HomeMy WebLinkAboutBarnstable Land Trust Comments on Open Space and Recreation Plan update 11.26.2025
1540 Main Street West Barnstable, MA 02668 E-mail: janet@blt.org Phone: 508-771-2585
November 26, 2025
Kyle Pedicini, Assistant Director
Planning and Development
Town of Barnstable
367 Main Street
Hyannis, MA 02601
Dear Kyle,
We appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Town of Barnstable Draft Open Space and Recreation
Plan (OSRP). In addition to our previous general comments provided in September 2025, please see below
specific comments on the OSRP draft document.
Page 7 – Executive Summary: Please consider reversing the two sentences in the first paragraph. While
it is important to maintain eligibility for state funding, we believe this is not the primary purpose of the
plan.
Page 29 – Water Resources:
We suggest labelling the surface water bodies on the map. Please consider adding greater detail on
water quality issues in ponds rivers and coastal waters, including naming of impacted water bodies.
This will help target action items to problem areas.
Page 49 – Importance of Protecting Open Space: We appreciate the addition of the section on the
importance of protecting open space. We suggest including statistics that demonstrate the
importance of protecting open space in the local context. Some examples:
• Conserved open space protects drinking water quality – For every $1 spent on water resource
protection - $27 is saved on water treatment (Winiecki, E. (2012). Economics and Source Water
Protection. Presentation, U.S. E.P.A.)
• Barnstable County’s 114,000 acres of three canopy saves $9.06 million annually on stormwater
management (U.S. Forest Service. i-Tree Software Suite v5.x. (n.d) accessed January 17, 2022)
• The Cape Cod outdoor recreation economy generated over $2.7 billion in revenue and created
over 14 thousand jobs in 2023 (Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism)
• The Blue Economy, which is heavily impacted by how we manage our coastal areas (e.g salt
marshes are the nurseries for many fish species), generated over $330 million in gross regional
product in 2024 (Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce)
Page 52 - Table 5-1: Summary of Open Space and Recreation Land.
Some narrative on Table 5-1 would be helpful for readers.
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• As this table is separated into two sections, is all of the land listed under “Recreation Land,
Other Open Space, and Public Land” considered unprotected open space? It is currently
unclear.
• What is the reason for the reduction in conservation land between 2017 and 2025?
• What is the 1,260.20 acres of Public Trusts land added?
Page 53 - Table 5-2: Summary of Open Space and Recreation Land.
• Same comment as above -as this table is separated into two sections, is all of the land listed
under “Recreation Land, Other Open Space, and Public Land” considered unprotected open
space?
Page 69 – Table 5-4: Public Properties Providing Recreation and/or Conservation Amenities. We have
provided a list of Barnstable Land Trust properties with amenities (also attached here). We suggest
replacing the Barnstable Land Trust properties in Table 5-4 with the list provided.
Page 81 – Figure 5-1: Inventory of Open Space.
• Cotuit Highground Golf Course is now protected in perpetuity by a CR granted to the Town (30
and 31 Crockers Neck Rd, Cotuit)
• This map doesn’t appear to include agricultural land (including cranberry bogs) which fall within
the definition of open space.
• Per page 50, the term Open Space can also refer to undeveloped land with conservation or
recreation potential. This includes vacant lots and brownfields that can be redeveloped into
recreational areas or community green spaces. Consider adding these areas to the map. If this
inventory does not currently exist, consider an action item to inventory all undeveloped open
space with conservation or recreation potential to allow it to be prioritized for future
protection.
Ten Year Action Plan:
We suggest revisiting the “Priority” terminology use in the Action Plan. The OSRP Workbook states that
“goals and objectives should be listed in some sort of priority order”. This provides flexibility on how
action item priorities are communicated. By their inclusion in the plan, all items in the Action Plan could
be considered a high priority. The timeline could instead be used to prioritize/plan implementation
based on Town resources and funding opportunities. Consider Short/Medium/Long-term terminology
aligned with the Timeframe column in the Action Plan table. Per the OSRP Workbook: “The Action Plan
should allow for flexibility in the timetable if early action is needed to take advantage of opportunities
that arise out of sequence. Each year, the [Open Space Committee] should evaluate implementation
activities of the previous year and revise the Action Plan accordingly.
We also suggest assigning one primary Responsible Party to coordinate and lead the implementation
of each action item, as this will create greater ownership and stronger outcomes.
Goal 1.
• What does “maximum feasible” mean? We suggest removing “feasible” and let the criteria
listed define the extent of open space protection.
• Goal 1.1. We suggest adding “Develop and implement” to the goal language
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• Goal 1.2. We suggest increasing the priority of this item as it is the foundation of many of the
other action items.
• Goal 1.4. We suggest this item be a high priority to ensure all responsible parties are aware of
the Ch61 right-of-first refusal process.
• We suggest adding an action item to ensure that all town-owned land purchased for or used
for conservation or recreation is protected with a conservation restriction, e.g. the land
around Joshua’s and Micah’s Ponds (listed in 8.2).
Goal 6. We suggest making open space in Hyannis as high a priority as dog park improvements.
Goal 7. We suggest promoting measures to protect agricultural land in perpetuity, including
Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) programs that provide a financial benefit to farmers for
preserving their farmland.
Goal 8.
• We suggested adding an action item to seek out and support partnerships to undertake
ecological restoration of freshwater and coastal wetlands.
• Goal 8.2. Consider making this goal a high priority. BLT is available to assist with this process.
• Goal 8.8. Why is the enforcement of water-use regulations part of the Open Space and
Recreation Plan?
Goal 13
• Goal 13.3. We suggest making the annual review of the OSRP Action Plan a high priority, to
ensure continued progress in implementing Action Items. We suggest that this annual review
include a report to the Town Council on achievements of the previous year.
Barnstable Land Trust supports the Town’s efforts to update the Open Space and Recreation Plan and is a
willing partner in advancing the goals of the OSRP. Thank you for your efforts and for the opportunity to
contribute feedback.
Sincerely,
Janet Milkman
Executive Director
Barnstable Land Trust properties with recreation or conservation amenities open to the
public
Property Name Owner Current Use
Pogorelc Sanctuary Barnstable Land Trust Trail, parking, pond overlook,
conservation area
Shaws Lane Trail Barnstable Land Trust Trail, conservation area
Cape Cod Community
College
Commonwealth of
Massachusetts,
Barnstable Land
Trust, Town of
Barnstable
Trails, parking, conservation area
Fuller Farm Barnstable Land Trust Parking, trails, conservation area
Andrews Property and
Coombs Bogs
Barnstable Land
Trust, Town of
Barnstable
Parking, trails, conservation area
Ropes Field Barnstable Land Trust Open field, conservation area
Lowell Park Woodlands Barnstable Land Trust Trail, conservation area
Eagle Pond & Little River
Sanctuary
Barnstable Land Trust Trails, fishing, canoe/kayaking,
parking, conservation area
Bansfield Meadow Barnstable Land Trust Trail, conservation area
Cotuit Highground Barnstable Land Trust Community golf, parking