Truro town meeting OKs $26.4 million town budget, approves Walsh property housing plan

After nearly six months of delay , roughly 600 Truro voters turned up Saturday and Sunday at the Truro Central School field for a back-to-back town meeting inside a heated tent to vote on 57 warrant articles.

Those voters adopted a $26.4 million budget and adopted the recommendations of the Walsh Property CommunityPlanning Committee which call for setting aside 28.5 acres of the 69-acre property for year-round "deed restrictedrental and homeownership housing that is attainable to a broad cross section of the Truro community."

The recommendations call for building no more than 160 units, in phases. The first phase would be 50 to 80 units.

7 acres for school, four acres for recreation

The Walsh property committee also recommended setting aside seven acres to Truro Central School so the town could be eligible for state building money to expand or renovate the building. Another recommendation is to set aside four acres for public recreation.

Voters gave their blessing to Article 11 in the annual warrant to take by eminent domain property at 296 Route 6, known as the Truro Motor Inn , to develop affordable housing including by not limited to workforce housing.

Study for public works building on Town Hall Hill

Voters rejected special town meeting articles 2 through 4 that called for money to build and design a new Department of Public Works facility on property on Route 6, which officials had endorsed. However, voters did approve a citizens petition article (Article 14) to create a five-member ad hoc task force to weigh plans to build a public works facility on Town Hall Hill.

Passed by a majority vote was Article 7, adopting a Local Comprehensive Plan that identifies the "needs, goals and vision for the next 5-10 years of Truro’s future and (provide) action steps."

Voters gave their OK to Article 31, which allows the town to hold town meetings outside the geographic limits of the town at a location capable of holding a great number of voters. In November, the special town meeting was delayed after several voter registration challenges were assessed by the town. It was eventually postponed on Nov. 28 after the Truro Central School gymnasium failed to hold the unprecedented number of voters who turned out.

Articles 32 and 33, proposed prohibitions related to the short-term rental of residential properties, passed.

Walker Armstrong reports on all things Cape and Islands, primarily focusing on courts, transportation and the Joint Base Cape Cod military base. Contact him at WArmstrong@capecodonline.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jd__walker.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Truro town meeting OKs $26.4 million town budget, approves Walsh property housing plan