all basically ideas that have not been tried on any scale.”

Crocker said he planned to testify at the Nov. 15 joint hearing, as well as the next Barnstable Board of Health meeting. Scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 27, the health board meeting will consider a proposal to modify the town’s regulations protecting salt water estuaries, a change Zee Crocker said is tantamount to sanctioning unmitigated development.

“We (BCWA) cannot support this,” Crocker said. “Any proposed change should be part of our comprehensive water management plan—when implemented, not just planned. We need to have sensible, sustainable development, but why lift the (salt water estuary) regulations for the entire town?”

Visit www.barnstablepatriot.com for updates on both hearings.

The Barnstable Patriot – Zoning for the future: ‘We’re going to get a lot louder,’ says Barnstable Clean Water Assoc.

News The Barnstable Patriot
Previous StoryDredging of entrance to Cotuit Bay begins (11/5/18)
Next StoryBarnstable Board of Health to consider lifting nutrient restrictions (11/21/18)

Barnstable Clean Water Coalition

  • Email
    info@BCleanWater.org
  • Phone
    508-420-0780
  • Address
    PO BOX 215
    864 Main Street
    Osterville, MA 02655

Recent Posts

  • BCWC on the Front Page of today’s Boston Globe Wednesday, 18, May
  • DesignWithNature-Cover
    Design with Nature on Cape Cod and the Islands Tuesday, 26, Apr
  • Podcast Urges Water Stewardship On Cape Cod (4/8/22) Friday, 8, Apr
  • New Septic Systems Promising In Protecting Upper Cape Water Systems (3/18/22) Friday, 18, Mar
  • Sea Level Rise Wednesday, 16, Mar

Popular Posts

  • Coalition Quarterly – Issue 15 (Spring 2021) posted 11 months ago
  • Resources for Upcoming Citizen Forums – Town of Barnstable Sewer Assessment Ordinance Presentation posted 1 year ago
  • Neighbors Take Action to Save Their Ponds posted 2 years ago
  • Coalition Quarterly – Issue 17 (Fall 2021) posted 5 months ago
  • Welcome to the Living Laboratory: Come Learn with Us posted 2 years ago

Blog Post Tags

Algae BCWC Projects Books Cape & Plymouth Business Media Cape Cod Groundwater Guardians Cape Cod Online Cape Cod Times Cape Cod Today Cape Media News Cape News Coalition Quarterly Cranberry Bogs Design With Nature DNSI EPA Harmful Algal Blooms I/A Septic System Technology MA Oyster Project Mashpee Enterprise Massachusetts Oyster Project MASSTC Michael Egan's Editorials News Newsletter New York Times One Drop Leads to Another PFAS Press Release Sea Level Rise South Coast Today The Barnstable Patriot The Boston Globe The Enterprise Bourne The Falmouth Enterprise The Inquirer and Mirror The Martha's Vineyard Times The Standard Times Three Bays Preservation Newsletter Watershed Action Alliance WBUR Wicked Local

Archives

  • DONATE
  • VOLUNTEER
  • SIGN UP FOR OUR EMAILS

Three Bays Preservation, Inc. dba Barnstable Clean Water Coalition is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. Federal Tax ID#:  04-3338308.

Copyright ©2019 Barnstable Clean Water Coalition, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy | Terms | Sitemap | Site Produced by Coastal Mountain Creative