PARK BRIEFS
thy neighbor,” some of the abutters to the park remain active in their opposition to it, with several disgruntled neighbors attempting to raise bureaucratic hurdles to the reopening at a town selectboard meeting this spring, and one alleging concerns about “child safety” to the Times this summer. NEWS FROM AROUND THE AERIAL ADVENTURE INDUSTRY Fortunately, efforts to reopen the park have also been met with support from the community, including state and local officials. State Sen. Susan Moran, D-Fal - mouth, attended the ribbon cutting and told the Times she may use the park for a legislative retreat. Sandwich Chamber of Commerce executive director Christine Ross told the Times she was excited to see tourists and locals enjoy the park, and that it “will bring a whole new vibe and feeling to the town on top of museum goers.” “The support of the community, including government, chamber and town officials is very important to us and to Heritage,” said Fisher. “The museum is a fixture in the community and the Cape in general and has very strong relationships, and we have been able to work closely with the museum leadership to ensure strong support of the park as well.” •
Winning Out Over NIMBY Naysayers
granting operation to an outdoor recreational activity having seasonal and operational limitations.
The limitations, Outdoor Ventures president Candie Fisher told API , include capping the park’s capacity at 125 people at any one time, limiting operating hours from 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., disallowing the use artificial lighting, and restricting all structures to under 500 square feet. The code also required the park to make modifications to its design, guest flow, and facilities that included increasing the setback from the main access road an additional 70 feet, completely dismantling and relocat- ing one course, and redesigning and reinstalling about 75 percent of a second course, among other things. However, Fisher said the redesigns allowed Outdoor Ventures to make improvements, providing customers with some new additions to experience—such as a Tarzan swing—that were not there previously.
By Katie Brinton
The Adventure Park at Heritage Museum and Gardens in upscale Sandwich, Mass., was able to reopen this summer, despite the objections of NIMBY neighbors. While we like to think of aerial adventures as low-im- pact attractions that offer challenge, connection, and joy to a wide range of participants, a group of Cape Cod residents whose properties abut the 10-acre park have opposed this particular venture since its incep- tion 10 years ago, raising complaints about increased noise, traffic, and decreased property values. A protracted legal dispute between the neighbors and the park began in 2014 when one neighbor unsuccessfully attempted to appeal the approval of the park’s permit.
“All in all, although costly to change and rebuild what
ACCT Adopts New Standards-Writing Procedures
By Rick Kahl
The Association for Challenge Course Technology (ACCT) has gained all the necessary approvals for a new standards-development process, and received a two-year extension from ANSI to update the current standard, ANSI/ACCT 03-2019. Approval of the new Accredited Procedures (AP) means ACCT can now institute the process it has developed and then begin work on an update to the standard. ACCT’s Accredited Procedures Task Force (APTF) com - pleted a draft proposal to update the organization’s standards-development process last May; in July, it submitted the draft to the ACCT Consensus Group for review. The Group approved the proposal in August, and the proposal was subsequently submitted to and approved by ANSI.
The grand reopening of The Adventure Park at Heritage Museum and Gardens.
The park, a joint effort between Heritage Museum and Gardens and Outdoor Ventures, opened in 2015. It was ordered to close in 2018, however, after a judge ruled in favor of four residential neighbors that filed a suit against Heritage claiming the park’s permit should be overturned for a variety of reasons. Heritage has been trying to reopen the park since. It was originally granted an operating permit under its classification as an educational exhibit. However, the judge in the case that led to the 2018 closure, ruled that the aerial park was not sufficiently educational or connected to museum operations and therefore did not qualify for exemption from residential zoning codes.
needed to be done to comply with the new zoning designation, everything done—including all the maintenance that had been deferred due to the court proceedings—was reasonable and did not adversely affect our operations,” said Fisher. “Despite the costs associated with these changes, the park is optimistic about the future and satisfied with the outcome, even without the extended operating hours that artificial lighting would provide.” According to the Cape Cod Times , the park was projected to see 50,000 visitors in 2018 before it was forced to shut down. Since reopening this summer, it has enjoyed a steady growth in demand, said Fisher, adding that, as of July, “the numbers and interest are meeting expectations and growing quickly.”
In September 2023, a Barnstable Superior Court ruling allowed the park to reopen under a “Special Permit”
While an old biblical proverb encourages us to “love
Perhaps the greatest change in the Accredited
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