Falmouth Planning Board Gets LCP Update
The Falmouth Planning Board discussed updates to the Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP) at their meeting on Tuesday, May 24.
The board had requested a presentation at a previous meeting that outlined the main differences between the LCP, which is regulated by the Cape Cod Commission, and the town’s master plan, which is governed by Massachusetts General Law.
“We’ll start off with that conversation about the differences between the local comprehensive plan and the master plan,” said Town Planner Jed Cornock. “Those two sources of information come from the Cape Cod Commission, they have regulations as to what is supposed to be included in an LCP as well as Mass General Law, that outlines the sections that are required for a Master Plan.”
Simply put, the LCP has six components: vision statement, existing conditions, goals, capital facilities plan, house plan, and targeted action plan/schedule.
“They’re very broad, but what’s important here is the idea of a specific housing plan,” he said. “In fact, they recommend that a housing production plan actually be your housing plan included in the local comprehensive plan.”
On the other hand, the master plan has nine components, although Mr. Cornock said both documents encompass virtually the same information but present it in different ways.
“They include very much the same topics, but they’re outlined in different ways,” Mr. Cornock said. “For example, housing. You found that in the local comprehensive plan section; however, it doesn’t call out the idea of economic development or natural and cultural resources, transportation or circulation. Those are simply hidden within other elements such as the capital facilities plan and your action plan, which is sort of your implementation in your master plan.”
The main sentiment, he said, is that these two plans are essentially the same thing but presented in slightly different ways. In considering updating the LCP, Mr. Cornock suggested merging the two requirements together to make something that satisfies both the regional organization, the Cape Cod Commission, as well as Mass General Law.
As an example, Mr. Cornock showed a timeline for the town of Mashpee, which is also working on an update to its LCP. Mashpee’s timeline for the process should take about a year and involves soliciting feedback from the community on its vision for the town. Mr. Cornock suggested that Falmouth take a look at what Mashpee is doing in preparation for updates to its own LCP.
Planning board chairwoman Charlotte Harris said that she, along with board member Patricia Kerfoot, met with Mr. Cornock last week to figure out how to meet Cape Cod Commission requirements under the LCP.
“Because we have a regional overlord, the Cape Cod Commission, their requirements for a local comprehensive plan for us replaces the need for a state master plan,” Ms. Harris said. “So we could now operate under the Cape Cod Commission’s rules and it would satisfy all requirements. Whether or not we used all of the components of the master plan was up to us locally working with the Cape Cod Commission.”
Ms. Harris commended the current LCP for its brevity and clarity but said she hopes to include a piece acknowledging the culture of Falmouth. But that, said board member Robert Leary, would essentially invoke a conversation about whose culture it is.
“It’s not the town government’s culture, it’s the town’s culture,” Ms. Harris said. “But the town has the government. I mean, making a distinction between the two forces you into one of these medieval conversations, I don’t think we need to go there. There is a big cultural element in Falmouth and we could include something to acknowledge that it’s there and to support it. We might not, but I’m just saying, that’s my pitch on that.”