Draft: Higher Buildings Could Be Beneficial Along 6A

ORLEANS – When it comes to zoning, bigger isn’t always better, especially on rural Cape Cod.

But while residents and local zoning and planning officials keep a watchful eye over the density and height of construction in town, a new draft analysis of the Route 6A corridor suggests that bigger buildings could help Orleans address some of its most pressing development needs.

The analysis from Utile Architecture and Planning of Boston was presented to the planning board on Jan. 28. The consultant offered a number of preliminary findings based on a review of current zoning along Route 6A, including how greater building heights could be a benefit along the roadway.

Loren Rapport, a senior urban designer with Utile, said that the majority of buildings along the study area are between one and one-and-a-half stories. But the draft analysis found that increasing building heights along parts of Route 6A will help “incentivize redevelopment where it’s needed, and can embrace the heritage of old Orleans with design standards and guidelines.”

The draft analysis marks the first step in the town’s exploration of form-based zoning, a system of zoning where regulations are crafted prioritizing design standards and guidelines. Typically, zoning regulations are crafted with an eye toward land use. 

“Ultimately, the hope is new zoning with some form-based design standards and rules will help promote mixed-use development and missing middle housing, as well as encourage investment that would be appropriate and in character with development in Orleans,” Rapport told the planning board.

The draft analysis comes on the heels of other economic and planning studies the town has conducted in recent years. A separate Route 6A corridor study was done in 2015, while more recently the town completed an economic development plan in 2022.

The study area focused on three locations along Route 6A, including Skaket Corners, the Orleans Village District and further along Route 6A in the area of Town Cove and the Eastham Rotary. In addition to building height, the draft assessment looked at issues including building age and lot size within the study area.

Utile also found in its draft that commercial development is “scattered” along the Route 6A corridor and that the study area lacks a “cohesive and robust center.” It also found that the stretch is “auto dominant” with a lack of sidewalks allowing other modes of transportation, and that there is a lack of mixed-use residential development.

“We think that with the new zoning, there’s really an opportunity to reconceive this corridor to be better connected, to be more walkable and to be more vibrant as a mixed-use corridor,” Rapport told the board.

But Debbie Oakes of the planning board said while the draft analysis took a good look at Route 6A, other areas of downtown Orleans need to be looked at as well.

“I just want to understand what we’re talking about here. Is it just 6A? What about Main Street, 28?” she said.

Assistant Director Of Planning and Community Development Elizabeth Jenkins said that Route 6A links those other roads, and that the goal of the analysis is “to look comprehensively at commercially zoned areas up and down that corridor.”

“It’s like a sampling, but it’s applicable to more areas than just 6A,” added John Ostman, who chairs the planning board.

In the coming weeks and months, Utile will work with the town on a “character analysis” of the study area that will look at existing development patterns in the area under current zoning. The consultant will also look at certain sites in the study area that could be in play for “near-term development,” Rapport said.

“We’re going to be testing out what is possible with the current zoning, because that is what is going to help us understand what is working well or what isn’t working well,” she said.

There will also be a community survey and other opportunities for public input through the end of March, Rapport said. 

Jenkins said she does not anticipate there will be anything in the way of recommended zoning changes brought to the annual town meeting in May. But she said Utile’s findings are a first step toward moving the town in that direction.

“What we will have, I think, are recommendations regarding what portions of the (zoning) ordinance we want to update and modernize using form-based approaches,” she said.

Jenkins said the planning board will continue its discussions on form-based zoning with Utile at its Feb. 25 meeting.