06/09/2010 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes

Home Browse Search

Mashpee Zoning Minutes Board of Appeals June 9, 2010 Mr. Dick Thomas addressed the Board. He is the owner of 84 Main Street which he • purchased in November 2009. Mr. Thomas said that he is a single father who brought up his children on the cape. He said that "being a single male on Cape Cod, unless I was a beaten female, I couldn't get housing back when I had my kids". Mr. Thomas said that he understands the dilemma of homeless people because he has been in the same situation himself. He said that his home has been vandalized and burglarized since he moved to Main Street. Mr. Thomas said that he had to assist a drunken woman caught in the briars in his yard and redirect her back to the motel where her friends were staying. He said that he worked very hard his whole life and now his children are grown. Mr. Thomas objected to the fact that there are "people meeting their friends out in front of my home, like three, four, five times a day. Same person, in front of my home. I don't want that going on in front of my house. I've got grandchildren." He said that he has nothing against affordable housing and that the Town of Mashpee needs to address the problem, but the motel is not the place for affordable housing. Mr. Thomas said that the purpose of a motel is for people to come, stay for a while to visit and then leave. He said that he would not have purchased the property at 84 Main if he had known that people were residing at the motel for more than 30 days at a time, and he said that he feels like he's stuck with the situation. Mr. Thomas said he has asked people not to meet their friends in front of his home, and that some have listened, but most have not listened to him. He said that he lived less than a mile down the road on Sunset Strip and never locked his home, his truck or his tools for the six years he lived there. Now he said that he makes sure that his sheds and garage are padlocked, and all his doors and windows are locked when he leaves his house. • Ms. Catherine Brown asked the Board if there are plans for building affordable housing . in Mashpee. Mr. Furbush reminded Ms. Brown that this was the Zoning Board, not Affordable Housing. She asked: "Who does that?" Mr. Forbush repeated that it is under the jurisdiction of the Affordable Housing Committee. She repeated what she said earlier about the Town being grateful to Mr. White. Mr. Walter Abbott said he is on the Affordable Housing Committee and asked for permission to address Ms. Brown's question. He said the lack of land makes the issue a real problem. He said that there are several sources of affordable housing: Mashpee Commons, the Wampanoag council, and Habitat for Humanity homes. The Town has also been offered a duplex, which the Town only needs to have moved to a vacant parcel of land. • Mrs. Thomas of 84 Main Street said that she agrees with the letters that were read into the record. She is also concerned with the increase in traffic and crime element that already exists. Mr. Thomas said that there are some nice people living at the motel, but unfortunately, that is not the place to house families for extended periods of time. Mr. Furbush said that the only thing the Board is considering is whether the Petition is more detrimental to the neighborhood that what currently exists. Mr. Peter White asked for permission to address the Board. He also alleged that the complaints are about 78 Main Street and not about his motel. Mr. White said that he was not able to afford the purchase of 78 Main Street and inferred that a lot of the problems 10