The Town of Barnstable is updating its Local Comprehensive Plan (LCP)— and seeking a diverse group of community members to guide the process.
Over the next two years, members of the planning committee will design a plan that sets out a 10-to-20-year vision for the town’s growth and development. The town last updated the LCP in 2010.
“We've seen a lot change in our community since then,” said Elizabeth Jenkins, Director of Planning & Development for the town. “We're having incredibly important conversations about housing. We're rolling out and implementing a comprehensive wastewater management plan. We're talking a lot more about issues like climate change and resiliency. So those are some of the factors that are driving this update.”
The new plan seeks to answer key questions about the future, she said.
“What are our shared values? What is important for us to protect? And what needs in our community do we need to meet?"
To answer those questions, town councilor Jennifer Cullum said, it’s essential to fill the committee with diverse members of the community.
“I’m really looking to expand our roles to more moms, and more people of color, and more immigrants. And I really feel like those voices are an inextricable link to how we legislate for the future and the roadmap forward for Barnstable.”
Over the last two years of the pandemic, Cullum said, remote public meetings have opened up new opportunities for community engagement.
“One of the things that COVID brought us as a silver lining was the fact that these voices were starting to appear at public comment and tell us things that we didn't know before,” she said. “They were speaking up for their friends and their families. And that is a voice that I am absolutely unwilling to let go of right now.”
To further its diversity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, the town hasput applications on the homepage of its website in three languages — English, Spanish, and Portuguese — and will let future committee members set meeting times that work around their schedules.
“Honestly, I'm really looking to cast the net a lot farther and wider than we have in the past,” Cullum said, “because I want to hear from those moms that are cooking dinner at 5."
Applications can also be found at all seven village libraries, as well as the Barnstable Adult Community Center and the Hanna Susan Community Center. They’ll be accepted through March 1st.
