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EASTHAM/MID-CAPE HOSTEL | ||
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Appeal Seeks to Reopen Youth Hostel By Marilyn Miller Eastham - The doors may reopen next June at the youth hostel on Goody Hallett Drive. Attorneys representing the hostel, which was ordered to shut down Sept 15 by the town, have filed an appeal of the zoning board's decisions with the Massachusetts Land Court. On Aug. 9, the town's zoning board of appeals ordered the hostel, which has operated for more than 40 years at 75 Goody Hallet Drive, to cease operation. Several abutters had objected to the plans of Eastham New England Council of Hosteling International to turn eight rustic cabins into a single building. The abutters found through research that the size of the lot had been changed seven years ago and thus a commercial venture operating within a residential neighborhood was no longer permitted. A special permit was needed in order for the hostel to continue to operate. The appeals board denied that request. Myer Singer, the local lawyer who represented the hostel during the ZBA hearings, also filed an application with the zoning board of appeals Tuesday, requesting that the board rescind its shut-down order until the case is heard in land court. Building inspector Frank DeFelice said Singer's request came in on time for the board to consider it at its next meeting, on Oct. 11. The appeal, filed in land court by Brian M. Hurley, a Boston attorney, seeks to annul the ZBA decision upholding DeFelice's determination that the hostel had lost its pre-existing nonconforming status due to a change in the size of the lot that was made seven years ago. The appeal seeks a ruling from the court that the board's decision was an error and that the board exceeded its authority by its action. "The hostel asks the court to determine whether it continues to enjoy protected status as a pre-existing nonconforming use, and whether the use is protected as an educational purpose use under the law," the appeal states. The appeal also asks the court to issue a temporary restraining order or a preliminary injunction enjoining the ZBA from "interfering with the hostel operation during the pendancy of this action." Singer said it would take "many, many months" for the court to act on the appeal. "It's a matter of waiting now," he said.
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