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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLCP Existing Conditions Report_Public CommentPage CommentCode Comment Source 8 O The discussion of protecting our water resources, especially wellhead protection areas, groundwater, embayments, and coastal zone areas is incongruous with the town’s willingness to endanger and sacrifice the same to an ocean energy developer with little regard for any of these public resources. Our group hopes the developer does not get final approval to industrialize Craigville beach and is doing everything within our power to prevent the use of Dowses, a beautiful, much beloved and ecologically significant estuarine environment.Susanne Conley, for SGDB 9 M This section requires a substantial re-write as it does not recognize the resources that have been dedicated to the Fire Academy Clean-up and Airport PFAs clean-up. draft LCP 9 M "Salt water embayments and salt marshes are particularly important in Barnstable, serving as spawning grounds and nurseries for a great variety and quantity of marine life. " I believe that carbon sequestration should be included here. I know it shows up at a later point but I think it's important. 11 O Referring to the Centerville River as a watershed without including its associated estuary, East Bay/Phinney’s Bay, is curious and misleading. Why is the neighboring watershed and embayment clearly referred to as such? This seems a curious omission that diminishes the FACT that the greater Dowses area is indeed an estuary, barrier spit and double embayment that drains not only the Centerville River but the Bumps River, Scudder Bay, and Lake Wequaquet as well. The Dowses area, therefore, is just as environmentally critical and should be acknowledged as such. Susanne Conley, for SGDB Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection 13 C "Marinas around the world are working to make their operations more sustainable"?? Perhaps eco-friendly or environmentally viable, sustainable is kind of an empty word here. 15 O + C + M The ad hoc Barnstable citizens’ group Save Greater Dowse Beach respectfully requests a revision to the statement that the federal government’s establishment of wind farm lease areas on the Outer Continental Shelf means that “interconnection cables are needed to make landfall on Cape Cod.” This is a patently false statement that serves to endorse Barnstable’s excessive commitment to be the recipient of electrical export cables. There are a number of options for landing these transmission lines that do not involve Cape Cod. Moreover, it would be far more accurate to say that “in 2023, Avangrid Renewables has chosen to not honor three signed Power Purchase Agreements with Massachusetts utilities and is seeking to vacate their contracts.” (The parent company is Avangrid; the proponent of the Dowses landing is Avangrid Renewables, LLC). Susanne Conley, for SGDB Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, various publications of the Brattle Group regarding ocean energy infrastructure, and transmission. 15 M The Offshore Threats and Opportunities section completely omits any discussion of the environmental concerns/issues that have arisen in connection with OSW development - (e.g., risks posed to right whale and other mammal/sea-life populations; significant uncertainties for commercial & recreational fishing, seafood processors; damage to eel grass which provides numerous benefits to coastline and sea-life community) Various articles: https://www.providencejournal.com/story/opinion/columns/20 23/04/23/fishermen-seafood-processors-and-ultimately- consumers-will-be-affected-by-offshore-wind- development/70100135007/; https://www.nj.com/news/2023/04/should-nj-fisheries-be- worried-about-offshore-wind-farms-study-elicits-more- questions.html; 15 C The Offshore Threats and Opportunities section states that Offshore Wind interconnection cables are needed to make landfall on Cape Cod. This is an inaccurate statement. The OSW developer (Avangrid) has proposed the cables make landfall on Cape Cod, but there are other options that would have the cables landing in industrialized waterfront areas areas (e.g., the Planned Approach to OSW development recently proposed by energy groups representing six New England states) as opposed to recreational beaches in Cape Cod village communities. Various sources materials (i.e., Brattle Group/Anabaric study being considered by the Commonwealthd Barnstable Local Comprehensive Plan Existing Conditions Report: Public Comment 15 C The Offshore Threats and Opportunities section states that Avangrid does not have a PPA in place for Commonwealth Wind. This is an untrue statement. There is a signed and DPU approved PPA for Commonwealth Wind; however, Avangrid has refused to honor the PPA and has sued the state to terminate the PPA. I made a comment to Kenneth Kimmell of Avangrid at a recent presentation that the Company did not have a PPA for Commonwealth Wind - he angrily corrected me and said they DO have a PPA, but they just need to either renegotiate or rebid it. Statements (on video) made by Kenneth Kimmell of Avangrid at presentations. 16 C Table 3.1 doesn't make any sense as the numbers of ponds don't add up correctly 19 C Lovell's Pond is in the village of Cotuit. Schoolhouse Pond in the village of Hyannisport. 