Past failures provide opportunity for HRA to embrace open space

To the Editor:

When I first moved into Hull in 1976 into a three-bedroom house with all

varnished natural wood interior and decks for $16,000 – compared to a Braintree

house that needed lots of updates and was asking $35,000 – it was clearly a steal. I

found my home by the sea.

I soon bought the Gallant Fox restaurant 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 five to six feet of seawater.

To make matters worse, in 1982 the HRA board was also involved in a lawsuit in

which the town’s select board had hearings that removed four sitting members of

the HRA for “inefficiency, neglect of duty, or misconduct in office.” This lawsuit kept

the HRA land in limbo for many years. In the meantime, the displaced small

businesses, one by one, reestablished themselves into the Kenberma area of town

well over 30 years ago. 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 Properties 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 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

Surfside business zone obsolete. It may, in fact, cannibalize some of our existing

businesses that have invested in our town.

Also, the open space of the HRA lots have become an important community magnet for thousands of people who have come here for 30 years for the Thanksgiving bonfires, carnivals, and beach events.

The economic benefits today have shifted to a historic opportunity to retain this prized and rare piece of open space, rather than more condos or a business base that is no longer needed in this high-velocity area.

The select board should take this opportunity to correct our town’s course and should place a question on this year’s town election ballot for the people to decide, and hold hearings for its future.

Respectfully,

Philip Bellone

Former select board member