CCB MEDIA FILE PHOTO
The Cape Cod Commission subcommittee reviewing the SpringHill Suites Marriott project discusses the plan during a workshop.
BARNSTABLE – A Cape Cod Commission subcommittee took its final vote yesterday in favor of the controversial proposal to build a Marriott hotel on Main Street in Falmouth.
The 110-room, 65,000-square-foot SpringHill Suites hotel would be constructed on a two-acre site at the east end of Main Street at the intersection of Lantern Lane.
The vote was four to one with Falmouth Selectman Mary Pat Flynn casting the only “no” vote.
Flynn has cited issues with traffic and community character in voting against the project.
Hundreds of Falmouth residents have attended commission hearings on the Marriott with many speaking and writing letters opposed to the project. Opponents have said the hotel would bring an increase in traffic in an area of town that is already gridlocked and also that the large size and generic design of the building would negatively impact the community character of the village center.
Flynn serves on the commission in her role of Barnstable County Commissioner. She is the only Falmouth resident who is a voting member on the subcommittee. Falmouth’s representative to the commission, Charles McCaffrey, was not appointed in time to serve as a voting member of the subcommittee, but he has been attending the sessions as a non-voting member.
Cape Cod Commission Chief Regulatory Officer Jonathan Idman said the subcommittee voted to recommend the draft Development of Regional Development limited decision to the full Cape Cod Commission for its approval and adoption of the decision.
The commission is scheduled to take up the matter at its next meeting on August 20. The meeting begins at 3 p.m. in the Assembly of Delegates Chamber at the First District Courthouse in Barnstable Village. The public is welcome to comment at the hearing.
“I’m not sure whether the commission will make a decision that day but that hearing process before the full Cape Cod Commission will begin that day,” Idman said.
Michele Peal of West Falmouth, one of several residents attending the subcommittee’s meeting yesterday in the Assembly of Delegates Chamber at the First District Courthouse. “I’m very disappointed that the commission is not thinking about the residents of Falmouth with this project because this is just a monstrosity that we don’t need in our town,” she said.
By LAURA M. RECKFORD, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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