Groton Open Space Association

Report: Unauthorized Construction Slows Bonvie Project On Cape Cod

MASHPEE, MASSACHUSETTS–Unauthorized modifications of the approved building plan for the Southport development on Cape Cod have resulted in a slowdown of new construction, the Mashpee Enterprise newspaper reports.

Southport’s president of development and marketing is Ron Bonvie, who has applied to build a “residential life care community” in the Town of Groton, Connecticut, on 105 acres of the 160-acre Watrous property off Noank-Ledyard Road. The Groton Open Space Association has appealed approvals of the project by the town’s Inland Wetlands Agency and the Zoning Commission. Mr. Bonvie hasn’t revealed his plans, if any, for the remaining 55 acres of the property, but he has an option, dating back to March 15, 2002, to buy them, according to papers on file at the Groton Town Hall.

The Dec. 5, 2003, Mashpee Enterprise article, written by Alan L. Samry, said that the Southport developer had strayed from plans approved by the Mashpee Zoning Board of Appeals. The unapproved variations included construction of a large retaining wall and creation of a pond, in addition to changes in building types and footprints.

The unauthorized alterations caused the town building inspector in August to suspend for two months issuance of occupancy permits. The suspension resulted in a halt to, or significant slowdown of, construction of as many as 40 units that had been under purchase agreement, Mr. Bonvie told the newspaper. At least some of the unauthorized changes have since won ex post facto, “as-built” approval, sources said.

Southport is backed by Emmes Asset Management Co., New York City, the article said. The Southport project ran into severe financial problems in the 1990s, and work was halted for some years, sources said, adding that the situation appears to have turned around. Southport is an “active adult” community that is scheduled to grow to some 750 homes. By mid-2003, it had sold nearly 400 units, according to its promotional literature.

In Groton, the tract of land on which Mr. Bonvie is proposing to build was named Dec. 11, 2001, by the Groton Conservation Commission as property that ought to be acquired by the town and preserved as open space. It possesses, among other attributes, one of the most biologically rich vernal pools in Connecticut.

Mr. Bonvie applied to Groton’s Inland Wetlands Agency Feb. 12, 2003, to build the 161-unit “residential life care community.” The Wetlands Agency subsequently approved a 147-unit development, while denying one proposed wetlands crossing, but Mr. Bonvie appealed, asking that the crossing be approved.

Groton’s Zoning Commission approved a 147-unit plan by a split 3-2 decision.

The Groton Open Space Association and other interested parties have appealed the two approvals, both on grounds of anticipated damage to a property of outstanding environmental value and on grounds that the proposed development is not a true “residential life care community” entitled to the zoning exemptions granted to developments with that status. The appeals of both conservationists and the developer are pending before the New London County Superior Court.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying the development proposal because of the Watrous property’s wetlands resources.

[The date of filing, Jan. 15, 2004, on this story is approximate.]