Orleans RESET Project Underway

The Cape Cod Commission Regional Economic Strategy Executive Team, or RESET, is working with the Town of Orleans Planning Board on a project for the full length of Route 6A.

RESET is the Commission’s targeted planning and economic development program that provides technical assistance to Towns at their request. The Orleans RESET project will look at existing conditions along 6A and consider how existing development by-laws contribute to the current type and pattern of development, and how they might shape the future. The town’s goal is to maintain the small-town community character of Orleans while providing opportunities for improved economic vitality in the area.

Commission staff will analyze whether the current zoning bylaws are consistent with the vision of the Orleans’ Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP) and projected market and demographic trends. A major component of the project will be reaching out to property and business owners along the corridor to understand how well the area functions currently and how it might change in the future, as well as any impediments to business development.  This project will build on the work underway to revitalize the village center, relying on studies such as the village center market analysis and the streetscape planning work completed over the past several years.

Workshops and focus groups will be held throughout the winter, and a final draft of the RESET recommendations will be available in August 2015. The RESET program is supported in part by Cape & Islands License Plate funds through the Cape Cod Economic Development Council. For more information, please contact Leslie Richardson, the Chief Economic Development Officer and Project Manager, at lrichardson@capecodcommission.org.