Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Falmouth ZBA closes Acapesca Gardens hearing, directs staff to draft decision and conditions
Summary
After reviewing revised landscape plans and multiple waiver requests, the Zoning Board closed the Acapesca Gardens public hearing, asked staff to prepare a draft positive decision and scheduled findings-and-conditions discussion for Nov. 14; the board debated unit mix and affordable-unit designations.
The Zoning Board of Appeals in Falmouth closed the public hearing on the Acapesca Gardens application and directed staff to prepare a draft decision and a set of conditions and waivers for discussion at the boards Nov. 14 meeting.
The applicant presented a final landscape plan developed after meetings with neighbors, showing fencing and evergreen buffers with species and caliper sizes. The application included six waiver requests covering single-family-per-lot restrictions, lot-coverage limits, tree removal and a Coastal Pond Overlay/Title 5 determination.
Board members focused on the Overlay Districts nitrogen concerns and on how to designate the required affordable units within the proposed unit mix. After discussion, the applicant agreed to designate three two-bedroom units as the affordable units (a configuration board members said would meet a 25% bedroom-count objective). The board also discussed whether affordable-unit betterment charges or future sewer-connection costs should be disclosed to buyers.
The board voted to close the hearing, asked staff (through the zoning administrator) to prepare a draft positive decision for discussion on Nov. 14, and set the 40-day procedural window for issuing a decision. Members asked that proposed findings and conditions be submitted to staff in advance to allow review. The board also noted outstanding items that will appear in the draft decision, including Board of Health input where relevant and final peer-review confirmations.
What happens next: staff will draft a decision granting the permit with conditions and circulate it to the board for review; the board will meet on Nov. 14 to consider findings, conditions and any final waivers before a formal vote.
