Local Comprehensive Plans certified for three Cape Cod towns 

As Cape Cod towns work to address challenges related to affordable housing, climate and coastal resiliency, and economic stability, a Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP) can serve as a blueprint for a sustainable future. LCPs help communities navigate change while protecting local and regional defining character and resources and ensure that communities proactively plan to meet shifting needs. 

The LCP is a critical resource for elected officials, board members, and residents in making future decisions. 

Towns use an LCP to articulate a community vision for the future, adapt to changing conditions, and protect shared resources. The LCP also provides information on current and anticipated conditions within a town. LCP development entails significant community engagement and opportunities for public input, which helps ensure that the plan reflects the unique needs of each town.  

The Commission adopted new LCP regulations on July 25, 2019. These regulations advance a streamlined approach to LCP development, with a clear and straightforward path for Commission certification to encourage more communities to adopt LCPs.   

Since 2019, several towns have undertaken LCP updates. The Commission recently certified new LCP's for Truro, Sandwich, and Provincetown.  

Truro: An innovative, sustainable rural community 

Truro's LCP committee chair, Mara Glatzel presented the town's plan to the Cape Cod Commission board on August 22, 2024. "This was an important process during this time in Truro," Glatzel said, "and I think that the creation of the LCP really enabled us to come together and rally around our shared understanding of what is possible for our small town."  

Truro's LCP works to strike a balance between housing, the economy, and the environment and serves as a framework for community sustainability that supports the needs of young families and senior residents.   

The vision for the Town of Truro for the next five to ten years is an innovative, sustainable rural community with a socio-economically and culturally diverse population of all ages. The Truro LCP outlines five priorities for the town. Input from a wide variety of community members, including local school children, informed the plan.

Sandwich: Honoring the historic past and fostering new opportunities 

Sandwich Director of Planning and Economic Development Ralph Vitacco and Director of Community Development Leanne Drake presented Sandwich's LCP to the Commission board on August 22, 2024. 

The Sandwich LCP envisions a vibrant, diverse, and sustainable seaside community that honors its historic past, values natural resources, and fosters new opportunities for living, working, and recreating. 

"As a result of the public input, we created a growth policy that Sandwich will maintain the qualities and characteristics that residents and visitors value to manage growth, thoughtful development, and reimagining of existing uses," said Vitacco. 

The Sandwich LCP actions include zoning changes, capital facilities and infrastructure projects, housing-related actions, and other key actions to advance the LCP's goals. The plan will be essential to the Select Board's annual planning process, ensuring town actions are advancing its goals and vision. 

Provincetown: Prioritizing housing  

Provincetown Town Planner Thaddeus Soule presented the LCP to the Commission board on September 5, 2024. The plan prioritizes housing, reflecting Provincetown's community vision and dedication to addressing housing and other foundational needs, including climate resiliency, infrastructure, transportation, open space preservation, and economic diversity.    

Reflective of the Town's needs and values, the Provincetown LCP includes additional issue areas for goals outside of the RPP, including governance and public health, with objectives and strategies to support them.

"This plan does reflect Provincetown's unique take…as do all the other communities that are doing these master plans," said Soule. "We're an idealistic community, and this is a very idealistic plan."  

A Cape Cod Commission review and subsequent certification ensures that the LCP is a comprehensive long-range planning document that identifies current and future needs, priorities, goals, and actions to help the town achieve its vision. LCPs that are certified by the Cape Cod Commission are consistent with the Cape Cod Commission Act and Regional Policy Plan and enable local action that advances common regional goals and objectives. The Commission board voted to certify all three LCPS presented in 2024.