The Planning Board held a public information session on June 16, 2010, on its draft revisions of the zoning bylaws to prevent disproportionately oversized houses from being built in the R1 and R2 zoning districts.
Read the draft zoning bylaw provisions here.
The Planning Board continued its discussion of tighter standards for residences in zones R1 and R2, aimed at preserving the character of Wellfleet, and of procedures to apply these new standards.
When it finalizes a draft zoning bylaw amendment, it will conduct informational public meetings during the summer and fall in anticipation of presenting the amendment for a vote at the fall Town Meeting.
Planning Board member (and WNSHA Vice-President) Gooz Draz has written a public letter inviting Wellfleet residents to support the Board’s proposed zoning revisions for residential zones R1 and R2:
“I am writing to ask for your help in support of new zoning regulations for Wellfleet’s R1 & R2 districts. The Planning Board, of which I am a member, has a plan to regulate house sizes in our town in similar fashion to what was done for the Seashore District. Saturday, January 30th, 9 AM at the Senior Center, an open meeting will be held to explain the zoning revisions and get feedback.
“So, if you are interested in wanting to see our town zoning revised so that it reflects the many desires expressed to better regulate house sizes here, I and the other Planning Board members who have worked on this plan would appreciate your show of support at the January 30th meeting.
“In short, the zoning revision proposed would do away with our present 15% Lot (or footprint) Coverage, which allows for a 2 story 9,000+ square foot house (not including habitable cellar space) to be built By-Right (or without recourse to alter) on a 3/4 acre lot! Bear in mind that most of the lots in Wellfleet, meaning the R1 & R2 districts, are between 1/2 to just over 1 acre in size.
“Instead we are proposing a new Site Coverage sliding scale standard (one that reflects our existing housing stock averages) that would limit by-right house size on such a 3/4 acre lot to ~2,600 sf. And if anyone wanted to exceed the by-right sliding scale allowance for their lot size would be required to seek a Site Plan Review Special Permit.
“Five of us on the Planning Board believe this sliding scale plan is a very reasonable and fair one. No zoning revision will be perfect in all regards, but we hope this is one the town as a whole will accept and adopt, and with your understanding of it and support we can make it happen.
“If you care about this, please come to the January 30th meeting. And if you’re interested in the details of the plan ahead of time, please email me and I will send them to you.
“Thank you and best wishes,
Gooz”
A public discussion on house size and possible approaches to limiting it will take place on Saturday, January 30, 2010, with presentations by Planning Board members, starting at 9:00 a.m. at the Senior Center.
The Board discussed site coverage rules, including Site Plan Review, at its January 6 meeting.
Wellfleet residents are concerned about preserving the character of the town and its not becoming like the Hamptons, whose changes were recently described by writer Mark Helprin:
“Mere multimillionaires cannot afford anymore to go where within living memory actual people made a living from the farms, clam beds, and sword-fishing grounds. Now the potato fields are covered with houses that look like the headquarters of Martian expeditionary forces, ice-cream factories, vacuum cleaners on stilts, the Seagram building on its side, or shingled New England cottages monstrously swollen into something you might see after eating a magic mushroom. In simple and quiet towns that once deferred to the majesty of the ocean, the streets are now clogged with a kabuki theater of Range Rovers and $35,000 handbags.” “A Non-Delirious New York”, The Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2010.