06/12/2024 ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS Minutes (2)

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MASHPEE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS DECISION ON APPEAL OF BUILDING COMMISSIONER'S DECISION FOLLOWING REMAND FROM LAND COURT Owner, Anthony J. LaCava, Jr., as Trustee of the AJL LaCava Realty Trust 234 Old Barnstable Road, Map 59 Parcel 5 Mashpee, MA 02649 AP-2023-13 upholding the Building Commissioner's determination and remanded the matter to the Board for a further hearing to "specifically address and take into account the Board's 1992 interpretation of a Special Permit applicable to the Trustee's property, which states that there is no completion deadline for developing and/or constructing single-family lots and homes on the development site." The Land Court retained jurisdiction over further appeals. On August 9, 2023, the Board held a public hearing on remand. During that hearing, the Board found that in the intervening thirty years from 1992 to 2022, Mashpee, including the specific neighborhood surrounding the subject Quashnet Valley property, has undergone a dramatic transformation due to significant new development, which has strained infrastructure including roadways and groundwater quality. The Board found that, in consideration of the changed environment, infrastructure, and other conditions within the Town of Mashpee since 1980 it would be unreasonable and contrary to the public interest for the special permit to remain valid. The Board also found that it was not bound by the interpretation of Condition 3 to an extension of the special permit granted by the Board in 1980. On these bases, the Board of Appeals again voted to uphold the Building Commissioner's determination in a decision on remand filed with the Mashpee Town Clerk on August 21, 2023. On September 8, 2023, the Owner appealed that decision to the Land Court. On April 25,2024,following a case management conference ordered by the Land Court,limited discovery,and settlement discussions between counsel for the Parties, the Owner and the Board of Appeals filed a joint motion asking the Land Court to again remand the matter for further consideration of the Building Commissioner's determination of the status of the 1973 special permit, as amended. On April 29, 2024, the Land Court granted the parties' joint motion, and ordered that: Upon remand,the Zoning Board of Appeals shall specifically address and fully consider(i) new factual allegations, presented in the Trustee's Complaint after Remand, concerning the circumstances preceding a 1992 determination of the Mashpee Board of Zoning Appeals, (ii) other relevant information not fully considered at a prior remand hearing, including a 2002 determination of the Mashpee Zoning Board of Appeals that the Special Permit remained valid and the building permits issued by the Building Commission in the last six years for work contemplated by the Special Permit, and (iii)the additional mitigation that the Trustee has agreed to provide, as detailed below, in response to the Board's finding in its August 2023 remand decision that the Project has "strained infrastructure, including roadways and groundwater quality, and has resulted in increased vehicular traffic, greater structural density, and loss of open space." The June 12, 2024 public hearing on remand was held in response to the Land Court's order. Attorney Christopher Kirrane represented the Owner. He provided background and context, explaining that the original special permit for the construction of a multi-family development on 345.2 acres of land, to be known as Quashnet Valley Country Club, was granted on November 2