'No injury.' Three residents appealing downtown Hyannis residential plan turned away
HYANNIS — An appeal of the planned development of the former TD Bank property at 307 Main St. was dismissed within minutes on Monday at a town committee meeting. But a formal complaint from at least one person who filed the appeal is planned.
The Hyannis Main Street Waterfront Historic District Appeals Commission met to handle the appeal.
"The legal department has advised the committee that the appellants lack standing," committee Chair Alison Alessi said during the meeting. "The legal department has further advised the committee that because the appellants lack standing, no hearing should be conducted and the matter is closed."
John Julius, Chris Kuhn and Eric Schwaab had filed the appeal of the Hyannis Main Street Waterfront Historic District Commission's Nov. 1 decision to grant Boston developer WinnDevelopment a permit to demolish the existing building and a certificate of appropriateness for its proposed residential complex.
The trio wanted the appeals committee to either annul or send the matter back to the commission.
Julius said he thinks the group was denied due process by the Barnstable town attorney's office because they were not allowed to present their case and prove standing. Case law allows for individuals who have "a legitimate concern for protecting the integrity of a historic district" that would be harmed by visual changes to abutting properties and public places do have standing, he said.
"As for us as the three appellants, we are merely concerned taxpaying residents trying to preserve and protect the historic nature and integrity of Hyannis Main Street and its waterfront district, which we have a legal right to do despite any efforts from anyone trying to deny us that right," Julius wrote in an email to the Times.
Julius said he plans to file a formal complaint with the Attorney General's office and will also petition the Board of Bar Overseers and ask for sanctions to be issued for denying the three appellants due process and the right to have their appeal heard.
$250,000 donation for street improvements
Schwaab said he would like to see the original historic building preserved, saying those features are underneath additions that were attached over the years. He said the commission has not yet held a vote on proposed unified design guidelines.
"My concern is what the area looks like," said Schwaab. "We may have lost that building but not the battle."
Schwaab said he thinks WinnDevelopment's agreement to give the town $250,000 for road improvements after the building permit was issued may have influenced the commission. Barnstable Director of Planning and Development Elizabeth Jenkins said the town requested WinnDevelopment construct a sidewalk on the length of their property frontage on Old Colony Road during the site plan review process.
"Because of the dynamic nature of the streetscape in that location as a result of implementation of the forthcoming two-way conversion of Main and Old Colony Road, and associated public works projects anticipated to impact that intersection, Winn agreed to make a financial contribution in lieu of constructing the sidewalk as part of the site redevelopment," Jenkins wrote in an email.
The donation would be for “pedestrian and vehicular improvements” around the project, specifically on Main Street and/or Old Colony Road, said Jenkins.
Commission review flawed, according to three residents
The appellants argued in a letter to the committee that the Hyannis Main Street Waterfront Historic District Commission did not determine whether the plans to redevelop the former bank fit its guidelines related to design, scale and proportion.
Those requirements, the group said, ranged from the new building needing to be shorter than the tallest building in the area and taller than the shortest, facade treatments being consistent on all sides visible from the street, and new construction not overwhelming adjacent buildings.
In a letter to the town, Robert Brennan, an attorney representing Winn, said the company opposed the appeal, saying the appellants did not prove they would be sufficiently harmed by the project.
"Here, the appellants are not abutters to 307 Main Street, and allege no injury particular to them as distinct from the village of Hyannis in general," reads Brennan's letter.
A building that has housed banks
The 1924-built building was formerly the Hyannis Trust Company Bank and is also known as the Cape Cod Bank and Trust building, according to the Massachusetts Historical Commission.
WinnDevelopment plans to turn the former bank into Harbor Vue, a housing development that includes 120 mixed-income apartments.
According to plan documents, ICON Architect of Boston will serve as the architect.
The entire existing two-story brick building will be demolished and replaced with a four-story, multi-family building containing studios and one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments.
WinnDevelopment has committed 25% of the apartments for those making at or below 80% area median income for 40 years. This means all 120 units will count toward the town's subsidized housing inventory, which the state tracks.
Including those new units will nudge Barnstable's affordable housing inventory from 6.78% to 7.28%, according to data from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities released on June 29.
A portion of the building will be for those making 60% area median income or less for one person and other units will be set aside for workforce housing, aimed at those making 80% to 120% area median income.
In Barnstable County, 100% of the area median income for a four-person household would be $120,900. A two-person household making 80% of the area median income would be $77,400.
Zane Razzaq writes about housing and real estate. Reach her at zrazzaq@capecodonline.com. Follow her on X @zanerazz.
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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Former TD Bank land development in Hyannis historic area challenged
