'Projects are taking much longer.' Construction may benefit with 3-year Bourne permit

Paul Gately
·3 min read

BOURNE — Commercial development projects can face hurdles when their special permits issued by a town approach an expiration date and work has not yet begun.

In Bourne, the town Planning Board and the town Zoning Board of Appeals have endorsed a proposed amendment to the zoning bylaw that pushes the expiration date from two years to three. The measure is headed to the May 6 town meeting.

A three-year permit would allow some languishing and high-visibility construction projects more time as well as bring the town bylaw into conformity with the state’s three-year permit limit.

A bylaw change could offer relief to a planned Cumberland Farms convenience store and gas station at the Bourne Rotary as well as a stalled health care and housing complex for older people at Sagamore Beach.

An expansion plan for the Cumberland Farms gas station at the Bourne Rotary, shown Friday in a view looking south from an old fish market, was granted a two-year special permit extension in February. Voters in Bourne will be asked at town meeting in May to change special permit limits to three years.
An expansion plan for the Cumberland Farms gas station at the Bourne Rotary, shown Friday in a view looking south from an old fish market, was granted a two-year special permit extension in February. Voters in Bourne will be asked at town meeting in May to change special permit limits to three years.

A special permit plays a role in a town's overall regulatory planning scheme. The permits can allow planners to attach conditions to project approvals. An example is mandating patrons of the planned Cumberland Farms project to exit the premises solely along MacArthur Boulevard, also known as Route 28, southbound rather than reentering the heavily-trafficked rotary.

The Cumberland Farms project was granted a two-year special permit extension in February. The company changed hands in 2019 and is now owned by British retailer EG Group.

Planners in late January also granted 21 Hunters Brook LLC a two-year extension to the permit for the Canal Street Crossing project. The plan calls for building a medical building, assisted living units, nursing home and residential town houses in Sagamore Beach near the Cape Cod Canal.

A view on Friday looks north through a security fence placed around a now-vacant lot next to the Cumberland Farms gas station at the Bourne Rotary.
A view on Friday looks north through a security fence placed around a now-vacant lot next to the Cumberland Farms gas station at the Bourne Rotary.

Why the need for three-year permits?

In February, Town Planner Jennifer Copeland advised the Planning Board that “three years is generally the permit timeline now because projects are taking much longer.”

Planning Board Chair Dan Doucette agreed with extending the permits to three years.

“And that’s the reason we put that request in there; to be consistent with the state," he said.

Board member Chris Farrell said consistency is important.

“At our last two meetings, we’ve had extension requests,” he said. “It just seems to make sense to keep this consistent with state law. It keeps everyone on the same page.”

Future health care in North Sagamore

The Sagamore Beach medical complex plan, represented by Carl Wirsen Jr., is a $4 million to $5 million proposal that could generate $200,000 to $300,000 in commercial tax revenue.

Wirsen, however, told planners in early February developers are reevaluating the project. Developers could eliminate assisted living units and add more townhouses to the tract off Canal Street and Hunters Brook Road.

“We’re revising the project,” Wirsen said. “We’re presently working with the Cape Cod Commission, but we can in the future present changes to this board and to the public.”

More: Bourne Rotary $1.8M upgrade begins this spring. Here's what to know.

'No work has been done'

Nearby residents Scott and Judith Froman have urged the Planning Board to consider what Canal Street Crossing was first designed to offer and what core changes will mean to the neighborhood a block from the canal.

“No work has been done on this,” Scott Froman told planners. “People in the community have the right to understand why nothing has been done.”

Judith Froman, a former Bourne Select Board member, is no fan of the Canal Street plan.

She originally told planners to carefully evaluate market needs, especially for more assisted living units.

“Don’t overseed the market with senior housing,” she told the board prior to the project’s initial approval.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Bourne Town Meeting will be asked to extend special permits to 3 years