Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Wellfleet are remote only, but some are held in person. Go to www.wellfleet-ma.gov/calendar and click on the meeting you want to watch, then follow the instructions on the agenda.
Thursday, April 20
- Pre-Town Meeting Community Forum, 7 p.m., Adult Community Center & Zoom
Monday, April 24
- Natural Resources Advisory Board, 4 p.m.
- Community Forum: Meet the Candidates, 7 p.m., Adult Community Center & Zoom
- Dredging Task Force, 7 p.m.
- Affordable Housing Trust, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, April 25
- Select Board, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, April 26
- Nauset Regional Joint School Committee, 5 p.m.
- Shellfish Advisory Board, 6 p.m.
- Finance Committee, 7 p.m.
Conversation Starter
A Housing Roadmap
The select board and planning board have both unanimously approved the new Housing Production Plan developed by the town’s consultant JM Goldson. A working group that included representatives from the Wellfleet Affordable Housing Trust, the housing authority, the local housing partnership, and town staff worked with planners at Goldson on the project.
The Housing Production Plan establishes a five-year roadmap to guide production of affordable and mixed-income housing in Wellfleet. It enumerates seven goals to increase Wellfleet’s affordable housing stock to 10 percent — the state’s recommended minimum. Currently, only 2.58 percent of Wellfleet’s housing is included in the state’s subsidized housing inventory.
The plan includes so-called inclusionary zoning strategies like broadening dimensional limitations and converting cottage communities and tiny houses to year-round housing, and also regulations on short-term rentals.
A staff position for a housing specialist is one recommendation of the plan, and such a post is currently on the 2023 town meeting warrant. Wellfleet is one of the few towns on Cape Cod without a housing specialist.
The full Housing Production Plan and executive summary can be found on the town’s website and at wellfleethousing.org —Sam Pollak.
