- Overview
- Regulations
- Communications
- Data Viewer
Overview
In 2021, the Commission developed a model Coastal Resilience bylaw which provides for natural resource protection, flood protection, and land use strategies that promote coastal and climate resiliency to protect the natural, built, and community systems of Cape Cod.
The bylaw project, titled "Responding to Climate Change: Promoting Resilient Local Action", was funded by a Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Planning Assistance Grant and was created in partnership with the Urban Harbors Institute (UHI) at the University of Massachusetts Boston; Noble, Wickersham, and Heart, LLP; and Woods Hole Group, along with four partner communities: Bourne, Sandwich, Brewster, and Eastham.
A second phase of the project allowed the Commission to develop wetlands regulations complementary to the Coastal Resilience bylaw and a zoning bylaw with higher standards than those required under the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program. This work also serves to align local regulations and permitting reviews among various boards and commissions with differing purviews.
Completed in 2024 and titled "Regulatory Tools for Development in the Floodplain", this work was also funded by an EEA Planning Assistance Grant, and created in partnership with Cape Cod Cooperative Extension; UHI; and Noble, Wickersham, and Heart, along with five partner communities: Chatham, Eastham, Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet.
Model Regulations
A model Coastal Resilience bylaw was developed that focuses on the Commission’s goals of promoting natural resource migration and reducing risk in the floodplain due to sea level rise.
The model bylaw has been drafted to be inserted, on a stand-alone basis, as a self-contained article within an existing local wetlands bylaw. Optional language allows towns to adapt the bylaw to fit their needs, including having the Conservation Commission adopt certain elements (such as performance standards) as Local Regulations, rather than as part of the Bylaw. The model regulations can be adapted to support implementation of the bylaw and provide further guidance on how projects proposed in and adjacent to the floodplain can be designed to limit impacts to coastal resource areas.
Both wetlands models were drafted in anticipation that MA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) would propose draft regulations providing performance standards for Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage (LSCSF). The model bylaw has been structured to be consistent with the draft DEP regulations (issued for public comment in Spring 2023), while allowing expansion of the Towns’ jurisdiction beyond the limits of DEP jurisdiction, utilizing local Home Rule authority to protect LSCSF.
The model zoning bylaw is designed to be incorporated into a town’s existing Floodplain Overlay District zoning bylaw and allows for the design of structures to exceed the State Building Code and minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). These regulations are intended to be used in conjunction with the Coastal Resilience Bylaw in order to facilitate consistency among town permitting processes.
Model Coastal Resilience Zone Regulations | Model Floodplain Zoning Bylaw | Model Coastal Resilience Article
Communications Frameworks
For each project, Commission staff developed a communications framework for partner towns as a detailed, step-by-step guide for building public support in adopting these regulatory tools.
To facilitate outreach around these regulatory tools, the frameworks suggest communications best practices, define key terms, help frame goals and objectives, and identify types and methods to reach out to key audiences. They also provide a set of free education and communications resources, including Cape-specific content created by the Commission, to help illustrate the region’s coastal resiliency challenges and how these tools can help mitigate them.
Coastal Resilience Bylaw Communications Framework
Bourne | Brewster | Eastham | Sandwich
Model Wetlands Regulations and Zoning Bylaw Communications Toolkit
Chatham | Eastham | Provincetown | Truro | Wellfleet
This GIS-based data viewer provides a visual representation to illustrate the potential effects of historic and future floods. Many uses are possible, such as assisting home buyers or owners in understanding their flood risk, allowing municipal administrators to understand the financial impacts of flooding in their communities, and supporting towns in adopting and implementing the model regulations
The floodplain data viewer provides existing FEMA flood extents and future flood extents projected by the Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model (MC-FRM) using two views.
The first view shows an overlay analysis of property flood risks to structures and parcels within the FEMA 1% annual chance flood and MC-FRM 1% annual coastal flood exceedance probabilities for 2050 and 2070.
The second view compares the design flood elevations required by the State Building Code and those recommended by the MC-FRM.
Open the Data Viewer in a new window
Disclaimers/Notes:
The FEMA flood hazard areas in this viewer are informational only and may not be used for engineering, construction, or permitting purposes. The FEMA Map Service Center is the authoritative source for FEMA datasets.
If any part of a structure footprint intersects a flood zone, even if not completely inside the flood zone, it is considered to be in that flood zone.
All attempts to use the most current datasets were made, however please note newer datasets may be available after the project completion date (April 2024).
