Planning Session Focuses On Environment

FALMOUTH- Population growth on Cape Cod has virtually stopped for the time being, according to Wesley J. Ewell, and this gives Falmouth a chance to right some previous environmental wrongs.
Mr. Ewell, a planning consultant from Pocasset who helped write the Bourne Local Comprehensive Plan, and is currently helping Falmouth update its plan, said the growth stoppage is a “breather.”
This breather, combined with an increase in the median age of Cape Cod residents, gives Falmouth a chance to focus on the goals of environmental protection, he said.
At the Falmouth Planning Board’s wetlands, wildlife, and plant habitat listening session that Mr. Ewell moderated last Tuesday night, he said population growth usually coincides with environmental sacrifices.
Mr. Ewell said that before the environmental movement in the 1970s when the population was booming, “wetlands were considered to be wastelands. They were dredged out for mosquitos and filled in for landfills.”
These days, perceptions have changed greatly.
Participants spoke in favor of protecting natural resources with the same vigor, including beaches, vernal pools, and inland wetlands.
Edward H. Schmitt, a member of the Falmouth Conservation Commission who attended the session, agreed that all areas are important, but he said, “most people think beaches are first and inland wetlands are last.”
Richard K. Latimer, Falmouth Planning Board member, said the perception is that Falmouth beaches are the biggest resource and that ponds tend to get the most negative pressure environmentally.
Many of the assembled agreed that regulations on the page do a good job of protecting the environmental resources.
But Barbara P. Schneider, East Falmouth Village Association director and chairman of the community preservation committee, said she was concerned about the lack of regulations, and, even more so, the flagrant disregard for regulations.
A bigger problem, Dr. Schneider said, is the lack of environmental regulations’ enforcement.
Heather E. Wright, a Falmouth landscape architect, agreed that environmental enforcement is a problem. Ms. Wright said that she has observed trees cut down around Jenkins Pond and that nothing has ever been done about it.
Ms. Wright also described several issues she has with the planting guidelines that require a homeowner to plant bushes three feet apart, no matter what kind of bushes they might be. The regulations, when put in effect, do not resemble any environmental habitat that is on Cape Cod, Ms. Wright said.
Another theme of the night was balancing environmental habitat regulations with personal property rights. Mr. Ewell asked group members to consider whether wildlife habitats are given adequate protection when land is developed.
Margaret Hough Russell, administrator for The 300 Committee, the town’s land trust, said property owners should be given incentives for environmentally responsible development. 
In response to another question regarding protection for coastal areas from flooding, planning board member Virginia L. Rabesa said there is not enough protection for coastal areas from storm damage and flooding.
Ms. Rabesa said that, if a home on the coast is destroyed by an act of nature, perhaps it should not be rebuilt. A homeowner would still be able collect insurance money, Ms. Rabesa explained, but rebuilding in the same spot would be prohibited.
The planning board will take the ideas generated and will create a first draft of the update for the local comprehensive plan. The planning office is still accepting new ideas. E-mail [email protected]; or send a letter to the planning office at Town Hall.