A room house perched on a dune overlooking Cape Cod Bay in Wellfleet is in limbo. One corner of the 5,square-foot-house at Chequessett Neck Road is at the edge of a steep drop. Storms slosh away at the slim strip of beach below. Daily tides and winds chip away the sand. Owner John Bonomi Jr. Bonomi is not going to be doing anything," Gallagher said to commission members after they had asked him to consider moving the house, coming up with other "soft solutions" and providing regular erosion reports.
The Great Island house sits between the bay and Wellfleet Harbor. The home, a common sight for anyone who walks along the popular hiking trail on the island, has been getting closer to the edge as the dune erodes and efforts by current and previous owners to save it have been subject to local scrutiny.
The home has also been the subject of multiple lawsuits. At one time, in , the property had a square foot cottage on 2. Bonomi was in violation of an order of conditions set down by the commission at an earlier meeting. He was supposed to provide regular reports on erosion at the property but had submitted none.
Gallagher said Bonomi planned to convey the house to a salvage company. Bonomi is listed as the owner on the Barnstable County Registry of Deeds. He couldn't explain why the deed in Barnstable County still had Bonomi's name on it.
He appeared at the meeting via Zoom. McKenna used the occasion to remind Moore it is the owner's responsibility to ensure a property is not a public hazard. Town officials are concerned that if the house falls into the sea, currents will take toxic materials into Wellfleet Harbor and spoil the oyster beds there.
