Town Meeting Articles Subject of Public Forum on April 14
Sponsored by the Bourne Financial Development Corporation

Contact: Sallie Riggs 508.457.5305
Immediate Release

The public is invited to a forum to discuss five zoning by-law articles slated for the Bourne May Town Meeting Warrant on Wednesday, April 14 at 5:30 pm at the Bourne Community Center on Main Street, Buzzards Bay.

The articles relate to the Bourne Development Campus project, a green technology park for green technology companies under development by the Bourne Financial Development Corporation (BFDC). The campus is targeted to create new year-round jobs in Bourne and to generate tax revenues for the Town.

The Bourne Town Meeting is scheduled for May 3. The five articles to be discussed at the BFDC-sponsored public forum are:

1 – Two articles changing by-laws that define a technology campus as requiring access to a “limited access state highway.” The technology campus planners have been informed that the state has no plans to permit access to Route 25. An alternative is available, Route 6, with appropriate permitting, but the by-laws language needs to change.

2 – An article authorizing the Planning Board to grant a Special Permit allowing building heights of greater than 40 feet, the limit currently set by residential zoning. Greater height is required to accommodate high ceilings and equipment used in alternative technology development and research.

3 – An article authorizing the Planning Board to grant a Special Permit reducing or eliminating currently required 200 foot setbacks on the technology campus property. The 200 foot setback would remain around residences and environmentally sensitive areas. Reducing the setbacks could add as much as ten acres for project development, generating a greater return to the Town.

4 – An article agreeing that the access road to the campus would be a public way if built to Town specifications. This article would position the BFDC to apply for federal and state grants to fund the campus’ access and internal roads, a possible savings of $2-3 million of the project cost.

The Bourne Development Campus project is located on a 117-acre parcel in Bournedale which is currently leased by the Bourne Development Campus LLC from the Panhandle Trust. The Bourne Development Campus LLC is a partnership between the BFDC and the owners of land in Bournedale. The lease includes 160 acres mainly on the southeast side of Route 25.

The green technology campus project has earned the endorsement of the Bourne Board of Selectmen and such legislative leaders as Congressman Bill Delahunt and State Senate President Therese Murray, and is included in the county’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) which is ratified by the federal Economic Development Agency.