Cape Cod, MA
Cape Cod Regional
Policy Plan
The plan established a shared framework for aligning growth, conservation, and infrastructure planning across Cape Cod, helping communities make more coordinated decisions while protecting the natural systems and distinctive character that define the region.
Client
Cape Cod Commission
Type
Policy Plan
Population
230,000
Year Adopted
June 2018
Scale
Regional
Service Line
Planning
Overview
Technically Rigorous and Visually Engaging.
The Cape Cod Regional Policy Plan provides a framework for guiding growth across one of the nation’s most environmentally sensitive and highly valued coastal regions. Working with the Cape Cod Commission, Houseal Lavigne helped shape a plan that directs growth toward activity centers, protects natural and cultural resources, and provides a shared framework for housing, infrastructure, resilience, and long-term decision-making across 15 communities. The result is a technically rigorous and visually engaging policy document that translates complex issues into clear and actionable guidance.
Key Ideas
- Guide growth strategically. Direct development toward infrastructure-supported activity centers and away from sensitive resource areas.
- Protect critical resources. Safeguard water quality, habitat, wetlands, coastal systems, and other defining regional assets.
- Apply context-sensitive placetypes. Use a placetype framework to guide planning, design, and regulatory decisions.
- Coordinate growth and investment. Align growth policy with housing, infrastructure, resilience, and regional collaboration.
- Communicate with clarity. Translate complex policies into compelling maps, illustrations, and an engaging public-facing document.
