3rd Time May be a Charm for Ballymeade Partners..

With Spring and Special Town Meeting right around the corner the Ballymeade Partners and CLSV development group have proposed a third and possibly a final option for the town to be able to have a say in what is developed on the 31 acre site on Nathan Ellis Hwy. The newest proposal will be attached to two articles on this years Special town meeting, one being to create a limited use Business 4 district for this project and the other would be to change the parcel of land from agricultural to the new zoning district. The parcel of land which the town has had right of first refusal on has been on the market for over ten years and the town has recently rejected two plans for development of the land. The first was housing, retail development, a conference center and a skating rink / pool facility. The second was to build a 175-unit Chapter 40B development on the property. Which the developers have moved forward with this plan and is currently awaiting approval from the state on this plan.
The newest plan if approved the articles pass town meeting will be to build a 200 unit senior housing facility with a supermarket and pharmacy on the land. This new development would consist of 3 large buildings and 8 smaller buildings to house all the units and the buildings would look similar to the new Wise Living facility on Dillingham Ave. However, these units would be monthly rentals opposed to being purchased by the occupants.
So I ask you to keep this in mind in the upcoming weeks and month, would you rather a 175 unit 40B development (25 units affordable) or a 200 unit senior facility that is relatively appealing to the eye with a large supermarket and pharmacy.
What will the neighbors think? Cavossa has certainly built his property up. The animal hospital isn't small anymore with the Doggy Daycare building soon to open. What will the impact be on traffic, the developers did a study saying not much, but can you really rely on them for a full and honest report? What will the impact be on the fire department? If passed, what about having the developers pay for a 5th ambulance or that garage door expansion at station 3? What about having them build a Hatchville fire station? Purchase one or more of the apparatus needed on the upcoming Debt Exclusion. What will the new supermarket do to the local stores in the area, Dean's, Superette, Jack & the Beanstalk, Village Pantry, Wild Harbor General Store, West Falmouth Market? Wouldn't the new pharmacy be the exact reason places like the North Falmouth Pharamcy go out of business? If the senior facility doesn't fly and a 175 unit housing facility goes in, what will this do to the North Falmouth Elementry school district?
It will certainly be interesting in the upcoming weeks to see what the outcome will be.
Information for the blog post from the Falmouth Enterprise.