Rats, poor water quality and increased traffic were among the concerns raised by members of the public about the proposed Hospitality, Recreation and Entertainment District, brought forward by the Notos Group. 

The Notos group are the developers who proposed a casino and racetrack in summer 2019 — a proposal that seems to have been dropped, although the company has unspecified plans for the area. 

At a Feb. 8 Planning Board Hearing, Jeffrey Tocchio, an attorney representing the Quincy-based developer Notos Group, outlined changes to the proposal: A number of environmental protections were added, including requirements for test wells to monitor water quality, noise restrictions and requirements for potential developers to include more environmental information in their proposals.

A provision allowing billboards along Rte. 25 was removed. All projects will need to maintain 25 percent open space.

Donnie Lovell, who lives near the district, said that he already sees many displaced animals like coyotes and rats in his yard, and said that additional developments would reduce those animals’ habitats even further, pushing them into residential neighborhoods. In response, Planning Board Chair George Barrett said that the projects did have open space requirements. Lovell also brought up the dramatic increase in light pollution over the last few decades.

Meg Sheehan of the Community Land and Water Alliance, a citizen-led group based in Plymouth and Wareham, said the provisions to protect water quality, which only require nitrogen levels to be monitored, don’t go far enough. The proposed district sits atop the aquifer that provides Wareham and Onset with drinking water, and she said that the groundwater should be regularly tested for a host of contaminants including lead and chemicals like PFAS.

Resident Mark Truran said developers should be required to purchase bonds to cover the cost of ongoing water monitoring and equipment replacement.

Truran, who lives on Glen Charlie Road, which bounds the northern edge of the proposed district, said that traffic on his street is already disruptive, and he struggles to turn left out of his driveway in the summer. 

“And it’s getting worse and worse,” Truran said, noting that Redbrook, a 1,200-unit A.D. Makepeace development in Plymouth, will only increase traffic there. 

“Adding three million square feet of building area to this spot — it’s five times the size of Wareham Crossing, to give you an idea — and Wareham Crossing requires a four-lane road just for access within the property,” Truran said. “The original proposal that was put forward a year or so ago was that the only access to this was from Rte. 25. If this has to go forward, it can’t go through Glen Charlie Road. It’s ridiculous.”

Sharl Heller, a coordinator for Southeastern Massachusetts Coastal Pine Barrens Partnership, told the board about a grant program led by the US Forest Service which allows towns to receive millions of dollars for acquiring and protecting forests 1,000 to 2,000 acres in size. She noted that preserved forests can also generate revenue through ecotourism, especially because the type of forests that exist in Wareham are rare. The Partnership is a Plymouth-based volunteer group who work to educate the public about Pine Barrens and protect those ecosystems from development and other threats.

A previous version of the proposal was set to encompass about one quarter of the town’s landmass, including the roughly 275-acre property on which the Notos Group had hoped to build its “racino.” The district has been cut down to about 963 acres.

The district would allow a variety of uses including hotels, conference centers, multiple family dwellings, hospitals and riding stables. All projects would have to include an “indoor and/or outdoor commercial recreation facility or place of amusement and residential uses.”

The district still requires projects on at least 100-acre parcels and would require all proposals to go through a special permit process with the Planning Board, which gives the town a fair amount of say about what is built.

Currently, the land is zoned only for single-family homes on several acre lots.

The proposal is destined for a vote at a Special Town Meeting, currently scheduled for March 13 but subject to postponement for what would be a third time. Monday’s hearing before the Planning Board was part of the process before that board takes a position on the proposed district. As a zoning change, the proposal would need a two-thirds majority approval at Town Meeting. 

The hearing was continued to Feb. 22.