A LETTER FROM ALISA MAGNOTTA
It is easy to focus on the ways in which the housing crisis is straining our region, especially as we enter the summer season. Look around and you will see essential workers who need to commute from off-Cape; longstanding residents who are forced to leave their homes; and young families squeezed out of rental markets.
These challenging times, however, are not without signs of real progress. The progress we see today is over 40 years in the making, and the momentum we’re experiencing today is due in large part to the movement started by our founder, Rick Presbrey, so many years ago. Rick’s recent passing serves as a reminder that we each have the power to make an impact in our community, and it’s up to us to rise to the occasion. Rick’s legacy lives on in our agency, in the many lives he touched, and in the housing policies we are seeing adopted locally.
Over the past few months we have made meaningful strides, as local leaders have come together to seek solutions and communities have embraced new tools to respond to the dire need for housing in practical and lasting ways.
Barnstable County’s recent declaration of a housing emergency marked a shift in the government’s approach. While individual towns have taken steps to address the crisis, the County’s designation signals a commitment to also tackling it at the regional level. A new working group of municipal, nonprofit, and regional stakeholders will shape coordinated housing policies and identify opportunities to strengthen initiatives like the Shared Regional Housing Services program so that we can plan smarter and develop stronger partnerships to support our communities.
We are also seeing more towns act on their own; hopefully others will follow suit. This spring, six Cape towns – Chatham, Eastham, Orleans, Provincetown, Truro and Wellfleet – voted to adopt the state’s new Seasonal Communities designation, which recognizes the pressure that seasonal use patterns put on our local infrastructure. By opting in, towns will have access to policy tools such as expanded incentives for year-round rentals, new options for accessory dwelling units, and increased tax relief through the property tax exemption.
While all of this is happening at the policy level, we are also continuing to create homes. After receiving more than 940 applications, we recently welcomed 42 families – 4 percent – into their new homes at Cape View Way in Bourne, which was developed in partnership with the Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH). The project, built on land owned by the Bourne Housing Authority, includes a mix of nine one-bedroom, 28 two-bedroom, and five three-bedroom apartments. We are also expecting to complete 14 new affordable units at 107 Main Street in Orleans this summer. Further ahead and currently in permitting, we are developing a project with POAH and Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod at the former Gov. Prence property in Orleans that will add 78 income-restricted units for lease and sale, which will include 61 rental units, 10 townhouses for ownership and 7 homes built by Habitat for Humanity.
Private developers are also making a vital contribution. Hundreds of well-sited and well-designed affordable units are currently in the pipeline across the Cape. Nonprofit developers like POAH and Housing Assistance cannot fill in the gap alone. To support this broader effort, the Housing to Protect Cape Cod (HPCC) coalition is advocating for zoning changes that will make it easier to build the right kind of housing in the right places by streamlining permitting processes for new projects, encouraging the building of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and incorporating housing into existing commercial spaces.
We are making great headway as a region, which is only possible because of the persistent and resilient work of so many who preceded and have stood alongside us for decades, including Rick Presbrey. We are grateful and honored to carry the legacy of these efforts forward.