24 M The section on Open Space (starts on page 24) fails to include a section on Threats and Opportunities. While this section discusses the importance of preserving Open Space throughout the Town, there is absolutely no mention about the threat presented by the proposed development of 300+ apartments on the Twin Brooks golf course - the last significant open space left in the village of Hyannis. I know some people have minced words and said that Twin Brooks is not open space and as a golf course is developed land. Well, I would like to point out on page 30 in the Greenways, Corridors and Connectivity section, the draft report specifically states that the Town's two golf courses add the significant OPEN SPACE acreage along the corridor. If the Town's two golf courses are considered part of Barnstable's OPEN SPACE, conservation land and contribute to the regional green infrastructure, the why would Twin Brooks be designated any differently????? See draft LCP Existing Conditions report, pages 24 - 30 25 M I believe you should have a paragraph devoted to the type of open space available to Hyannis residents south of route 28. Most of these neighborhoods are environmental justice communities. If you look at the maps on pages 141 and 142 you can see just what these open spaces are. They are two private golf courses, with no protection, public beaches, cemeteries, public schools and water protection areas with no access for people. The picture painted in the existing conditions is that open space acquisition and availability in the Town of Barnstable is nothing short of magnificent, but it isn’t in the village of Hyannis. A plot of land designated as a public park along West Main St is being cut in half to build a sewage pump station. In the last 13 years or so the only addition to Hyannis’ open space has been a .18 acre pocket park between two busy streets (West Main and South streets). Parents can’t take their young children to the public school playgrounds during the school day. There is actually a dearth of open space available in Hyannis, especially space with grass and trees where someone might find a bit of peace and tranquility. You are painting the wrong picture of open space in the village of Hyannis and it ought to be corrected. The source is looking at your maps and k owing what the open spaces are on the maps because I live in Hyannis. 37 C Skunknett River misspelled 45 O "Barnstable’s historic population and economic activity is located on the waterfront. Evaluation of the need to protect, accommodate, or in extreme cases, retreat existing development" I don't think that extreme is the right word here as I think we may need to retreat in lots of scenarios, not necessarily "extreme" ones. 59 M This section is problematic. You could mention the substantial and successful efforts made by the Water Supply Division in installing state of the art water filtration systems. And, either remove references to the cost of new wells or add pertinent detail specifically with regard to depth and flow rate. The big issue is the statement that we are in deficit. How is the deficit being covered and who pays for it. Finally, I think you need to make a statement about how changing demographics - more full time residents and climate change - specifically drought - will impact Water Supply. draft LCP 62 C "Barnstable Harbor and Rushy Marsh do not require a total maximum daily load threshold due to their sizes. " As Brian Howes stated in his report to the Barnstable Harbor community, BH does not have a nitrogen problem (but for in the inner harbor and Maraspin Creek) due to its strong tidal flow. Tide, tide, tide were the three reasons stated for safe nitrogen levels in most of Barnstable Harbor.I don't know anything about Rushy Marsh aside from it is not adjacent to Barnstable Harbor. MEP Study Report for BH 62 M When will household use of gray water be added to discussion? 65 M "Stormwater includes all precipitation and snowmelt that runs off surfaces such as roofs, pavement, and even lawns instead of absorbing into soil and natural groundcover. This runoff picks up sediment, bacteria, fertilizers, oils, pesticides, and..." Pet waste and wildlife waste could be flagged here! 65 M When will minimum % of parcel/lot coverage in permeable surfaces be required? No longer allowing zoning set backs to be ignored, especially if property is on sewer. https://www.cityofithaca.org/520/Stormwater-User-Fee-FAQs 71 O rt 28 "does not experience two daily travel peaks" = not my experience; definitely experience morning and early evening travel peak 75 C "Individuals may also leave Barnstable bound for Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard on Steamship Authority ferries and Hy-line Cruises licensed as a subsidiary of the Steamship Authority. As thedominant mode of travel to the islands, the Steamship Authority offers both high-speed and traditional services to Nantucket from Barnstable Harbor" Not sure that the first part shouldn't read may also leave Hyannis on SSA ferries, HOWEVER, services from to and from Nantucket definitely come and go from HYANNIS HARBOR! 82 M I think it is important to note that the town does not fully fund any of the village libraries. Check with the town manager - they usually have the percentage of budget funded. 