Current Land Uses and Trends

1.1 SECTION SUMMARY

This Land Use Section of the Dennis Comprehensive Plan discusses current land use and development patterns within the town.

It begins with a review of the history of development and of growth controls in Dennis and describes the process used in its development and in seeking public input on its content.

1.2 INTRODUCTION

This section of the Dennis Comprehensive Plan is intended to serve as:

• a history of town development land use regulation, population, housing, and economic conditions.

• an inventory of existing land uses,

• a discussion of important land issues facing the town,

1.3 HISTORY OF LAND USE REGULATION IN DENNIS

Dennis was one of the earliest towns on Cape Codto adopt land use regulatory tools. The Town first created a Planning Board in the 1920’s and first adopted Subdivision Control in Dennis on March 2, 1937.

This was followed by several regulatory attempts aimed at defining and controlling certain types of business uses.  The town first made use of its home rule powers to regulate certain business uses in May of 1937 when it adopted regulations intended to govern the creation and expansion of tourist camps in town.  The Board of Selectmen was designated as the “permitting” entity for such proposals.  At this time, only the Town of Barnstable had adopted such a regulation.  The Town of Dennis moved forward with its proposal to regulate these tourist camps, which had  become, in the words of the Cape Cod Standard Times “obnoxious types of tourist business.”

At the time the Cape Cod Standard Times was encouraging communities on the Cape to preserve the quaintness of Cape Codand to “protect the right kind of building and discourage the wrong kind.”  The paper took the position that towns needed to adopt control over all types of land use, not just the tourist camps.  But singled out these camps as at least a starting point

In 1937 it appears that the Planning Board also had under consideration dividing “residential districts” in Dennis into three categories, Division A requiring 20,000 sf lots, Division B requiring 10,000 sf lots and Division C which was “understudy” for the Dennisport area.  Minutes show that maps were ordered but none are on file.

In 1938 the Dennis Planning Board was petitioned to consider two zoning districts for the town.  The two districts were to be considered Residential Districts and included one for “Route 6 (now Route 6A) from East Dennis (Dr. Lords Road) to Corporation Road to a depth of 200 feet to either side of the highway” and the area bounded by Corporation Road, Whig Street, Pilgrim Road and Cape Cod Bay.  The petitioners asked for these zoning proposals be brought forward to Town Meeting to “prevent a use of any particular property which would be detrimental to the character of the neighborhood, now exclusively residential.”

This zoning initiative failed and on July 11, 1939 the entire Dennis Planning Board resigned with “deep regret that we feel the necessity of taking this action.”  The sentiment of the time is revealed in Dennis Board of Selectmen notes from January 25, 1940 which states “Judging from the attitude at the last Town Meeting if the word “zoning” were used it would kill any article at once.”

Dennis first attempt at a town-wide zoning by-law came in the 1940’s.  Had that attempt been successful, the community would be very different than today.  That first zoning attempt would have designated residential, business, industrial and camping districts.  If successful the residential portions of town would have been restricted to 20,000 sf lots, a rather generous land area for that point in time.  This comprehensive zoning proposal would have created business districts fairly consistent with today’s village centers in Dennisport and West Dennis, one along Route 28 from the Swan River to the Ezra Baker School, one on Route 134 generally around the junction of the road with the railroad line, one along the length of the railroad line through town, one in East Dennis at the junction of Route 6A and Route 134, and one in Dennis Village approximately located where the theater property is located.  Industrial Districts were reserved for individual determination by the, to be created Dennis Board of Appeals.  And, a campground district was to be designated for the area between Old Chatham Road,Airline Road and the Brewster Town Line.

After the failure of the first comprehensive zoning for Dennis, zoning became more piece-meal, adopting residential zoning districts on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis.  In 1950 a “delegation from the Garden Club of West Dennis presented three petitions asking that an Article be placed in the Warrant providing that two sections of West Dennis and one section of South Dennis be restricted to residential use.”

