They’re losing their homes to the new Cape Cod bridges, and now they have to pay rent on the homes they lost.
“Horrifying. Absolutely … disrespectful.” That’s how homeowner Joan Hendel described how the state is treating people whose property is being taken by eminent domain for the bridge replacement project.
She and husband Marc Hendel wore signs taped to their shirts during an open house on the project Tuesday hosted by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
Hers said, “Don’t charge us rent to live in our own homes.”
The state plans to take 13 homes, 12 of which are in the Round Hill neighborhood, for the new Sagamore Bridge.
Rebuilding the 1935 Bourne and Sagamore bridges to modern standards, which makes them wider, is expected to cost about $4.5 billion. The new bridges will be built next to the old ones, so the old bridges can continue to carry traffic during construction.
To date, four homes have been transferred to state ownership, said Luisa Paiewonsky, the Healey administration’s chief of the project, at the open house.
The Hendels said the transfer of their deed is scheduled for March. Once they receive payment about a week later, they have four months to live in the house rent-free before the charges kick in.
Although several of the 13 households have registered their objections publicly, Paiewonsky said she’s not aware of anyone refusing to leave.
“We've certainly heard concerns about the process — you know, a lot of distress on the part of a couple who were surprised by this,” she said. “But nobody has said that they won't move. Eminent domain is a longstanding power of government that we try to use sparingly. But we do need to use it to build a Sagamore Bridge for the people of Cape Cod.”
One homeowner losing her property, Mary Gallerani, is 89 years old and has lived in her Round Hill house overlooking the canal for most of her adult life.
“It's heartbreaking,” she said at a meeting in December. “I've lived there since 1958.”
For Marc Hendel, what the state is doing is not enough.
“You can see MassDOT in their interviews saying how they care about us, and they know there's a human aspect to it, and they're working with us,” he said. “All of that is wrong. They are not doing any of those things.”
Paiewonsky said letting residents stay longer, for free, would be a disincentive to them finding new homes. Asked about the rent, she described it as well below market rate.
“After four months, we think it's reasonable, and responsible to the taxpayers who paid for this home, to charge a modest rent,” she said.
Once their deeds have been transferred to the state, residents are no longer responsible for the mortgage or property taxes.
