Snow Inn To Be Replaced

 HARWICH – The town is seeking a mandatory development of regional impact review by the Cape Cod Commission of a proposal to demolish the Snow Inn and replace it with a 76-room hotel.

 Wychmere Beach Club owner Wychmere Harbor Real Estate LLC filed an application with the planning board on Sept. 24 seeking permits to raze the historic inn structure and the Channel House and construct the new hotel building.  

 Director Of Planning And Community Development Christine Flynn said she filed for the mandatory development of regional impact (DRI) review with the commission on Oct. 21. The referral is required because it involves the expansion of a commercial structure greater than 10,000 square feet, the threshold for DRI review. The new hotel would be 82,660 square feet.

In historic district and historical commission hearings on the proposal last year, it was said the inn was constructed in 1855. Other sources suggested Levi Edric Snow purchased the land in 1889 and built an eight-room cottage there for his family, adding 20 rooms in 1892. 

The current Snow Inn complex contains 32 rooms in two buildings, the Snow Inn and the Channel House. The proposed new hotel would have 76 rooms in one building situated approximately where the Snow Inn is located. The Snow Inn is a 30,810-square-foot structure and the Channel House contains 4,050 square feet. 

 The project includes the relocation and upgrade of the existing wastewater treatment facility as well as extensive stormwater upgrades. New and upgraded drainage is proposed to improve the existing conditions onsite and in the lower half of the Snow Inn Road layout abutting the property, including access, circulation and parking. The two entrances to the Wychmere Beach Club will be reconfigured and enhanced to improve vehicular and pedestrian safety operations and traffic flow. 

 The upper entrance will be redesigned to separate incoming and outgoing traffic as well as provide improved and expanded parking and a dedicated drop-off and pick-up area for hotel guests. The lower entrance will be redesigned to improve access and circulation to all components of the beach club property, including 11 residential condominiums that are located on the same property but are not part of the beach club business.

 As part of the lower entrance reconfiguration, all of the existing parking spaces that back up against the Snow Inn Road layout will be eliminated to improve safety. 

The redesign will reduce the number of parking spaces by 66, from 236 to 177. That will not impact the existing parking management plan for the property, according to the application. All on-site parking for the beach club will be by valet.  

 Building coverage will remain conforming, though pre-existing nonconforming site and amenities coverage will increase slightly, the application states.

 No changes are proposed to the buildings, services, and amenities located on the outer perimeter of the beach club property, including adjacent to the Wychmere Harbor channel and Nantucket Sound, according to the application.

Efforts to reach Wychmere Harbor Real Estate’s attorney Andrew Singer for additional comment on the project were unsuccessful.