Yarmouth scrambles under state plan to house migrant, displaced families at local motel

Editor's note: This story was updated at 7:40 p.m. Aug. 25 to add a comment from Gov. Maura Healey's administration.

Up to 100 displaced and migrant families are expected to be placed at the Yarmouth Resort as early as next week under a state of emergency order declared by Gov. Maura Healey's administration earlier this month.

Yarmouth Town Administrator Robert Whritenour said he received a phone call from the governor’s office Wednesday about a plan to relocate displaced and migrant families to the condo-motel — a motel with condominium ownership — at 343 Main St. in Yarmouth. Whritenour said Friday he is struggling to get additional information from the Healey administration.

“We do understand that there's a state of emergency,” Whritenour said. “And if we're going to be successful, we're going to need more coordination, communication in order to better prepare.”

Phone messages left by the Times at the governor's office were not returned, however, a written statement was issued Friday evening by Kevin Connor, press secretary for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.

“The Administration is exploring all options to expand family shelter capacity. When making emergency shelter placements, the Administration seeks to ensure that no residents are displaced as a result of our efforts to house families in crisis.”

Sheltering the families at the Yarmouth Resort “has not been confirmed yet,” Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, said, but that it is “likely.” About 50 people have already been taking up residency at the motel, according to previous Times reporting.

“Certainly, this is not ideal, but we don't want families to be on the street,” Cyr said. “Cape Cod should be doing our fair share to welcome homeless and housing insecure families who are in desperate need, it's unconscionable to allow children and families of children to be sleeping on the streets.”

The state government is “drinking from a firehose” in trying to address the problem, he said, and there is a significant amount of strain on state resources as a result — affecting everything from communication to funding.

Six displaced families composed of about 35 individuals were placed in a motel in Eastham on Tuesday, Cyr said.

The Healey administration declared a state of emergency on Aug. 8 to address “rapidly rising numbers of migrant families arriving in Massachusetts in need of shelter and services,” according to the state of emergency brief sent out by Healey’s office. There are roughly 5,600 families and over 20,000 individuals in state shelters, including children and pregnant women.

If 100 displaced and migrant families are placed at the Yarmouth Resort, Whritenour said, a group of that size could have a big impact on the town.

Some major concerns, he said, are schooling for children and social services for families and individuals.

“I know the state has more experience dealing with this program than we do, we have none,” he said. “And so we're very hopeful that we get more information so that we (can) assist local officials, doing whatever preparations that we need to do.”

In terms of schooling, Cyr said money has been set aside through the Student Opportunity Act, which has specifically expanded funding to programs for English language learners.

“There's a pretty significant amount of funding that's been coming to districts like Barnstable and (Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District) to help students, especially students who may need English language services,” Cyr said.

Whritenour is also worried about occupancy code violations at the Yarmouth Resort.

“The facility (is) under a violation notice, and so there are some significant code questions that need to be resolved in order to prepare as well,” Whritenour said. “I know there have been some pretty significant alleged zoning violations at that site and they currently do not possess a certificate of occupancy — they're going to need a certificate of occupancy. So I think there's going to have to be additional inspections.”

Whitenhour expressed his concerns to Healey's office.

“We’re standing by for more information,” he said. “Just awaiting clarification and the game plan.”

Earlier this month, tenants at the Yarmouth resort reported receiving notices that the rent would increase from $300 per week to $700. Without a contractual agreement in place, hotels and motels can raise rates without much notice. But after the Times published a story about the increase, co-owner Ashkol Patel denied the rent hikes, blaming the notices instead on a “communication gap.”

Patel could not be reached for comment on Friday for this story.

Yarmouth Resort transitioned to a condo-motel in 2005 when the Yarmouth Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved a petition by Miracle LLC, the motel's then-owner.

At that time, the zoning board imposed several conditions on the preliminary approval meant to preserve its motel use and prevent long-term residencies, including that the rental of a unit may not be arranged directly by the owner and must be done through the motel management company, according to earlier Times stories.

The Cape Cod Commission claims the region “is facing a significant challenge in providing affordable and attainable housing for current and future Cape Cod residents.” The challenge affects not only those trying to find housing but also the Cape's economy, when employers try to find employees locally, according to the commission.

Yarmouth Select Board member suggests Joint Base Cape Cod as an alternative

Yarmouth Select Board member Mark Forest is skeptical about housing the displaced families at the motel, adding the state should focus on using facilities at Joint Base Cape Cod for housing.

In October 2022, after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis directed about 50 South American migrants to be flown to Martha’s Vineyard, 35 Venezuelan migrants were housed at the base. In July, 53 families composed of 179 individuals were living in townhouses at the base.

“Joint Base Cape Cod has been utilized as a shelter area, it has significant underutilized space. They are the only place on Cape Cod that has underutilized wastewater and water infrastructure,” Forest said. “I believe it continues to be an ideal location to address this crisis, it would be a huge mistake to abandon it or not focus more energy and effort on it.”

Walker Armstrong reports on all things transportation and the Joint Base Cape Cod military base. Contact him at WArmstrong@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter: @jd__walker.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Yarmouth concerned over migrant families' effect on local services