91 M The HyArts district is a manufactured thing. It has no heritage. So, what you we consider Hyannis' cultural heritage to be? Obviously, the loss of Sea Captains Row has a blight on effort to preserve and protect our past. But, more importantly, how will we define her future, as something other than a struggle for resources. draft LCP 93 C Page 93 states "...according to the 2010 LCP, there are over 40 known sites of indigenous settlement activity that have archaeological value, and 70 recorded 18th and 19th century historic archaeological sites within Barnstable." These statistics are outdated. As of April 24, 2023 there are 86 Native American archaeological sites and 74 historical archaeological sites on file with the Massachusetts Historical Commission in the Town of Barnstable. This is according to a query on MACRIS - conducted with an archaeology login. There are many other places in Town that have archaeological sensitivity and likely contain archaeological sites. I recommend that these irreplaceable archaeological resources be considered when development (public or private) is proposed within the Town's historic districts, or when development occurs near sensitive resources areas like those in proximity to freshwater resources or estuaries like East Bay. For example, the dog park constructed at Hathaway Pond is only about 500 yards away from the oldest Native American site in Town (19-BN-623), which has occupations from about 10,000 years ago through European Contact. No archaeological survey was conducted for the dog park, despite the high archaeological sensitivity of this location. Recent road work on Phinneys Lane was immediately adjacent to 19-BN-623 and vehicles and equipment were staged and impacted the ground surface within the mapped site boundaries next to the road. If the Town was aware of the site a more appropriate staging area could have been selected. I would encourage the Town to have a town-wide archaeological reconnaissance survey conducted so planners and the Historical Commission can be made aware of these important cultural resources and use the document in future planning to avoid adverse effects to these resources. Thank you for your time. 121 M The Housing Section excludes any mention of the negative impact that Short Term Rentals have on our year round housing stock. This should be listed under "Threats and Opportunities." There is absolutely no mention of how these short term rentals - many investor owned - take potential year round rentals off the market. People complain all the time that there are not enough affordable 12 month rentals...maybe it's time to at least ACKNOWLEDGE that this is an issue that contributes to our problems here and put some regulations in our Planning Department's "toolbox" to help. I have paid attention to the housing and planning advocates and continually hear them say that we need ALL types of housing here. Simply put, each short term rental created is one less year round rental home - regardless of whether it is considered affordable, work force or market rate. The increase in investor owned properties, continues to drive the price of all housing UP as well. Numerous articles that I have been reading for the past few years. 121 M The Housing Section (starts on page 121) fails to include a section on Threats and Opportunities. While this section discusses the importance of Housing, there is absolutely no discussion of the explosion of short-term rental properties in Barnstable/Cape Cod and the widely acknowledged loss of year-round and affordable housing caused by the conversion of homes into vacation rental properties. Various articles: https://www.cmu.edu/tepper/news/stories/2021/september/ai rbnb-market-expansion.html; https://www.nbcboston.com/news/national-international/as- housing-crunch-intensifies-across-the-country-data-gives-a-peek-at- airbnb-impact/2821373/ - - As a member of the Advisory LCP Committee, for transparency purposes, I request that all comments provided by the public on the Draft Existing Conditions Report be posted - in an unedited format - to the Document Library on the Town's LCP website. - - As a member of the Advisory LCP Committee, for transparency purposes, I request that the next version of the Draft Existing Conditions Report be provided in redlined format so that the public can see what edits/changes have been made in the next version. - - Hi. I read the Draft phase I today. It's very thorough and informative. I dispute loudly the airport "is a great resource for town residents, visitors, and residents across the Cape". The airport has seen a 50% drop in ridership and is mainly only used for 3 months a year. The airport is in fact mainly a fueling depot for planes. The ferry systems we have are not mentioned in the draft? Thank you! - - Hi: Why don't we have a rail trail in the Town of Barnstable that will connect with Sandwich project underway and the Town of Yarmouth? We are the biggest town on the Cape and should have a complete rail trail. - - In the Historic area, it would be helpful to include the number of total tear downs in the chart. This is a significant area of change it would be helpful to include. 