This petitioned zoning request met with a different result from previous attempts to adopt zoning in Dennis.  Starting in 1951 and running through 1967, in a series of zoning proposals, the town created twenty-four different zoning districts, plus two “unrestricted” districts.  These twenty-four districts were all considered residential areas with varying lot size and frontage requirements.  Starting in 1951 residential districts allowed for the following uses:

• “Detached one or two family dwelling.
• The taking of boarders or leasing of rooms by a family resident in the dwelling.
• Church.
• Educational Uses.
• Farm or garden.
• Municipal recreational use.
• Private club not conducted for profit.
• The handling and selling of fish caught by a resident living on the premises and sold by a resident on the premises.
• Doctors office, dentist’s office, Lawyer’s office or other professional use.
• The office of a real estate broker, or of a beauty parlor if the latter is in residence.
• Accessory use on the same lot with and customarily incident to any of the above permitted uses and not detrimental to a residential neighborhood, the term “accessory use” shall not include-
  1.  Signs, excepting those pertaining to the lease, sale or use of a lot or building on which placed, and not exceeding a total of 12 square feet; on a lot occupied by a dwelling there shall be not more than two such signs pertaining to the use thereof, or bearing the name and occupation of the occupant or occupants, and no such sign shall exceed 4 square feet in area.
• The building and sale of new and used boats, storage and maintenance of fuels, sale of marine engines and provisions, lease of docking facilities, PROVIDED, however, that none of these activities may be carried on more than 300 feet from mean highwater mark of navigable water having access to Nantucket Sound or Cape Cod Bay, nor less than thirty feet from a property line, except that property line bordering navigable water, and PROVIDED also that none of these activities shall be carried on by any person or persons except after  being granted a special permit by the Board of Selectmen after it shall have found that the use involved will not be detrimental to the established character of the neighborhood and subject to appropriate conditions and safeguards if deemed necessary.
• Carpenters, masons, mechanics and machine shops, or other workshops operated by a resident or residents on the premises without hired employees.
• Nursery or greenhouse business and sale of products therefrom.
• Farm, orchard, truck garden, cranberry bog or other similar agricultural enterprise by a resident or residents on the premises and sale of products therefrom by the said resident or residents.
• The manufacture and sale of goods in the nature of home-industries, where the goods are manufactured on the premises by a resident or residents on the premises on portable stands or racks or similar devices only.”

While there were 24 such residential zoning districts, there were actually a limited number of combinations of lot area and frontage requirements.  These Districts could have been reconfigured into the following five area requirements;

75 foot Frontage and 7,500 squre foot Area

Districts A, B, F, G (Red), H (Yellow), J and K

75 foot Frontage and 10,000 squre foot Area

D, E, I, L, M and N

100 foot Frontage and 10,000 square foot Area

T

100 foot Frontage and 15,000 square foot Area

C, G (Blue), H (Red), P, Q, R, S U

125 foot Frontage and 20,000 square foot Area

R-1

Map1.2.1 below illustrates these zoning districts.

As the map illustrates, major sections of South Dennis and Dennisport were left “Unrestricted” as well as principle strip roadways such as Route 28, Upper County Road, Hokum Rock Road, Route 6A, New Boston Road and Taunton Avenue.  Essentially, zoning in this time period was only drafted for areas requesting to be zoned, and, unlike the 1939 attempt, those requesting to be zoned were able to convince Town Meeting voters that zoning was desirable.

In 1973 the tide finally changed.  The Dennis Planning Board crafted a comprehensive Zoning By-law which was adopted at Dennis Town Meeting in November 1973.  This comprehensive zoning remains the basic framework for today’s zoning map.

1.4 Current Zoning & Land Uses

In 2002, residentially zoned land, which consisted of Rural Residential (R-60), Low Density Residential (R-40) and Resort and Residential (RR), made up approximately 89% of the total land area of the Town, or 12,110 acres.  Under zoning within the RR zoning district certain commercial uses (auction galleries, gift shops, arts and crafts, antique shops and restaurants) are allowable with the granting of a special permit.  Furthermore, within certain commercial zones (GC-II and GC-III, and LB) one and two dwelling units are allowable by right and within other commercial zones (GC-I, GC-II, GC-III EB, LB) multiple dwelling units are allowable with the granting of a special permit.

Since 2002, Dennis Zoning has become more specialized.  New zoning districts include the Crowe’s Pasture Resource Protection District; Dennisport Village Center Areas A and B; the West Dennis Village Center Districts which include the West Dennis Village Center, West Dennis Village Center Support District, Mixed Use Marine District, Residential/Commercial District and the Marine Open Space District; the Seasonal Resort Community District and the Hotel Resort Districts.

