2005-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

♦ Construction of piers, ramps and floats. Meetings of the Zoning Board of Appeals are ♦ Commercial development of property. held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each ♦ Extension, alteration or change of a non- month at 7:00 p.m. at the Town Hall. These meetings l conforming structure. are open to the public. ♦ Demolition of an existing structure (to allow for rebuild) Respectfully submitted, ♦ Conversion of an existing dwelling to Robert G. Nelson, Chairman accommodate an in-law apartment Zella E. Elizenberry, Clerk ♦ Development within the Groundwater Marshall A. Brem, Board Member Protection District. Frederick R. Borgeson, Alternate Member Evano L. Cunha Alternate Membe 3. To hear and decide Petitions for Variances as Jonathan D. Furbush,Alternate Member set forth in Chapter 40A Section 10. The Board Eric Dublirer, Alternate Member may grant Variance relief from the following: Lori A. Corsi, Office Manager ♦ Setback requirements. ♦ Frontage requirements. Report of the ♦ Land space requirements. Shellfish Department The Board may grant a Variance only if it , finds that the following three "Required To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and the Findings"have been found in the affirmative: Citizens of the Town of Mashpee A ♦ That there are circumstances relating to The new oyster propagation project has success- the soil conditions, shape or topographyfully reestablished an oyster fishery in Mashpee. In which affects the subject lot and not the December 2005,the Board of Selectmen voted to open h '� Mashpee waters for the harvest of oysters starting district in which it is located. January 1, 2006. Oysters have not been harvested in ♦ That a literal enforcement of the By-laws Mashpee since the 1980s. Oyster diseases killed off would involve substantial hardship to the the wild oysters, and propagation efforts were unsuc- Petitioner. cessful at that time.We are now successful because we ♦ That desirable relief may be granted with- are using disease-free oyster spat from a hatchery, and out substantial detriment to the public growing them in the Mashpee River where the low good and without nullifying or substan- salinity water eliminates most predators and oyster tially derogating from the intent or pur- diseases. The "remote set" system uses very small pose of the By-law. oyster spat(< 1 mm) that is set on shells in mesh bags in the hatchery. From there, we transported 200 spat 4. To hear and decide appeals of a Decision of bags to the Mashpee River in June 2004. More than the Building Commissioner in accordance 100,000 harvest size oysters grew from that spat. with Chapter 40A Sections 13 and 14. They were moved to the area around Mashpee Neck The Zoning Board of Appeals heard a total of Landing for harvest. Oysters feed by filtering algae that grow on the nitrogen and other nutrients. When h 135 petitions in calendar year 2005. Petitions and people harvest the oysters, they will be removing abutter fees in the amount of $14,125.00 were col- nitrogen and helping to reduce the impacts of excess lected in 2005. nutrients on the estuary. The project was funded by The Zoning Board of Appeals thanks the other Barnstable County and the DMF. We got another 380 spat bags in the summer of 2005 and more are funded Town Boards, Departments, Commissions and Agents for their outstanding cooperation. The Board wel- for next year. The eventual goal is to grow and harvest enough oysters to remove at least 500 kilograms of comes the new Chairman, Robert G. Nelson and wnitrogen every year. This would be 10% of the 5000 wishes to thank the out-going Chairman,James Regan fkilograms of nitrogen reduction target for the Mashpee or his many years of service to the Town of Mashpee. River proposed in the Massachusetts Estuaries Project report on Popponesset Bay (published in 2004). The i 169 i