1 Heather Hunt P.O. Box 322 Osterville MA 02655 Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP) Committee’s draft Existfng Conditfons Report (draft Report). Thanks too for the tfme you put into this important work for our community. I appreciate your consideratfon of these comments on the 134-page draft Report, which are not presented within the confines of the suggested comment chart as a number of my comments are holistfc.1 I therefore offer some global observatfons and suggestfons. I then comment on specific draft Report passages. It is notable for what it omits and so I offer informatfon that I believe should be included for a balanced presentatfon. First and foremost, could the LCP Committee please ask staff to compile the salient points on key issues objectfvely and in a digestfble, understandable format to seek public response? It seems highly likely that the length of the draft Report will result in relatfvely minimal public input. There is a lot of public literacy literature that identffies means to present even complex informatfon in a way that is digestfble to the public to facilitate engagement. There are also web based tools to test if documents achieve the targeted end in this respect. It seems imperatfve to use such methods in this process to get meaningful levels of public feedback. (Other) Second, given the draft Report’s purpose – to memorialize existfng conditfons - it should be objectfve and fact- based, and free from value judgments and opinions. An example at page 45: “Fortunately, Barnstable has a long history of sound land use policy to build on, focusing more intense development in and around Hyannis, investfng in its historic village centers, and working to conserve and minimize disturbances to natural areas. This LCP update contfnues that legacy.” Such characterizatfon is open to reasonable debate. Moreover, the LPC is not written yet (I believe), and so should not be characterized. Expressions of views and subjectfve opinions should be searched out and struck. Opinions seem appropriate for subsequent LCP work. If the LCP Committee opts to include qualitatfve judgments in the Existfng Conditfons sectfon, it should include a basis for them. (Other) Third, the draft Report seems to assume the LCP will conform to the Cape Cod Commission (CCC) Regional Policy Plan. On page 9, for instance, it states that the Land Use Sectfon is designed to be consistent with it. Given that this is the peoples’ opportunity for self-determinatfon relatfve to CCC preferences for this community once every ten years or so, there should not be an assumptfon going in about whether the people want to conform to the CCC wishes for our town, villages and neighborhoods. Will the LCP process explain to the community in objectfve terms the tradeoffs – the benefits, obligatfons, and detriments - that come from CCC conformance and allow residents to assess whether they find value in what following the CCC’s vision provides to residents and to their community? Do residents know what they get for CCC certfficatfon? Do most residents value those things? What is the economic value of conformance to them? Do they assess the costs as worthwhile? Having been to a handful of community meetfngs on different subjects in the last six months where residents have asked sharp questfons and offered striking (to me) and consistent expressions of discontent about the CCC, it seems inappropriate to make assumptfons for residents about their desire to follow the CCC vision and Regional Plan without actually testfng community views. The LCP could, after all, line up with any element of the CCC Regional Plan the community expresses interest in doing, without the underlying assumed-by-someone objectfve of full conformance and certfficatfon. (Other) 1 These comments are my own and do not reflect the views of any Board or organizatfon with which I affiliate. 2 Fourth, the draft Report was stunning in its omission of the impact of short-term rentals or Airbnbs on housing availability, costs, and rental prices.2 Like in nearly all tourist or seasonal communitfes natfonally, the Airbnb Effect is here and real. It is likely exacerbated here as our government has elected to allow it to go unfettered, unlimited, and uncapped in all ways – a sharp departure from thriving tourist communitfes across the country that welcome tourists as a base of their economies but put locals’ housing needs first by adoptfng controls to make sure housing is used in the first instance as homes for them. It is impossible to understand why an Existfng Conditfons report would have zero mentfon of the No Limits On Any Aspect of Airbnbs policy our town has effectfvely adopted and let persist during the housing crisis. Consider the number of tfmes we hear the heart-wrenching stories of locals getting kicked out of their rentals to make way for higher profit Airbnb summertfme use. This known dynamic on housing availability and cost, including for rentals, should not be eliminated from the housing story. Recently, a housing director in another Cape town told a newspaper that the impact of short-term rentals has been “devastatfng ” to its housing stock and labor market. The Housing Assistance Corporatfon (HAC) provided the image above on page 11 of it report entftled “The High Cost of Doing Nothing.” HAC has chosen to stand down on the issue of mainstream Airbnb controls, a departure from housing advocates almost everywhere, but its own assessment spotlights the problem. (Missing) Fifth, the draft Report provides extreme, and respectiully, not so relevant details