From the Falmouth Enterprise · December 7, 1982
On December 7, 1982, the Washburn Island Preserve Limited Partnership was to present its definitive plan for 50 lots on the 334-acre island to the Falmouth Planning Board. Homes would cover the northern two-thirds, reached only by boat or helicopter from parking on the 23-acre Swift property on Waquoit Bay, with the southern third left undeveloped. The partnership had reportedly turned down a state offer of about $3 million, wanting about $6 million. Arlene M. Wilson of Cape Cod Survey Consultants, a consultant to Citizens for the Protection of Waquoit Bay Inc., was to present the group’s environmental concerns.
Two things stood in the way. On November 30 the Falmouth Conservation Commission had adopted a policy effectively barring development in the bay’s Area of Critical Environmental Concern, which partnership lawyer Dwight H. Merriam said left no reasonable use of the island. And Rep. Jeremiah F. Cahir laid out how a state taking could work once Gov.-elect Michael Dukakis took office: the state files an order of taking, pays its appraised value, and the owner can sue for more. The state took the island in June 1983.
Read the full story in the Falmouth Enterprise archive: “Washburn’s Island Developers Forge Ahead” →
This is CPWB’s summary of a news article. The full article and its photos are published by the Falmouth Enterprise. The page is in the Falmouth Public Library’s digital archive of the Enterprise.
Drafted with AI assistance from the linked source.
