BARNSTABLE, MA-The lack of affordable housing on Cape Cod has reached crisis proportions. It is compounded by the growth of commercial development which has brought low-paying jobs to the region and the rush of baby boomers buying second homes as they prepare to retire. The crisis was highlighted when the Cape Cod Commission, which is charged with regulating the Cape's land use, unveiled a study linking the region's commercial development to its affordable-housing shortage.
"It really has reached crisis proportions here on Cape Cod," Paul Richinskas, the affordable-housing specialist with the Cape Cod Commission, tells GlobeSt.com. The $20,000-report found, among other things, that Barnstable County is short 1,800 units of low- to moderate-income housing and 4,300 units short of its total affordable-housing needs. Commercial development has played a role in that shortage, the study found, by creating low-wage jobs that have flooded the market with workers unable to buy or rent on the Cape.
"The kind of commercial development we've seen on the Cape, and the kind we will likely see, is likely to make things worse," says Richinskas. He notes that the average wages paid to workers on Cape Cod is about one-third less than wages paid in the rest of the state, making the region the worst in the state for wages and one of the most expensive for housing. Projections show that pattern is likely to continue unless something is done to make housing more attainable, Richinskas says.
With few units of affordable housing being built on the Cape and strict zoning regulations that govern development, Richinskas said the commission is in a bind. Although it currently has a policy requiring at least 10% of residential developments to be earmarked as affordable, Richinskas says the commission needs to develop regulations governing the impact that commercial development has on the region. Those policies, which will be developed over the next few months, may require commercial users to contribute to the creation of affordable units, he says. Once those policies are developed, it will be up to the Massachusetts Legislature to approve their implementation.
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