about the provision of some local services yet omits the lack of more fundamentally important providers of other services. For example, on page 86, the draft Report lists telecommunicatfons providers. Yet, the draft Report omits that the community no longer has local press that regularly and fully communicates to residents about town government. This is not unique to this community and is not a slight to any hardworking reporters. The lack of local media is a serious issue in the community in two ways, based on endless studies: residents no longer can pick up a local newspaper and read about town government to inform engagement, and that fact often effects the quality of governance.3 Please consider a passage in the draft Report about the diminutfon of local press coverage on local issues to be at least as important as the list of telecom companies residents can call for service. Incidentally, in the summer months, and during the height of COVID when the populatfon swelled, there was a lack of consistent stable telecommunicatfons signal here. That could have implicatfons on the extent to which Barnstable is assessed by signal-dependent employers and workers who can choose where to live and work year-round. That seems more important to planning and the community than a list of providers. (Missing) Sixth, with respect the recitatfon of current land use and zoning, efforts to protect wellhead protectfon areas, and commentary about development and preservatfon and the nature of villages, the draft Report should detail not only what the zoning code allows but also the ways in which the code is applied that runs counter to it. A great example of that is a warehouse on Main Street in Osterville sitting on land zoned BA and RC. Those zones allow retail and residentfal use, respectfvely. Zone BA is the zoning throughout Osterville Village. It allows the uses one sees there today – shops, restaurants, offices, banks. Yet, despite the need for more residences, and despite the talk about incentfng development that allows residents to live work and play in one space – precisely what zones BA and 2 I searched the document every which way for short-term rental, vacatfon rental, Airbnb, etc., and could not find any reference. If I missed it my apologies. 3 Just one example: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/07/16/how-closures-of-local-newspaper-increase-local- government-borrowing-costs/ Housing Assistance Corp. Figure 4 from High Cost of Doing Nothing 3 RC together allow, we have a warehouse. Warehouses are not permitted in zone BA or RC. They are permitted in other industrial areas of town (see the zoning code, and page 55 about warehousing and distributfon). The town allowed the landowner to build a warehouse. The logic offered was that as long as items ultfmately sold in retail would be warehoused there, warehousing use was acceptable in this retail zone. Records show the owner stores vehicles in one unit. Another unit is used to store landscaping equipment. Another is used by a flooring company apparently as a distributfon center. The warehouse building the town allowed in zone RC and BA requires a hazardous tank, and so we now have one of those in the wellhead protectfon area. Of serious concern to the future of the Village is that as the town allowed one landowner to use land zoned BA – the very same zoning that governs all of Osterville Village – what happens when the next building owner and next in that zone want to use buildings for storage, distributfon or warehouse use, too? Is the town positfoned to say no when it already said yes? The point is (besides the apparent zoning violatfon), the draft Report should include not just the zoning code, but how the town has applied the code in real terms as it describes existfng conditfons. The risks associated with the town’s application of the zoning code are real in connectfon with the things the draft Report says it seeks to protect and advance – the pattern of village development, housing, wellhead protectfon, sound land use practfces, etc. (Other) The following are some specific observatfons and requests: • Page 9. “A major threat to the aquifer is from contaminatfon due to land use impacts, primarily from wastewater disposal (individual on-site septfc systems).” This passage should note that the town’s occupancy code for residentfal propertfes is not enforced as a routfne matter, increasing wastewater disposal contaminatfon. This is fact, not a frivolous observatfon. In my experience, documented with the town, and in a review of others’ complaints filed with the town, the town looks away from two and three families, large bridal partfes and big groups of college vacatfoners piling into two-bedroom, two-bathroom homes week after week after week, year after year after year. When I expressed concern to the town about the wastewater implicatfons of, for example, three families occupying a small two-bedroom home, I was told by the town, in writfng, that I, a resident, needed to produce for the town proof of such soil contaminatfon. The town code has occupancy limits for a reason and assesses and publishes septfc sizes for a reason. The town code does not shift the burden to residents to enforce that code, or to do soil testfng. Moreover, property owners who invite occupants far in excess of the code limits place ads that are