A bipartisan group of Cape Cod legislators has sent a letter to the Healey administration’s housing secretary asking for all municipalities on the Cape to be deemed eligible for a “Seasonal Communities” designation.
So far, only nine of 15 towns on the Cape have received it.
A law signed last year created the designation to help tourism-heavy towns ease the burden of high housing costs for year-round residents.
Seasonal Communities have a variety of tools available to them. Among other things, municipalities can increase the tax exemption for a principal residence. They can also create housing specifically for municipal employees.
State Sen. Dylan Fernandes, who represents the Upper Cape and part of Plymouth County, said he wants all Cape Cod communities to be eligible, including the region’s biggest population centers.
“In terms of population, most of the Cape still doesn't have a Seasonal Communities designation, and that needs to change, because we have a profound housing crisis,” he said.
Some communities were included in the law automatically, based on their percentage of seasonal homes. Among them are Nantucket, Gosnold, the six towns on Martha’s Vineyard, and part of Cape Cod — primarily the Outer and Lower Cape.
The six towns on the Cape that don’t have the designation are Barnstable, Bourne, Falmouth, Mashpee, Sandwich, and Yarmouth.
The letter to Housing Secretary Ed Augustus, dated Oct. 27, asks for the state to issue clear guidance by the end of the year on the process and criteria by which new communities can obtain the designation.
Fernandes said the Dec. 31 deadline is critical, because towns need time to draft Town Meeting articles before the spring.
“That's really important,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities said the agency is on track to issue final regulations by the end of the year. A draft was published in September.
