The proposal is the latest flashpoint over how to confront a record increase in homelessness in Barnstable County, fueled in large part by a sharp decline in affordable housing on Cape Cod. And at a public meeting in the spring, opponents tried to link the shelter plans with the state’s struggles to accommodate thousands of migrant families who have entered Massachusetts in recent months.
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HAC has said the shelter is for local families, many with roots in Cape Cod, but also acknowledged there is a “possibility” migrant families could use it as well, according to an online FAQ.
The shelter falls under a state law called the Dover Amendment that exempts some uses, such as education, from specific local zoning restrictions. Nearly one year ago, Dennis’s Building Department and town attorney determined the shelter “likely” would be a protected use under the state law, and the department issued a building permit for it.
But now, the Dennis Planning Board is expected to meet Aug. 19 to consider whether to appeal the approval of the permit or impose conditions on the project.
After one member of Harwich’s Select Board called for blocking access to the Dennis property, the board voted on Aug. 5 to hire an attorney to consider legal options.
Alisa Magnotta, the chief executive of HAC, assailed the opposition and said the nonprofit went “above and beyond” what was required by law. It agreed to conditions from Dennis officials like 24-hour security and adding a 6-foot fence around the property in order to move the project forward, she said.
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Magnotta also said Harwich has no jurisdiction over the planned shelter.
“It is clear that every possible roadblock is being thrown in our way, in order to stop us from being able to house locals who are evicted, mothers and children who experience domestic violence, and families with veterans who may experience homelessness,” Magnotta said in a statement Thursday.
Officials in Dennis said they applaud the concept but that the project needs more oversight.
“The board is concerned by the … haphazard planning of the site and access, insufficient space of the rooms for families, limited kitchen facilities, small staff, deficient traffic study and there being no responsible party if things do not go as hoped for,” Elizabeth Sullivan, Dennis’s town administrator, said in an e-mail response to Globe questions
But the town’s Select Board chairperson, Julie Kavanagh, told colleagues Monday night: “We felt completely pushed out of the process, ignored, and it does affect our town. Whoever’s going to live there, doesn’t bother me at all. It’s really just about access.”
Authorities beyond the Cape are watching what happens. The state attorney general’s office has contacted lawyers for the town of Dennis and the project’s developer and is monitoring developments to ensure the process is fair, the office said.
The nonprofit purchased the former nursing home property for $4.3 million in September 2023 with the goal of refurbishing it into a shelter for more than 200 people. The average size of each family is expected to be about three people who would live at the shelter for up to a year, according to project filings.
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The nursing home was licensed for more than 100 beds plus about 100 support staff. The shelter would include educational programs, including financial literacy, searching for housing, and how to seek medical assistance, project filings said.
The proposal comes amid concern about rising homelessness on the Cape. In Barnstable County, there were 568 people who were homeless on a single night in January, an increase of 141 from the same point the previous year, according to county data.
The Dennis shelter is part of a larger plan by HAC to reduce homelessness on Cape Cod. It will serve as transitional housing for families already living in its other shelters in Bourne, Falmouth, and Hyannis, and HAC would then convert those three shelters into permanent housing.
Attorneys for HAC have criticized the Dennis Planning Board for failing to counter speakers at a May public meeting who inserted the state’s migrant crisis into the shelter debate. Several tried to pit the well-being of migrant families against existing homeless Cape Cod residents and incorrectly claimed that migrant families were in the US illegally.
Dennis Planning Board members did not challenge the comments during the nearly two-hour session.
“If the Healey administration asks you to house illegal immigrants in the Love Lane shelter, will you be allowing them to be housed there instead of Cape Cod homeless?” one woman asked the board, according to a recording of the session.
A town official replied off-camera, saying simply, “Thank you, ma’am.”
One man, who said he was a member of a group called the People’s Initiative of New England, complained the shelter proposal was meant to help “Maura Healey’s immigrants.” The group is an affiliate of the neo-Nazi Nationalist Social Club, according to the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
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When the man ended his remarks, he was greeted with a chorus of “Thank you’s” from the audience.
Sullivan said in her statement Thursday that it was not the Planning Board’s role to correct the record.
“The Planning Board, unlike many boards today that limit the time people can speak, believes in free speech and errs on the side of allowing public comment, whether members of the board agree with the opinions or not,” she said.
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.
