Select Board Provides Strong Support For Local Comprehensive Plan

 HARWICH – It took three years, but the update of the town’s local comprehensive plan was finally presented to the select board on Monday night and was met with praise by board members. The updated version will be placed before the annual town meeting in May for acceptance.

“Everything proud about Harwich went into this plan,” Local Planning Committee Chair Joyce McIntyre told the select board. “It’s an encyclopedia of a lot of different information about the town.” 

McIntyre said updating the plan took a year longer than expected, but she praised the diligence of committee members for developing a searchable “living” document. She thanked residents for their active involvement in helping to shape the plan through surveys and workshops, and the commitment from the select board and town departments.

She called it an “A-plus effort” for the town of Harwich.

“Harwich is really about our environment and our people and the interconnect,” McIntyre said.

The community vision projects Harwich as a “vibrant and sustainable community that honors its natural beauty, historic charm and village character, while meeting the needs of our residents for attainable housing to support economic and community growth. Our commitment to this vision is deeply rooted in the protection of water and natural resources, recognizing their intrinsic value to our community,”

 The plan’s growth policy was crafted to “meet the needs of future generations for housing and economic sustainability through strategic investments in infrastructure focused on our seven unique village areas,” according to the plan.

 The commonwealth requires that local comprehensive plans include action steps for natural, community and built systems.

Among the action plan priorities for natural systems are to protect, preserve and restore water resources, wildlife and plant habitat, open space and conservation lands. The action plan priorities for the built environment include addressing community design, coastal resiliency, community facilities, water management and supply, recreational facilities, transportation and energy. The action plan for the community includes a focus on cultural heritage, the local economy and housing. 

Among the key challenges facing the town are a lack of available land and existing zoning, which severely constrain construction of affordable and attainable housing. Other challenges cited in the plan include housing affordability, wastewater management, managing village character, climate change impacts to property and resources and environmental protection.

Select Board Chair Donald Howell said the document is exactly what he was looking for. 

 “It’s well drafted and a good document to put before the community,” Select board member Peter Piekarski said.

 “These people worked tirelessly and it was done with a lot of respect,” added select board member Jeffrey Handler. The plan has community goals, objectives and actions, he said. Given the development proposals taking shape in the community, the document needs to be leaned on heavily, he added.

 Select Board member Mark Kelleher wanted to know about the time spent in the process of updating the plan and the cost to the town. McIntyre said the committee met every month, sometimes multiple times. The use of Tighe and Bond as consultants cost $250,000.

 Kelleher said he has heard that previous plans weren’t followed and left on the shelf. Howell took exception to the assessment, saying that he has been involved in several plan updates over the years and among other things they led to fulfilling the need for medical facilities in the community, specifically Fontaine Center and Outer Cape Health Services. He also said the Six Ponds District was another result of comprehensive planning. 

 McIntyre said the select board will own the plan and the town administrator will be responsible for implementation of its recommendations. 

 The plan, which incorporates updates to the housing production plan, and the open space and recreation plan, will also have to be approved by the Cape Cod Commission.

“It keeps our seven villages together and remaining in balance,” Handler said. “I look forward to supporting it in town meeting.” 

 “We are at a point in Harwich’s history with a new town administrator [and] a planning board chair looking toward form based zoning,” Howell said. “It’s a period in time where it’s all coming together. It’s an exciting time to live here.”