It's been a year since Bourne lifted its dock ban. Why aren't there any new docks?

BOURNE — The Conservation Commission has had a quiet year in weighing requests for the go-ahead to install docks at private homes now that the construction ban has been lifted.

“I believe we’ve had 12 filings in the past year,” said conservation chair Robert Gray, who was part of a 3-0 vote to lift the docks ban. “Some have gone to the DEP (state Department of Environmental Protection) and to the Corps of Engineers. I don’t think any have cleared final approval.”

Dock projects can be extremely expensive, and that may be partly the reason the floodgates did not open. Post-pandemic filings for the water access have involved proposals from Buttermilk Bay north of the canal to Squeteague near the Megansett line. The bay dock would extend 125 feet.

Gray in a Nov. 16 interview said Corps approval of dock requests is no longer as strict as in recent years. “That’s changed,” he said. “Their review has been scaled back.”

Gray said some dock filings are “straightforward” as to location and impacts. Others are controversial, especially in Squeteague Harbor, Cataumet, where proposed docks may become defining shoreline elements if ultimately approved as first proposed.

No filing seems ordinary. A plan for 122 Wings Neck Road, Pocasset, calls for 115 feet of dock in two sections; one seasonal, one year-round with a 28-foot ramp at the end of the structure as well as a 25-foot-wide float.

The commission is also wrestling with proposals for homes at 80 and 96 Megansett Road at the cove below Amrita Island with its narrow entrance, nearby moorings, not much water at low tide and residential opposition.

Gray said the 80 Megansett Road timber dock in a velocity zone might jut out too far into the water at the cove entrance. The commission on Dec. 7 was set to vote a draft order of conditions for the plan under the state Environmental Protection Act and a draft denial under the Bourne Conservation Bylaw. This would move the proposal to a final order of conditions.

The 96 Megansett Road plan, in initial design, would extend into the water more than one-fifth of the distance between the end of the structure and property across the cove. The site is the former iconic and lovingly remembered summer camp for kids run by the Animal Rescue League of Boston.

Stringent regs in place for docks review

The amended wetland rules are specific for docks, even those not hyper-visible. They command structured detail in commission review. They seem narrow-cast; not expansively framed. New docks must be seasonal and removed after each boating season.

They must also be slatted so sunlight at a 65% penetration rate can reach saltmarsh below.

“This is a high standard,” Falmouth Engineering consultant James Borselli acknowledged during an October hearing for a 394 Scraggy Neck Road dock plan.

There is also the imperative that a filing assure at least three feet of water for a boat at low tide. Perhaps most stringent, dock plans must allow egress; that is, allow people on foot traversing the shoreline to maneuver past or under docks.

The ban on dock construction projects remained in place for 20 years, with some complaints by homeowners, but none to the extent there was ever formal review of waterways regulations.

In late 2022, the Shore and Harbor Committee tackled that granular review in unnoticed fashion. There was no issue-oriented debate. Members recommended lifting the dock ban. Their report flowed to Conservation Commission review. There was resulting drama. One member abruptly left the meeting, saying it was a foregone conclusion despite discussion that the ban was already history.

The commission approved the amended regulation and the select board followed suit.

Gray at that point was not sure if the floodgates would open with construction requests. That, however, did not transpire; though hearings are now routinely a part of commission meeting agendas, most involving addresses in somewhat exclusive areas at the higher end of the economic ladder.

Lifting the dock ban has not dramatically reshaped or transformed the town’s considerable shoreline, and all concerned with amending the wetlands regulation agreed there would be no more docks granted along the Pocasset River.

John York of Cataumet, meanwhile, advised the commission of his concerns that there will be a cumulative impact of new docks, speaking during the 80 Meganset Road hearing on Sept. 21.

Docks can be very expensive proposals

U.S. Rep. William Keating, D-9th, has filed a proposal with the commission for a 131-foot dock for his Little Bay property at Monument Beach. That, in turn, prompted a similar proposal by his neighbor at the secluded area.

Affordability is a dock factor, according to commission members, but cost seems to be overcome by residential aspirations and recreational possibilities for property owners who can carry the expense.

Harbormaster Chris Southwood says approving private docks can be procedurally exhaustive. Docks can cost upwards of $300,000 when factors such as design/re-design, site preparation, engineering, consultants, manufacture of materials, construction and its site impacts, shellfish/habitat surveys, saltmarsh protection and agreements for seasonal removal, are considered.

Southwood said there is new and rising interest in securing such access to the water. So, more docks are likely forthcoming.

“It’s like one property owner wants one, so the neighbor decides they want one too,” he said.

Where are the current docks located?

According to Cape Cod Commission mapping and compilation by the Bourne Engineering Department, there are 23 docks at Buttermilk Bay plus one each at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and the Taylor Point Marina.

There are 40 docks along the Pocasset River, 12 along the Pocasset Harbor side of Wings Neck and six on the north side of Scraggy Neck.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bourne lifted its dock ban a year ago. Who's trying to build one?