BARNSTABLE – Barnstable County’s fifteen delegates recently gave their views on housing recommendations ahead of a planned meeting with the Economic Affairs Committee to which the public is invited.
The delegates, who represent each of Cape Cod’s fifteen towns, expressed diverse opinions regarding the speed of construction, zoning, and the appropriate amount of coordination and independence between the towns and the county at large.
Suggestions included ramping up technical support and coordinated planning, heightened outreach, expediting the speed of small projects, forwarding regional plans to the towns and letting them decide, and continuing the regional shared housing program.
“Let’s start small and get something done,” said Delegate John Ohman of Dennis. “I’d like to see us find a way to get something in the pipeline. Talk is cheap and we’ve done a lot of talking.”
Delegate J. Terrance Gallagher of Eastham advocated patience, saying, “It takes a long time because we want to approach it responsibly,” while Delegate Michaela Wyman-Colombo of Mashpee urged construction through redevelopment and protecting the environment, saying, “If we lose the water quality, we lose our drinking water, we lose everything.”
The meeting will provide a platform for the public to share their opinions on the right way forward.
“We understand that housing is a crisis, and there are things the county could do in order to alleviate it,” said Delegate Elizabeth Harder of Harwich, Chair of the Assembly Economic Affairs Committee, in anticipation of the coming meeting. “This is a complex issue, and we need to hear from both the people who support action and the people who don’t.”
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