This historic town with its quintessential waterfront downtown is a community that deeply treasures the coastal village life and charm. The Town is dealing with an increase in coastal hazards exacerbated by sea level rise, increasing interest from developers in a community that is largely built-out, and a legacy and desire to protect affordable housing options for residents and workers. The Town contracted Stewart to help provide a comprehensive plan update that would also fulfill the requirements of a Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) land use plan, to help guide the future of this unique coastal gem.
As in all of Stewart’s plan updates, research into local issues and public engagement have driven the plan development process. This coastal town also has significant vulnerabilities to coastal hazards such as regular high tide flooding which is only predicted to get worse in the future. The CAMA-compliant comprehensive land use plan update included an analysis of potential future environmental conditions and a planning overlay to help reduce asset exposure in the future.
This low-lying community has a vocal group of citizens who care strongly about the identity and future of the Town. Moving forward in time, they will need to make decisions about how to allocate scarce public resources to combat the impacts of climate change. The plan update was another step in moving those conversations forward.
