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Barnstable Land Trust unveils alternatives to proposed apartments at Twin Brooks golf course

One of the alternatives proposed by the Barnstable Land Trust for the Twin Brooks golf course includes housing, a hotel, and 34 acres of open space.
Barnstable Land Trust
One of the alternatives proposed by the Barnstable Land Trust for the Twin Brooks golf course includes housing, a hotel, and 34 acres of open space.

Opponents of a more than 300-unit apartment complex proposed for Hyannis have unveiled three new alternatives they hope will gain public support.

They say the property, the Twin Brooks golf course, is the last large, green space in Hyannis and should be preserved.

The options put forth by the Barnstable Land Trust would still build housing, which the group agrees is needed. But the new alternatives would save more open space by concentrating the housing where the adjacent hotel and conference center are now.

That area is not part of the current development plans.

Janet Milkman, executive director of the Barnstable Land Trust, said she hopes the town and Cape Cod Commission will support an alternative, “and that the decision-makers take this opportunity to try and negotiate with the developer and come up with a development project that is better suited to our community.”

“The easiest path is just to say yes to everything,” she said, “but, you know, the reason … we've put so much effort into this, is that we think this is too important an opportunity to lose.”

Some of the alternatives include retaining a hotel on the site or adding retail development near Scudder Avenue.

Accepting one of the new proposals would require a change of plans for both the developer, Lennar Multifamily Communities, which controls the golf course, and the owner, Wesley Finch, who controls the hotel and conference center.

Lennar Multifamily Communities holds a purchase-and-sale agreement with Finch on the 40-acre golf course portion of the parcel. The agreement does not include the 14 acres that contain the hotel, which is called the Resort and Conference Center at Hyannis.

Jennette Barnes is a reporter and producer. Named a Master Reporter by the New England Society of News Editors, she brings more than 20 years of news experience to CAI.