Chain-Link Fence Debate Moves To New Venue

The appropriateness of a large, chain-link fence covered in black plastic on a Roos Road property in Sandwich’s historic district will be debated once again later this month.

This time the Regional Old King’s Highway District Commission—which oversees the local historic district committees in several Cape towns—will be determining whether the local committee erred in allowing the fence and then reversing its decision.

The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, November 13, at 1:30 PM at the West Barnstable Fire Station at 2160 Meetinghouse Way.

The Sandwich Old King’s Highway Historic District Committee (HDC) had determined that the months-old permission it granted to a developer to surround his 35-acre Roos Road property with a 6-foot-high chain-link fence was given in error.

To correct the error, the Sandwich HDC voted unanimously last month to rescind its approval of the fencing.

Peter Wild, the property owner, had three options for fighting back. He could appeal the HDC’s revised decision to the regional Historic District Commission, take the matter to court, or start anew by filing applications for certificates of appropriateness, HDC chairman William Collins said at the time.

Mr. Wild chose to appeal the matter to the regional historic district commission.

The town HDC determined last month that it had erred in its interpretation of the section of the Old King’s Highway Act governing fences and other unhistoric structures that can be built on private roads and ways.

The exemptions the committee granted the developer from having to earn a “certificate of appropriateness” were based on the HDC’s belief that a property owner can build a fence or other structure if it is not visible from “a public place or way.”

But after some intensive research, Mr. Collins said such a structure—even on a private road—is not allowed if it is visible from any place or way that is listed on an official map.

The HDC decided to revisit the months-old exemptions after receiving numerous complaints from neighbors living on North Shore Boulevard Extension about the tall fence, covered in black plastic, that now blocks their view of picturesque land formerly used for cranberry farming.

Mr. Wild is in the process of converting the cranberry farm into a tree farm. The transformation has pitted Mr. Wild against his neighbors, the town and state and federal regulatory agencies. The town is currently negotiating with Mr. Wild to mitigate some damage he has allegedly caused to the wetlands on his property.

Several lawsuits from neighbors are pending in Barnstable Superior Court. The black fence had become a symbol of the neighbors’ objections to Mr. Wild’s plans to convert the property.

The fencing, which surrounds much of Mr. Wild’s property, has also cut off an access path from North Shore Boulevard Extension to Roos Road that families have used since the 1950s, according to court documents. The deeded access is the subject of several of the neighbors’ lawsuits.