Map 1.4.1 is the current Zoning Map for the Town.  Table 1.4.1 breaks down the acreages of the various zoning districts within the Town, while Table 1.4.2 presents a breakdown of residential, commercial and industrial zoned land, the percentage of the land that is developed and the percentage that remains for development.

Looking at the data in Table 1.4.2, in 2011 there is about 12,195 acres of land zoned for residential purposes.  Of this, 10,457 acres are developable, and 6,392 of these developable acres are privately held.  Of the privately held acres, 5,463 acres, or 85% are already developed.  This leaves about 929 acres of privately held, developable, residential land remaining available for development.  This is a reduction of 523 acres since 2002, some of which was developed and some protected.

There are 1,159 acres of commercially zoned land in Dennis.  Of this commercial land 423 acres are developed or 37%.  Industrial land comprises 545 acres, with 243 acres “developed.”  This industrial development includes extremely low intensity uses such as mining of the lands for sand removal and may not relate to the most intensive allowed uses in this area.

TABLE 1.4.1

ZONING DISTRICTS BY ACREAGE

ZONING DISTRICT	TOTAL ACREAGE
R-60	1,585
R-40	9,618
RR	374
LB	226
EB	54
GC-I	79
GC-II	231
GC-III	60
I	545
QNCP RPD	342
DPVC A	7
DPVC B	73
MOS	7
MUM	16
WDVC	29
WDVCSA	7
RC	5
HR	248
SRC	129
TOTAL ACRES	13,475

Table 1.4.2

Table 1.4.2

DENNIS LAND USE BREAKDOWN BY ZONING TYPES¹

Zoning District	Total Area	% Developed	% Remaining for Development
RESIDENTIAL R-40, R-60, RR, QNCP, RC	100% 12,195 acres 10,457 Developable 6,392 Privately Owned	85% of privately held developable land   5,463 acres	15% of privately held developable land   929 acres
COMMERCIAL   LB, EB, GCI II & III, DPVC A, DPVC B, WDVC, WDVCSA, MUM, HR, SRC	100%   1,159 acres	37%   424 acres	63%   735 acres
INDUSTRIAL	100%   545 acres	45%   243 acres	55%   302 acres

¹Total land area used is 13,520 acres, which does include roads.  1998 data.

Source:  Assessors, MacConnell Data  and Town GIS

Recent MacConnell Land Use data provides some additional interesting pieces of information regarding Dennis, while most of these comparisons are for the 1971, 1985 and 1999 mapping periods, they provide some interesting trend data, some of which will be important as the plan develops specific topical discussions.

Agriculture:

In 1971 Dennis had 168 acres of land in agricultural use.  This actually increased to 179 acres in 1999.  However, 2005 data suggests this increase in agricultural acreage has been reversed, with a drop of 40 acres from the 1999 highs, leaving the town with 139 acres of agricultural lands.

Forested Lands:

Between 1971 and 1999 Dennis lost over 40% of its forested lands, dropping from 6,639 acres in 1971 to 3,903 acres in 1999.  The Dennis Open Space and Recreation Plan has also looked at this trend and has found continued drops in forested lands, dropping to 3,663 acres in 2008.

Table 1.4.3 Forestland  vs. Residential Acreage, Town of Dennis

 

.                           FORESTED          URBANIZED

YEAR                     ACRES            ACRES

1951                        8,253                       1,889

1971                        6,774                       3,869

1980                        5,799                       4,871

1984                        4,520                       5,926

1990                        3,979                       6,440

2008                        3,663                       6,756

Open Lands:

Open Lands is a somewhat vague category covering lands that are not “urbanized” yet are no longer forested.  These lands actually increased by 100 acres between 1971 and 1999, but could include part of the lost forested lands that may have been cleared for development, but had not yet been developed.

Urbanized Lands:

These lands include all residential, commercial, industrial and similar land uses.  Between 1971 and 1999 these lands increase by 57% or 2,456 acres.  In 1971 Dennis had 4,254 acres of urbanized lands, by 1999 the town had 6,711 acres.  By 2008 it is estimated that urbanized lands had further increase to 6,756 acres.

Water Resource Areas:

Water resource areas include wetlands and open water areas.  Between 1971 and 1999 Dennis lost about 20 acres of wetlands to various land-filling activities.  During this same time period erosion, sea level rise, etc. increased the open saltwater areas of the town by 31 acres.

Updated November 7, 2011