Guiding future growth and community needs: What Harwich voters should know about the Local Comprehensive Plan

The French author and poet Antoine de Saint-Exupéry knew what he was talking about when he said: “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” And when Harwich Town Meeting arrives on May 4th, voters will have the chance to approve the town’s Local Comprehensive Plan (Article 27).

Both the Harwich Select Board and the town’s Finance committee voted unanimously to recommend that the article be accepted and adopted.

A lot of hard work went into developing the Local Comprehensive Plan, an important long-term strategy created to outline a community’s vision and goals, with careful consideration about future growth and resource protection. In a way, it’s a road map for the future, and a guide to finding balance as opportunities and challenges arise.

For more information about the town’s Local Comprehensive Plan, we reached out to Christine Flynn, Planning & Community Development Director for the town of Harwich. She graciously took the time to reply by email and provide an overview of the plan. Here’s what she had to say:

A guide to the Harwich Local Comprehensive Plan by Christine Flynn, Planning & Community Development Director for the town of Harwich.

Thank you for your inquiry regarding Harwich’s Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP). We are very excited to present the LCP for adoption at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting (ATM).

The Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP) is an important planning tool used to guide future growth and development in Harwich while balancing a wide variety of community needs, including water quality, natural resource protection, economic development, infrastructure, and Affordable Housing. The LCP is meant to be a living document, both as a resource and guide for elected officials, board members, and residents when considering policies related to land use, growth, and development.

Undertaking a Local Comprehensive Plan can be a challenge unto itself, the LCP process was a three and a half year planning process and much of the credit should be directed to the Local Planning Committee (LPC) and the residents of Harwich. The Town hired Sharon Rooney, Planning Consultant from Tighe & Bond to assist with the planning process.

Background of the Local Comprehensive Plan

To provide some background, Harwich’s 2025 LCP was informed by the goals and objectives in Cape Cod Commission’s 2018 Regional Policy Plan, information obtained through extensive public outreach, supporting plans and reports, and collaboration with town staff, boards, and committees. In addition, the Town’s Housing Production Plan (HPP) and the Open Space & Recreation Plan (OSRP) were prepared during the same timeframe as the LCP, which allowed the Local Planning Committee (LPC) to incorporate the findings, goals, and strategies from the HPP and OSRP into the LCP.

The LCP started with extensive community engagement as part of a visioning process.  The visioning process included meetings with stakeholders and two surveys, one short and long survey, which resulted in over 1,300 responses from the community. The survey results identified key priorities and challenges for the town, specifically Affordable Housing and the need to preserve our natural resources, particularly for Water Quality.

Three sections in the Local Comprehensive Plan

The Local Comprehensive Plan is broken into three Sections:

Natural Systems
–Water Resources, Ocean Resources, Wetland Resources Open Space, Wildlife habitat

Built Systems
–Community Design, Coastal Resiliency, Community Facilities and Infrastructure, Transportation

Community Systems
–Culture, History, Heritage, and Housing

There are Goals and Objectives for each section with over 100 Action Items identified for implementation.

A community effort

I can’t emphasize enough, the Local Planning Committee members did a wonderful job with community engagement. There were several community-based meetings. We also met with Town Boards and Committees to solicit input and feedback to ensure the LCP’s goals and objectives were in line with the mission of the Town. These meetings took place throughout the planning process. Throughout the process, there was one clear message that the community did not want to create a Local Comprehensive Plan that sat on a shelf.

The Local Comprehensive Plan is critical for the Town not only as a guidance document for land use, growth and development policies and the LCP helps position the town to be eligible for state and federal grant funding. We are excited to present the LCP to the voters at Town Meeting and we very much appreciate the support from voters.

–Harwich Conservation Trust (HCT) is grateful to Christine Flynn for providing this overview and for all those who worked so hard to develop the Local Comprehensive Plan.

–To learn more about the Local Comprehensive Plan, click here.

—Sign up for HCT eNews, a great way to stay in the loop about exciting HCT events, guided walks and other interesting news.

—Your tax-deductible contributions help fulfill the mission of the Harwich Conservation Trust to preserve land that protects woods, water, wildlife and our shared quality of life. And your land-saving financial support helps us preserve beautiful properties that can become stellar trail destinations. Find out how to donate by clicking here.