The Pinehills Pond AmenityThe Pinehills Pond Amenity is a 1.16 acre parcel on Great Island Pond established as a common area serving all units within The Pinehills.
The Pinehills Land Owner's Association has established rules governing the use of the The Pinehills Pond Amenity. The Pinehills Pond Amenity Access Road begins behind the parking lot on the right hand side of the Great Island clubhouse. The road is only wide enough for one car and limited parking is available at the bottom of the road (2 or 3 spaces).
Current StatusAccording to John Judge (12/07/2006), the President of The Pinehills, LLC, there are no detailed plans for what The Pinehills will do with the Pond Amenity. The hold-up, according to Judge, is the building and environmental permitting process. Apparently, getting approval from the Town of Plymouth and the state present a significant roadblock to the development of the site. Building on the existing building's footprint would require a different permit than building an entirely new structure. Adding a dock and a beach at that location would also require environmental permits. And recently, an additional problem has arisen due to the classification of the area of the pond amenity as a threatened species habitat by the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP) of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Apparently, a rare species of terrestrial turtle (Eastern Box Turtle) has been found in the area and it is unclear what impact that will have on the development of the pond amenity. There is also a rumor that part of the pond amenity has been identified as a wetland. An area has been delineated with blue plastic tags attached to the shrubs and trees and is rumored to be the perimeter of the wetland (I estimate the area to be about 500 square feet). In March 2010 (probably the wettest time of a very wet year), the entire delineated wetland, and then some, contained standing water.
If you visit the pond amenity area, you will likely encounter a resident launching their boat, playing fetch with their dog, fishing with the grandchildren or just enjoying the natural setting. Occasionally you'll encounter someone swimming. The water's edge has two entry points, one set up for swimming or wading which has had the aquatic vegetation cleared and the bottom raked to expose the sand and another which has had the aquatic vegetation cleared for launching a small boat. (Please don't block the launch area.)
HistoryThe property was originally occupied by two dilapidated houses, a shack and an outhouse. These houses were literally abandoned, leaving kids toys in the yard, curtains on the windows and pots and pans in the sink. The photographs below were taken on 11/25/2005 with the leaves off the trees. Click the image to see an enlarged view.
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