Newsroom

Cape Cod leaders from various sectors, including business, education, nonprofit, and government, came together at the Cape Cod Museum of Art on March 5 for the Cape Cod Economic Summit, a day designed to inform development of the next economic development plan for the region.

The Cape Cod Commission is continuing and enhancing its efforts to collect non-motorist data across the region. Commission staff collect data continuously in specific areas using "eco-counters," portable infrared trackers that use heat sensing to count pedestrians and bicyclists.

The Regional Housing Strategy is a plan that aims to address the region’s housing challenges by providing a set of tools to help Cape communities expand housing opportunities for those who need and want to live here.

The tools include a suite of model bylaws the Cape Cod Commission has developed working with Utile and Outwith Studio. Towns can customize and adopt these bylaws to help encourage and incentivize development and redevelopment of housing that meets the needs of year-round residents.

The Cape Cod Freshwater Initiative is a science-based, information-driven planning process that engages stakeholders and enables action to protect and restore Cape Cod’s freshwater resources. It began in 2021 with an update to the Cape Cod Ponds Atlas. Since then, the team has been working to collect the data needed to make informed management decisions in our ponds and to better understand how they are changing from season to season and year to year.

During a meeting held on March 25, 2024, the Cape Cod Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) released the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2024-2028 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Amendment 2 for a 21-day public review and comment period. The TIP serves as a prioritized listing of roadway, bridge, and transit projects proposed for implementation during the next five (5) federal fiscal years.

During its meeting on March 22, 2024, the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board voted to adopt a new model for providing subsidies to projects listed on the Clean Water Intended Use Plan (IUP), beginning with projects listed on the 2023 IUP. Fund disbursements will shift from a principal forgiveness model to one that provides a portion of the 25% subsidy over the loan term. Subsidy payments are made when principal payments on the loan are due.

The Town of Orleans is working with the Cape Cod Commission to develop a municipal digital equity plan to assess the digital divide across the community and to identify opportunities to advance digital equity. Residents, businesses, and organizations are invited to attend a workshop on April 9, 2024 to learn about the digital equity plan and contribute to the development of the plan through group exercises and conversations.

The Cape Cod Commission and the Town of Bourne have released the Draft Town of Bourne Municipal Digital Equity Plan for a 21-day public review and comment period.

This Regulatory Update provides a status on projects currently under review by the Cape Cod Commission. Visit www. capecodcommission.

Comprised of the towns of Barnstable, Yarmouth, Dennis, Bourne, Sandwich, Falmouth, and Mashpee, Cape Cod’s Mid and Upper Cape subregions are home to a robust year-round and workforce population, while…