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Yarmouth committee to refresh Route 28 inventory, pair grayfield redevelopment with façade grants
Summary
The Town of Yarmouth Community and Economic Development Committee agreed to refresh an inventory of underused commercial properties along Route 28 and to promote an Affordable Housing Trust grayfield predevelopment program alongside a façade-improvement outreach; members will divide the corridor into six segments for site visits.
Speaker 1 (committee member) told the Community and Economic Development Committee that the Affordable Housing Trust’s grayfield redevelopment memo (previously presented by Mary Wagon, Affordable Housing CDBG program administrator) seeks predevelopment support for mixed-use top-of-shop housing in commercial corridors and asked the committee to help solicit interest. Committee members said past public noticing produced little response and recommended revising outreach and refreshing the parcel inventory.
The committee focused on Route 28 as a priority corridor. Speaker 1 said prior inventories for West and South Yarmouth used assessor maps and Google Street View, and many buildings flagged then have since been improved; the committee agreed the inventory should be updated with current photos, owner contact information, parcel size, current use and floodplain status. Speaker 3 recommended prioritizing properties “allowed by right” for residential uses to avoid the time and expense of variance-driven spot zoning.
Speaker 1 and others proposed combining outreach for two town programs—a façade-improvement effort and the Affordable Housing Trust’s grayfield predevelopment support—so owners would receive a single notice about potential funding and technical assistance. Members discussed the programs’ timelines and funding: Speaker 3 noted the Trust’s program includes about $40,000 per year for property-related awards and suggested leveraging that with other town or external funds to make projects viable.
To gather field-level data, the committee agreed to divide Route 28 into six segments and assign volunteers to walk or drive their sections, take photos, and return findings at a follow-up meeting. Speaker 1 said she will prepare a refreshed map and spreadsheet with columns for owner, address, current use, size, zoning, floodplain status and known email contacts. Members volunteered to complete their segments on a weekend or at their convenience and to reconvene to refine a list limited to parcels that are feasible without special permits where possible.
The committee did not vote to spend money on the program at this meeting; they agreed to promote the Trust program and to assemble the inventory and outreach materials for future action. Next steps: Speaker 1 will divide Route 28 into six review segments, collect volunteer returns, and the committee will reconvene to narrow the list by feasibility and potential funding sources.