publicly available. It is all easy to find and track. I made a spreadsheet of property owners who call for short-term renters to exceed safe and legal occupancy limits that overtax septfc systems on file; so too could the town. In reading others’ complaints about the overstuffing of homes here, I note this issue has been raised to the town over and over and goes unaddressed. For a balanced presentatfon of facts, the draft Report should note the unaddressed overstuffing of homes despite an occupancy ordinance and the wide use of septfc systems that imposes limits to protect our land and water. This informatfon could also assist the town in decision-making about the allocatfon of resources to enforcement that is important to wastewater disposal and contaminatfon risk. (Missing) • Pages 9, 10, 25, 28-29 and elsewhere, in relatfon to the sustained health of our coastal resources, the town’s “Stewardship and Collaboratfon,” and unbuilt space, the draft Report states that “[c]ollectfvely, these propertfes represent a long history of conservatfon efforts in Barnstable that have produced a varied and well-connected network of open spaces throughout the Town.” The draft Report should note that the town moved the environmentally delicate land and estuary at 35 Scudder in Hyannis into the Regulatory Agreement Map, easing development with the one and only stated reason on the public record being that business owners in the west end of the business improvement district needed a “bookend.” This is in Council minutes. There were no questfons or mentfon of environmental implicatfons. The town put this land onto an eased development path with no notfce to abutters or any environmental organizatfon. When no one appeared for public comment, even the landowner, the Council was silent in response to an inquiry as to whether it should wait and reach out to at least the Civic Associatfon for input. It then voted to enable development with no discussion - beyond the needs of the west end business owners. For a complete picture of how the town has served as a steward and dealt in collaboratfve ways around sensitfve land and estuaries, this decision and how it unfolded, all memorialized in meetfng minutes, should be noted. I have the list of minutes when this occurred as I was so surprised to see the unbuilt land in the Commonwealth of 4 Massachusetts’ open space mapping tool being proposed for massive development in Hyannis in a way that did not align with Hyannis’ last Village Plan. I could share those if helpful. (Missing) • Page 15 Offshore Threats and Opportunitfes. This passage has some factual errors. The cables to the federal lease areas do not need to land on Cape Cod as the draft Report states. The Commonwealth Wind project has a Power Purchase Agreement, contrary to the draft Report’s statement. (Mistake) • Page 119 “Business Barnstable”. The draft Report describes Business Barnstable as a taxpayer funded tool to draw business to Barnstable. It would aid the understanding of existfng conditfons to populate the passage with data about how many businesses the tool has drawn to Barnstable since it has been funded. (Missing) • Page 125 Unit Size and Household Size. The draft Report states that “[w]hile an estfmated 68 percent of Barnstable households are one or two people, over two-thirds of its homes have at least three bedrooms, suggestfng a need for more studio, one-, and two-bedroom housing optfons.” The draft Report should provide a basis for the statement need, i.e., is it a drafter’s opinion, or did a majority of three-bedroom homeowners report they want studios or a one bedroom? (Missing) • Page 127 Rising Home Costs During 2020 and 2021. This passage would be more meaningful if it included reference data to other communitfes in which populatfon migrated during COVID and the shift to remote work, putting upwards pressure on housing costs. (Missing) • Page 128 and forward on Affordable Housing. The draft Report omits opportunitfes to maintain or increase affordable housing units that the town chose not to pursue. For a balanced and complete view of existfng conditfons, such decisions should be noted. A few examples are as follows (Missing): o The town said yes to developers and no to affordable housing when developers wanted a more profitable use of land at 850 Falmouth Road in Hyannis than the zoning code required and asked the town to rezone to put profitability over affordability. The Residences at 850 in Hyannis is today advertfsed as a Luxury Apartment Community. Those units sit on land that had been zoned to be 100% affordable housing, with a preference for Barnstable residents and Veterans. o When the town changed zoning to increase density in downtown Hyannis, it did so without putting any affordability element in place. This was after the town’s consultant told the town in 2020 to expect any new housing made possible by this density zoning change to be expensive, at the upper end of market rate. It also approved denser zoning without restrictfng new housing made possible by increasing density to be used as homes for locals (rather than as Airbnbs). o Page 132 Accessory Affordable Apartment Program. When the town deliberated a new Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) policy, a resident recommended the town include an affordability component. It did not. This, when Planning