Commission receives Community Resiliency by Design grant

The Cape Cod Commission received a Community Resiliency by Design Grant to design housing styles and regulations to meet the region’s existing and future housing needs.

The competitive grant was awarded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs in the amount of $100,000. The Grant will be used to work with the towns of Eastham, Orleans and Falmouth, communities representative of Cape Cod development patterns, to advance utilization of existing zoning for compact residential development.

As Cape Cod develops regional and local housing strategies to increase housing choice and supply to meet year-round demand, the focus will move to activity areas. These areas will be supported by infrastructure and amenities that can provide for increased housing density rather than promoting development of single family homes on large lots. In order to accomplish these goals, land use practices must evolve.

The Commission will develop case studies for recommended building forms, offering two possible designs of each. The resulting report will be based on input from local developers on a potential regulatory framework and incentives to make each model work. The Commission will collaborate with a design professional to prepare a concept for form-based regulations to guide such developments. Community decision-making tools will be used throughout the process to assist towns with planning appropriate to their communities.