In the face of widespread community opposition, the Zoning Board of Appeals has rejected a permit sought by Landers Farm to dig out more than 50 acres off Hedges Pond Road in Cedarville to expand its cranberry growing operation there. But the board’s unanimous vote Monday night may not be the end of the story.
The ZBA’s denial of the project’s earth removal permit hinged on a technicality, not a specific rejection of the merits of the project. It was made “without prejudice,” meaning Landers Farm can resubmit the application and begin the permitting process anew at any time.
“There was such a significant change between what was advertised for this case and what [Landers] is now proposing that we can’t make an honest decision on what is presented here tonight,” Michael Main, chair of the ZBA, said prior to the vote. “It’s two entirely different things and we are not allowed to do that.”
The board’s vote came after 45 minutes of public testimony from the standing-room-only crowd at Town Hall. Fifteen people spoke, all of them in opposition to the project, before Main ended the public hearing, saying the testimony was getting repetitive.
The timing of the vote appeared to surprise the Landers Farm team, which was prepared to make a presentation on changes it made to reduce the scope of the project after December’s Planning Board’s recommendation to deny it because of the impact on the environment and the neighborhood.
“It was a stunning process,” said Robb D’Ambruoso, attorney for Landers Farm. “We wanted to have an opportunity to talk about the improvements made to the project.”
Historically known as the Mountain Hill Bogs, the property off Hedges Pond Road is now called Landers Farm. It’s part of the P.A. Landers Inc. group of companies that has several sand and gravel operations in the region, along with a concrete plant in Plymouth.
Some of the project’s opponents held signs Monday that read: “Don’t Kill the Hill.”
The farm covers 129.91 acres with 17.2 acres of existing cranberry bogs. Last fall, the company proposed adding 9 acres of bogs and building a new six-acre water reservoir. The original plan called for removing 2 million cubic yards of earth and disturbing 70 acres of the site. Such a modest expansion of bog area was questioned by many as a thinly veiled pretense to mine valuable sand from the site.
The latest version of the project reduced the land area affected from 70 to 51 acres and cut the amount of sand and gravel to be hauled off-site from 2 million to 1.65 million cubic yards. It also included several changes to grading, landscaping, drainage and other elements of the project made in response to a third-party engineering report commissioned by the town to evaluate the design and make recommendations to lessen the project’s environmental impact.
Prior to the vote, a steady stream of Cedarville residents and activists spoke against the project. The proceedings were mostly calm, but tempers flared when Main objected to comments by Micaih Stasis, a member of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe who grew up in Plymouth.
Stasis said the Landers Farm property is part of ancestral Wampanoag lands. She spoke about the impact colonization has had on the indigenous people. “Since 1620, they have been coming off that boat, desecrating our graves, destroying our lands, and clearing out our trees,” she said.
Main interrupted Stasis, saying “this board can’t act on what you are talking about. We are not going to get into a discussion of what has been done, or the harm caused for generations. We are not talking about your ancestors and what we did wrong with them. We can only act on the bylaw.”
Stasis pushed back, saying “this is not about the past; we are talking about the present and we are talking about the land.”
After the vote, Stasis told the Independent that “it was long overdue” for the town to stop a development project on historic Wampanoag lands.
Randy Labossiere, an abutter to the project and an accountant who had previously worked for Ocean Spray, told the ZBA that it was clear that the value of the sand and gravel to be removed from the site far exceeds the value of cranberries that could be harvested from the expanded bogs.
While he was pleased with the vote, Labossiere added, “I’m not convinced we are done with this.”
D’Ambruoso said “it’s too early to tell” whether Landers Farm would resubmit the project for consideration or take some other action.
Michael Cohen can be reached at michael@plymouthindependent.org.