OP ED Hull Times

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When I first moved into Hull in 1976 into a three bedroom house with all varnished natural wood interior and decks for $16,000.00 compared to a Braintree house that needed lots of updates was asking $35,000 it was clearly a steal. I found my home by the sea.

I soon bought the Gallant Fox on the strip adjacent to the HRA lots which was thriving with many other small businesses.
Only six months into my ownership the blizzard of 78 put the town completely under water. Every basement in town at sea level and a few feet above was flooded and most utilities were out. The nearby HRA property was under 5-6 feet of seawater for at least 2 months.

To make matters worse in 1982 the HRA Board was also involved In a Lawsuit in which the Town's Select Board had hearings in 1982 which removed 4 sitting members of the HRA Board for "inefficiency, neglect of duty or misconduct in office". This Lawsuit kept the HRA Land in Limbo for many years.

In the meantime, all the displaced small businesses one by one reestablished themselves into the Kenberma Area of town well over 30 years ago.

Although the town has owned 33 acres in and around the parcel since it was all cleared in an urban-renewal project in the early 1970s. Promising projects have come and gone every 10 years or so since then – but now, as then, seasonal parking for Nantasket Beach visitors is the only thing the acreage has provided.

In 1987, the town was set to sell the land to developer A.J. Lane, who wanted to build a $75 million hotel-condominium project. Then he declared bankruptcy. In 1996, the redevelopment authority rejected a plan for a Star supermarket and townhouse condos.

Hopes last rose in 2004, when Chatham Real Estate Property of Hyannis wanted to put 72 condos and townhouses in six-story buildings on three seaside acres, and turn 10 adjoining acres into a park.

The plan drew fierce opposition from some citizen groups. Developer Stuart Bornstein cut the number to 66 units. The Hull conservation commission rejected it, the planning and zoning boards approved it, the state conducted an environmental review, and then a financial dispute kept it in court for years before Bornstein gave up.

After almost 60 years of trying the town's businesses firmly established Kenberma as the town Business District making the core mission of the HRA to rejuvenate the surf-side business zone obsolete and may in fact cannibalize some of our existing businesses who have invested in our town...

Respectfully
Former Select Board member,
Philip Bellone