The Cape Cod Commission has released a draft regional housing strategy and has invited the public to submit written comments on the plan by Monday, January 29th. The draft plan can be viewed at https://www.capecodcommission.org/our-work/regional-housing-strategy/.
Some of the proposed actions in the housing strategy plan have direct implications on local and regional open space preservation and natural resource protection efforts, including decisions on what land will be targeted for housing production and how that may affect local strategies to protect the region’s most sensitive natural resource areas. We know that the historic choices on housing development strategies have led to fragmented habitat, degraded water quality, traffic and high housing costs. The Commission’s plan is a chance to learn from the mistakes of the past and to do a better job and avoid sacrificing the few remaining acres of critical habitat on Cape Cod to the bulldozer. We know that the “build our way out of it” strategy preferred by the housing industry will get us more of the bad that comes with development without correcting the housing market deficiencies.
Last week, APCC submitted written comments to the Cape Cod Commission regarding the regional housing strategy. APCC agrees that changes need to be made to the management of housing development to ensure that the Cape remains an attainable place to live for the year-round population. We do have concerns that modifications to the Commission’s plan need to be made so that future policies are built on what we have learned from the mistakes of the past.
APCC encourages you, as someone concerned with open space conservation within your community, to review the Commission’s draft housing strategy and APCC’s comments, and to submit your own comments to [email protected].
