Drive-In Site -- RIVERWALK & BOARDWALK  FEASIBILITY AND CONCEPT DESIGN STUDY

Updated December 23, 2019

The Town has owned the 22 acre former drive-in property at 669 Route 28 since 1985 when it was taken for recreational purposes.  For many years the Town planned to develop the property as a public/private marina.  However, a subsequent feasibility analysis indicated that a stand-alone marina would no longer be financially viable and the Board of Selectmen formed the Drive-In Site Utilization Committee (DISUC) in 2015 to investigate other uses for the property. 

After six months of conducting outreach to businesses and community leaders, identifying policy goals and potential uses, evaluating site constraints and conducting an on-line Survey, the DISUC Committee recommended a Riverwalk Park along the Parkers River, a Boardwalk over the marsh to Seagull Beach, with the remainder of the property being used for interim uses such as concerts and community events. 

To investigate and vet these recommendations further, the Town undertook a more detailed Feasibility/ Concept Design Study. The DISUC Committee, Town Staff, and consultant BETA, worked for over a year in 2017 & 2018 to identify constraints, evaluate alternatives, identify amenities and materials, outline permitting requirements and develop project costs (including design, permitting, construction and maintenance costs).  A robust public participation process was included in the study to garner stakeholder input.  There were a total of 20 public meetings, including 3 formal public outreach meetings where community stakeholders reviewed the presented information and offered input to assist the DISUC Committee.  Various modifications and compromises were made to the design concepts to help mitigate concerns and issues identified through this process.

Ultimately, the DISUC developed the following recommendations and preferred concepts that were accepted by the Board of Selectmen.

• Retain the entire Drive-In property for Recreational Uses
• Establish Festivals and Special Events as a permanent use on the site
• Move forward with the preferred Riverwalk Park Concept Plan (see Link below)
• Move forward with Option 1C for a Looped Boardwalk Concept Plan (see Link below)
• Permit and design the Riverwalk Park and Boardwalk together and proceed with construction as funding and resources permit.

Additional information on the process, final recommendations and project costs can be found in the Riverwalk Park and Boardwalk Feasibility/Concept Design Study Report, dated August 2018, available at the Link below.  This report outlined several Next Steps which the DISCU Committee and Town Staff have been actively working on including:

Riverwalk Park & Boardwalk:

• Community Preservation Act (CPA):  The DISUC Committee submitted a CPA Application in October 2018 and $2.2 million in CPA funds were approved for the project at the May 2019 Annual Town Meeting to cover design and permitting and provide for partial construction funding.  A supplemental CPA application has been submitted and will be considered at the Special Town Meeting in the fall of 2020.
• Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant (LWCF) Program:  The CPA funds were used to leverage a LWCF grant application for $954,000.  This grant application was viewed favorably and supplemental information has recently been submitted in the anticipation of a formal grant award.
• Design & Permitting Consultant:  Staff is pursuing the acquisition of consulting services for  design and permitting for the project.

Events/Festival Space: 

• Conducted general cleanup including mowing, brush/small tree removal, relocation of stones and removal of glass and refuse.
• Removed the existing pile of organic matter/wood chips which was impacting the ability to utilize the full area for events/festivals. 
• Met with a range of event organizers to garner input on needed amenities.  Numerous events have been held at the property in 2018 and 2019 providing valuable feedback for future improvements for the event area.

Please note that meeting Agendas and Minutes for the Drive-In Site Utilization Committee are available at http://www.yarmouth.ma.us/agendacenter for more recent meetings and at http://www.yarmouth.ma.us/archive.aspx for meetings prior to March 2017.

For more information, please click Links below:

• Final Riverwalk Park Concept Plan and Amenities
• Final Boardwalk Concept Plan and Amenities
• Riverwalk Park and Boardwalk Feasibility/Concept Design Study Report, dated August 2018

July 24, 2018 Meeting with Selectmen

                071818 Memo to Board on Next Steps

                072419 Powerpoint for Selectmen