Chapter 7 - INSTITUTIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS 



Cape Cod Aquifer Management Project Final Report Page 79 



7.4.5 Creation of a Regional Land-Use Regulatory Agency 



The current institutional framework that leaves municipalities with 

 the principal responsibility for making well-informed decisions and 

 effective land-use decisions is not working. Transferring good technical 

 information to the local level is very important, but it only represents a 

 partial solution. A truly comprehensive approach that treats groundwater 

 as a regional resource and goes beyond the planning stage, is also 

 required. 



The creation of a regional land-use agency with the necessary regulato- 

 ry authority to help manage the ongoing land-use crisis on Cape Cod is a 

 viable approach. Such a regulatory body would serve to better control 

 land uses, and hence more fully protect groundwater. The major features 

 of such an approach include the following: (1) solidly-based comprehensive 

 planning would be mandated Capewide, treating groundwater as a regional 

 resource that does not respect town boundaries; (2) the State Zoning Act 

 and Subdivision Law that heavily favor development interests would be 

 tempered, primarily through neutralization of "groundwater" provisions; 

 (3) technical expertise would be centralized at the regional level and 

 would be utilized more efficiently and consistently to supplement local 

 technical deficiencies in the development of scientifically-based groundwa- 

 ter protection rules. 



The Cape Cod Commission. Special state legislation has been proposed 

 for Cape Cod that would create a regional land-use regulatory agency 

 called the Cape Cod Commission (CCC) , under the auspices of CCPEDC. It 

 evolved through a "grass roots" effort called "Prospect: Cape Cod" that 

 sought to envision what the Cape should be like five years from now 

 (CCPEDC, 1987). The CCC is modelled after the Martha's Vineyard 

 Commission, an existing regional land-use regulatory body. Borrowing from 

 the Vineyard example, the CCC would retain authority over Districts of 

 Critical Planning Concern (DCPC) and Developments of Regional Impact 

 (DRI). DCPCs are designated areas that require special protection because 

 of their public -health, ecological, recreational, historical, cultural, or 

 aesthetic value and importance. Using a groundwater example, this would 

 allow the regional body to regulate projects within zones of contribution 

 to public supply wells (which would most likely be designated as DCPCs) . 

 DRIs are developments that should be reviewed by the regional authority 

 due to their greater-than-local impact. An example of this could be a 

 proposed waste water treatment plant in one town, that would affect 

 private wells in an adjacent town. 



