Seven Villages, Janet Joakim

I watched a replay of a special Zoning Board of Appeals hearing the other night that had been set up to hear an ongoing issue.  The owners of Blanchard’s Liquors, currently located at the edge of the Mall on Rt. 28, purchased the old Knights of Columbus Hall on Rt. 28 in Centerville; two lots down from the newer CVS on the corner of Rt. 28 and Strawberry Hill Rd. an already busy and dangerous intersection. (shown in pink on the map the large green area is the school owned property that includes the middle school and the high school)

They must appear before Z.B.A. because this use, a 9600 + sq foot liquor store, needs a special permit. They plan to knock down the current building and build this new store, pave for the necessary parking and create the curb-cuts needed to accommodate over 1500 trips to and from a package store that will be open seven days a week.

Three town councilors from Centerville see this as a major burden on an already troubled traffic area, and will voice their concerns in a letter to the Z.B.A.

Often, these projects are approved and local residents don’t find out they can speak out against it until the developer is actually building the business. That is when councilors start to hear from local residents. We need to address this project BEFORE it’s approved, and that decision is drawing near.

In this recent televised Z.B.A. hearing the project was presented as supported by Barnstable Middle School officials. This is not true. The school committee reacted to portrayals that they supported the project by voting unanimously to oppose a liquor store on that property so close to both middle school and the high school. 

Currently this store is operating at the Cape Cod Mall with rear access through the mall and with the option of a traffic signaled intersection. It empties out onto Rt. 28 where the road is wider, allowing traffic to merge into moving traffic.  At the location in Centerville, the traffic would simply be turning in and out onto Rt. 28 just short of a very busy, already burdened intersection. This can only create further backups and dangerous congestion. 

The town’s Growth Management Department has come up with several different ways this development could be designed with less stress on traffic, and each one has met with difficulties according to the developer. There was a plan to devise a rear exit to a smaller side street.  This would have been costly and the developer presented the option to the neighbors. According to some, they claimed that “this was the town’s idea” and the presentation created a panic in the neighborhood, bringing a cadre of residents out to object.

A median strip to prevent left turns in and out and to control the traffic flow was suggested, but the developer did not want to pay the cost. The developer has settled on a curb cut designed like the cut in front of the Olive Garden in Hyannis. This is supposed to deter the left turns.

 But realistically, this will not alleviate the burden this project will put on this strained section of Rt. 28. 

Consider the following; this store is moving from Hyannis, suppose you are coming in from Hyannis and want to leave the store and get back to Hyannis?  If this project is built as proposed you will have the following options:

1. Drive out of the curb cut heading west, try to cut across traffic to get into the left turn lane that will bring you down Strawberry Hill Rd and then left on West Main and make your way towards the western part of Hyannis. This might work in traffic that isn’t heavy, but what if West Main Street is out of your way?
2. Drive out of the curb cut heading west and take a right onto Strawberry Hill and down Phinney’s towards 132.  But what if that is out of your way as well?
3. Drive out of the curb cut heading west looking for a place to turn around, perhaps pulling into the CVS and take a left turn out of there as it that curb cut doesn’t really prevent that. Or further down 28 until you find a place to turn around.
4. Do what many will do - even when the signs say ”no left turn” - take a left turn out of the curb cut and cut across traffic.

Now, suppose you are COMING FROM the West?  Suppose you want to get into the package store coming from Centerville, Osterville, Marstons Mills, or thereabouts?

Will you drive east into Hyannis until you get to a place where you can turn around? Or will you take a left turn across traffic into a curb cut designed to make that difficult? This is a two lane highway. Will these left turn attempts hold up traffic? Will this create problems that back up traffic into the Old Strawberry Hill - Rt. 28 intersection? How can this possibly NOT cause enormous traffic problems? The only way it won’t cause problems is if this store sees a major drop in business compared to the store in Hyannis. 

The Z.B.A. was told that the store’s current location is destined to be leveled as part of a mitigation agreement with the Cape Cod Commission when the CC Mall expanded. But, this is not going to happen because part of the expansion was related to Filenes’s expansion…. and of course that store is no longer with us ….Blanchard’s could stay in their current location, but they don’t own the property.

What is most disturbing about this whole situation is that the property was purchased to build a business that is not permited under the current usage, highway business - which allows offices and banks, without a special permit.  Were there assumptions made that they would get this permit?

The comments from the Z.B.A. regarding this proposal during the hearing indicated that they should be moving forward to approve this project because the business owner purchased this property almost two years ago, and these delays are causing hardships. But, this property was purchased for a use that is not allowed. That use is not allowed for good reason.

This proposed usage will be a nightmare for local residents who travel Rt. 28 between Hyannis and Mashpee. This is one case where we need to abide by the current zoning. 

At this point, a bank has also been proposed for this block, for the property between CVS and the proposed Blanchards. An allowed usage. The bank, however, has requested relief from the Z.B.A. for a drive through, which is not permitted. The bank has worked with the CVS and will share driveways and curb cuts with the CVS allowing access to Strawberry Hill Rd.  This is a more workable plan. 

These properties have remained vacant, overgrown, and neglected for years. They are business-use properties, zoned for offices and banks and we can’t stop businesses from using them, within the allowed zoning. That zoning is set for a reason. We don’t need a liquor store – a 9600 sq. ft. liquor store — on this block that is so close to a school and a church. The traffic issues that accompany this proposal are too problematic to ignore.

It is unfortunate that this property was actually purchased with the expectation that this usage would be permitted per ZBA. Some may say that was presumptuous.  But, this is not reason enough to allow this non-conforming use. If the Z.B.A. feels they cannot reject this proposal all together, based on the negative impacts on the area’s quality of life, then at the very least it should be referred to the Cape Cod Commission because of the detrimental effect it will have on traffic.

What do you think? Let me know.

Send me an email janetjoakim@aol.com or leave me a voice mail at 508-420-2153 or post a comment, or all three!

If you would like to sent a message to the ZBA, send it to me and I will forward it through the council office.

Janet Joakim