Department staff earlier said in a public meetfng that the Accessory Affordable Apartment program was expected to stay on the books, but to basically disappear by attritfon into the new market rate ADU program. That seems to have happened. The draft Report does not include that stated expectatfon, and the decision not to have any affordability element in the ADU ordinance. The explanatfon of the program should include the Accessory Affordable Apartment program’s numbers and trends following adoptfon of the ADU ordinance. The draft Report also states the Housing Committee is considering a tax exemptfon for those who partfcipate in the Affordable Accessory Apartment program. The draft Report should explain the basis for offering a tax break to try to preserve a program the town said it knew would decline with the adoptfon of the ADU ordinance with no affordability component. I was grateful to hear your thoughtiul deliberatfons recently. I request as you think about and respond to public feedback that you issue a revised Existfng Conditfons Report in redline to show commenters what feedback you accept and what feedback you reject, with some explanatfon as to why on the latter. Literature suggests such feedback to the public who took tfme to comment is one of the best means to encourage contfnued engagement. Given that I am on the LCP Advisory Committee (that was to be formed), I will look for ways to contribute to that group’s intended role and other comment opportunitfes. I appreciate your consideratfon. Thank you for your tfme and service. Barnstable Land Trust Comments on LCP Existing Conditions Report 4.21.23 P. 24 Open space provides habitat for the Town’s diverse species and protection of the drinking water supply. Open fields and forests also protect bays and estuaries through filtration. • Recreation: Outdoor recreation in MA generates: • $10 billion in consumer spending • $739 million in state and local tax revenue • 90,000 jobs • $3.5 billion in annual wages and salaries Health benefits When people have meaningful experiences outdoors their quality of life, health and social wellbeing improve, and in turn their communities become stronger and more Coastal land conservation protects fish habitat and water quality contributing to the commercial fisheries industry and closely related economic sectors. The water quality in the state’s estuaries near coastal areas is directly affected by the water purification, flood control and stormwater protection provided by adjacent natural lands. The commercial fishing and seafood industry in Massachusetts is the third largest in the U.S. In 2018, it generated the largest fishing and seafood industry employment impacts in the New England region with 143,902 full- and part-time jobs. Massachusetts also generated the largest sales impacts ($16 billion), value-added impacts ($6.1 billion), and income impacts ($3.9 billion) of the fishing and seafood industry in New England. National Marine Fisheries Service. 2021. Fisheries Economics of the United States, 2018. Economics and Sociocultural Status and Trends Series. U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Land conservation can potentially improve the municipal bottom line. Studies have shown that property tax revenue losses are often offset by other impacts of conserving the parcel for reasons that include:  Avoiding increased costs of public services that would have been required if the conserved property had been developed, such as increased school, public works, and public safety services.  Positively impacting local employment outcomes and economic growth thereby improving the tax base.  Enhancing nearby property values by creating an amenity value which boosts surrounding home values, increasing tax revenue collected as assessments are adjusted. In addition, development of open space in Massachusetts leads to increases in impervious surface, increases in water runoff, increases in nitrogen and phosphorus loading, and lost filtration capacity. This often translates to increased costs for municipalities to provide clean drinking water, manage stormwater, and protect infrastructure from flooding. p. 28 The Barnstable Land Trust has protected 1,177 acres in the Town of Barnstable.(See form 3ABC submitted to Town Assessor) p.29 Acres of unprotected recreational and working lands in Barnstable Land Use Acres Cranberry Bogs 473.18 Agriculture 128.84 Recreational 90.76 Golf Courses/Clubs 786.93 Schools 347.95 Total Acres: 1827.66 P.30 Note that when Chapter 61 lands are sold for a non 61 use, and not conservation, the Town has the right of first refusal to purchase. p. 43 Much of the remaining undeveloped land in Barnstable lies within areas mapped as environmentally sensitive or critical habitat or important for drinking water protection. These planning tools need to be supplemented by direct open space protection. p. 45 “Fortunately, Barnstable has a long history of sound land use policy to build on, focusing more intense development in and around Hyannis, investing in its historic village centers, and working to conserve and minimize disturbances to natural areas. This LCP update continues that legacy.” Hyannis also has the least amount of open space of any village, but the highest population. LCPC should plan for greater open space access for Hyannis and Centerville residents.