The road ahead: Route 28
by Debi Boucher StetsonIt’s a haven for mini-golfers, a summer playground for tourists, a jumble of clam shacks, restaurants, motels and cottages. It’s too busy in summer and too quiet in winter. It’s a blessing and a curse. It’s Yarmouth’s stretch of Route 28, fraught with challenges and full of possibilities that – until now – haven’t been fulfilled.
But this may be Route 28’s time to shine.
After years of false starts, the town has hit on a winning combination of grant money, solid planning and hardworking coalitions of the right people, all of which promises to transform Route 28 in several key areas.
With three areas identified as possible village centers, the town is moving ahead with developing two of them. And with an innovative motel bylaw that allows owners to make alterations and convert to housing, the town is well on its way to changing the face of Route 28.
“The ball really got rolling after the town received a grant from the Cape Cod Commission to implement the Local Comprehensive Plan,” said Yarmouth Director of Community Development Karen Greene. It helped pay for the Bluestone Planning Group to identify areas that could be improved.
They identified a “placelessness” across Yarmouth that can be remedied by developing defined village centers that incorporated housing and retail development. Eight such centers were identified, all along Route 28.
Bluestone also made zoning recommendations, which led to the bylaw that makes motels an allowed use. Until then, any proposed alteration had to go before the zoning board of appeals. The bylaw also raised height restrictions to allow third stories. This way, motels can convert to badly needed housing while maintaining the same footprint.
“In my opinion, the motel bylaw [approved by about 75 percent of Town Meeting] was step No. 1,” said Peter Q. Smith, chairman of the town’s Community and Economic Development Committee, which helped write it.
So far, Greene said, two property owners have taken advantage of the bylaw to convert from motels to housing.
Parker’s River Marine Park
Maybe the most exciting project is the proposed marina park at Parker’s River where the Yarmouth Drive-in Theater once flourished. Located next to the Lobster Boat restaurant and across the street from the Zooquarium and Captain Parker’s Pub, it would provide 93 boat slips plus 100 dry-storage racks, as well as a public boat ramp. In addition, there will be walking trails and a visitor center.
“That could dramatically change the look and feel of Route 28 in that area,” said Bob DuBois, executive director of the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce. “It’s not just for the boaters; it’s for all of us who will drive down there and be reminded that we’re in a seaside area.”
It’s likely that many motorists traveling that route have no idea how close they are to the water. “[The marine park] will leverage economic opportunity in that area,” DuBois predicted.
Added Smith: “The marina is of utmost importance” in creating more year-round businesses.
Karl van Hone, director of natural resources for Yarmouth, noted that currently most access to Parker’s River is private, but the park will change that. Beyond readier access to the water, plans call for a marine science center that will incorporate the shellfish propagation operation already in place – as well as coastal environment displays, a touch tank and interpretive lectures.
The project, van Hone said, is still in the early permitting stages, with an environmental review filed jointly with the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency and the Cape Cod Commission. The process could take a year to complete, he noted.
“We have probably 500 people on the mooring and slip waiting list,” van Hone reported. “So the demand is very high,” he said, adding that the town currently has about 520 slips and moorings.
Eventually, the town could build and operate the marina – which would require a debt exemption – or contract a private company to build and operate it with a lease arrangement, costing taxpayers little, said van Hone. He expects the permitting, design and construction to take another three to four years, meaning the marina would open in 2010 or 2011, if all goes smoothly.
Packet Landing
Packet Landing, also known as the South Yarmouth Village Center, would include a riverside park and a building with rest rooms and meeting facilities.
However, a bylaw intended to pave the way for the project was withdrawn at last year’s town meeting, apparently because it lacked sufficient support. Now, there are two committees studying the bylaw, while the town plans a build-out analysis funded by the county.
Packet Landing would tie in with the new Cultural Center of Cape Cod in the old Bass River Savings Bank building right down the street – as well as the library across from it. Planners see great potential for a pedestrian-friendly area.
“That’s the hope, to bring people into that historic area,” DuBois said. “They’ll get a sense of the history – there are three centuries of architecture there.”
A third village center, which has received relatively little attention, would be located near the Hyannis border and the emerging medical community surrounding Cape Cod Hospitals. If it is to become a reality, it will be after Packet Landing is in progress.
Next steps
The next step is to bring Bluestone back to conduct a traffic study of Route 28, which was not included in the village center report, said Greene. Meanwhile, town officials are looking at using Community Preservation Act funds to revitalize several dilapidated buildings such as the 1750 House. “The town could buy it, tear down the house and create another park,” Smith said.
The current structure is near Chase Brook Park, created nearly a decade ago by the Yarmouth Land Bank Committee with contributions from local businesses and individuals. It has picnic tables, benches and a walkway winding through marsh grass to a deck overlooking Lewis Bay.
“Chase Brook Park is a good example of appropriate development,” DuBois said. “It opened up that water view. The chamber would like to see the same thing happen with the 1750 House. We believe there’s a spectacular view behind it that would be nice to see.”
If there is one overriding theme it is to open up Route 28 to as many water views as possible. That’s “key,” emphasized DuBois said. “We need to open up views to remind people they’re in a seaside community on the Cape.”
Published in The Villages of Yarmouth May/June 2007
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