Commission Representative Resigns; Etsten Questions Agency Direction

 HARWICH – Jacqueline Etsten, the town’s longtime Cape Cod Commission representative, has submitted her resignation to the select board and questioned the direction in which the county planning organization is heading.

 “It has been an interesting journey, albeit a frustrating one,” Etsten wrote in her resignation letter. “The present direction of the Cape Cod Commission is very different than that originally envisioned.”

Etsten came before the select board Monday to present her resignation from the county land-use planning agency. The board recently received notification from the commission that Etsten’s three-year term is due to expire on April 24 and was asked to appoint a new representative for a three-year term.

Etsten told the board she is leaving with sadness because she does not believe the commission is going in the right direction and she does not feel she has been able to have enough impact to turn things around. 

 “So it’s a level of frustration, banging your head against the wall throughout the year,” said Etsten.

Select Board Chair Donald Howell said he wanted board members to hear about the frustrations he has talked with Etsten about as the board considers the appointment of a new representative to the commission.

 “We’re not looking for homogeneity,” Howell said. “We’re not looking for vanilla, we’re not looking for somebody who is just going to go along to get along. The commission as constituted now has a tendency to do group thinking. Whoever we get, I’d really like to be an independent thinker, whether we agree on a particular issue or not. I’d like them to represent the town rather than the commission.”

Etsten said she would like to see someone named to the post who is interested in the natural environment. She said water resources are considered individually when a particular development comes forward, but only related to the immediate impact.

When Etsten was a town planner in Barnstable and a development was proposed, she said, the first thing they did was look at growth potential to determine what the water needs were going to be and from that determine the sewer needs. Etsten said she does not see the towns doing that anymore. She emphasized the need for the town’s appointee to have an interest in water resources.

She said the role of stakeholders in presenting economic development plans is important, but there is a larger context to that and it’s never realized and never addressed. She said the Cape’s economy is based on its natural resources, environment, water resources, ponds and harbors, community character, small-scale development and historic preservation.

 “That has been totally unaddressed and not accomplished,” Etsten said.

 “I have diligently read all documents and offered a few comments, but there was no reaction by staff and changes were not made,” she said of adoption of the agency’s regional policy plan in 2025. “The review by the subcommittee was adopted with a short presentation by staff with little to no discussion by the full commission.”

She said there have been changes in policy on harbor zones that initially were intended to protect water-related uses around harbors. The changes allow for all forms of housing in those areas.

 “That puts a bullseye on marine related uses because they don’t produce that sort of income. Properties will be sold to a developer rather than for marine-related uses,” Etsten said.

Howell said the town pays an assessment to be part of the commission, which is why he was bringing up the topic. The original commission was a balance between development and protection and being cognizant of community needs, he said.

 “It seems like we’re veering away from that more and more,” said Howell.

Etsten said the posture of the commission has led to more large-scale development of regional impact projects resulting in some pretty awful developments. The more lax the agency is, the more these types of developments will proliferate, said Etsten.

The board agreed to reach out to the community in an effort to recruit a new commission representative. 

 “I’d rather see the seat left unoccupied rather than to make a bad decision,” Select Board member Peter Piekarski said. “I’d rather get it right, rather than just fill it.”

Board members praised Etsten for her longstanding service as the town’s commission representative.