may 2012 cottage size petition review

Seasonal Resort Community ZoningPetitioned Zoning Amendment

Review of Petitioned Change

Citizen's Petition Seeks to Change Structural Footprint

To see if the Town of Dennis will Vote to Amend Section 12 Seasonal Resort Community District’s Subsection 12.8 Provisions Specific to Seasonal Cottages Part A. by making the noted deletion and addition :

Citizen's Petition Seeks to Change Structural Footprint

Delete the current Section 12.8.A

A. Seasonal Cottages may have a footprint of up to 900 sf exclusive of the area identified in subsection C below.

Citizen's Petition Seeks to Change Structural Footprint

Replace Section 12.8.A with:

A. Seasonal Cottages may have a footprint of up to 150% of the average base area of all cottages in their colony documented by the Dennis Assessing Department as of September 5, 2010, exclusive of the area identified in Subsection C below.

What it does not change

It does not remove:

The ability to replace every recreational vehicle on a property with a cottage.

The ability to have every cottage be 1 ½ stories and 25 feet tall.

The 240 sf front porch.

Basically, the petition attempts to restrict the footprint of cottages in the future in a manner different from that

adopted by Town Meeting in November 2010.

The November 2010 Town Meeting vote came after:

Weeks of face to face meetings at the West Dennis Graded School House.

A dedicated effort by residents, property, cottage and recreational vehicle owners in reviewing, discussing, debating and modifying every aspect of the Seasonal Resort Community proposal.

The November 2010 Town Meeting vote came after:

Hundreds of people attended meetings and participated in creating the Seasonal Resort Community proposal.

Fine tuning over several meetings by the Zoning By-law Study Committee and Economic Development Committee.

Public Hearings by the Board of Selectmen and Planning Board.

Residents were asked to weigh in on the desirable size of cottages

Impacts

Property Total Base Area

Average Base Area

150% of Base Area

Current Range of Sizes

Grindell's 5,270 351 527 296 to 433

Camper's Haven

19,128 563 844 232 to 1,290

Chase's Ocean Grove

87,307 406 609 254 to 1,640

Salt Air Village 23,681 408 612 224 to 635

Village at Nantucket Sound

31,829 539 809 204 to 833

Impacts

Footprints Units Total Footprints

Individual Living Space

Total Living Space

Current 900 + 240 60 68,400 1,350 81,000

Amendment 527 +240 130 99,710 790 102,700

In the end, the proposed amendment would result in more:

buildings building footprint crowding and traffic.

In the end, the proposed amendment would result in less:

greenspace protection for the

coastal dunes views across the

property.