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SECTION 2. INTRODUCTION
A. Statement of Purpose
"Like so many Massachusetts communities, especially those near water, Brewster has
experienced overwhelming development pressures. These pressures threaten to erode the basic
environmental systems and very essence of this rural coastal community. We either have to
secure essential and ecologically significant tracts of land to preserve our natural heritage and
communal well-being, or suffer the environmental consequences and social costs of excessive,
uncontrolled and inappropriate growth” (Brewster Open Space Committee, 1985)
Written in the Foreword to the 1985 Open Space Plan, these words are as accurate and appropriate
today as they were then. The purpose of this Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP) is to provide a
framework and guide for continued conservation and recreation planning in the Town of Brewster.
Major objectives are the conservation of Brewster's natural resources, protection of open spaces, and
the provision of public recreational opportunities.
The 2020 OSRP is an update of the 2014 OSRP. By maintaining a current plan, Brewster remains eligible
for state funding assistance for open space and recreation purchases and improvements. The 2020 OSRP
builds on earlier plans and incorporates existing and new goals of protecting natural resources,
conserving open space, and providing a recreation program that meets the needs of Brewster’s current
and future population. The Plan also updates the 2014 Action Plan, identifies new issues or changing
conditions since its approval, and assesses future needs based on community trends.
1. Progress Since 2014
The Town has made progress implementing the Action Plan of the 2014 OSRP. Completed actions
include:
• Continued monitoring lands within the Town’s Zone II Areas and Water Protection District and
consider opportunities for purchasing lands for open space protection.
• Continued implementation of the recommendations of Brewster’s Integrated Water Resource
Management Plan related to wastewater management with the completion of Phases II and III.
• Purchased Quivett Marsh Vista open space preservation in partnership with the Brewster
Conservation Trust.
• Several municipally owned properties that are important for conservation were transferred to
the custody and control of the Conservation Commission.
• Continued support of local farmers markets, “buy local” programs, and other steps to support
markets for locally grown produce, including the farmers market at the Brewster Historic
Society.
• Adopted the Fertilizer Nutrient Control bylaw to ensure best management practices in the use
of fertilizers on managed turf areas to protect Brewster’s water resources.
• Purchased land that was vulnerable to coastal erosion, storm event flooding, or sea level rise,
which has led to reduced Flood Hazard Insurance rates for residents.
• Continued to organize public education and stewardship events, such as spring clean-up events.
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• Hired Natural Resource Department staff to support growing demands of the department.
• Published trail maps and brochures of the Town’s conservation areas.
• Continued to add new recreational activities and programs, including courts for pickleball and
bocce ball.
• Continued work with neighboring towns to protect shared groundwater resources and
overlapping wellfield recharge areas, specifically participating in the Pleasant Bay Alliance with
Orleans and Harwich as well as with Dennis.
• Started an annual Family Fishing event with Massachusetts Wildlife and Fisheries
• Brought back the annual bike rodeo.
The work since 2014 emphasizes the importance of the OSRP in reaching natural resource protection
goals and meeting the recreational needs of residents.
B. Planning Process and Public Participation
The planning process to update the OSRP involved:
• Reviewing current, available data from local, regional, state, and federal sources.
• Reviewing current reports and studies around open space and recreational issues for Brewster
and the region.
• Reviewing the 2014 OSRP to identify completed action items, where new data and information
is needed, and other follow-up items.
• Engaging the public to ensure stated goals and objectives are still relevant.
• Engaging the public, including local nonprofits, community groups, and other stakeholders, to
understand changes since 2014 in open space and recreation needs and preferences.
• Engaging Town departments and decision makers to understand changes since 2014 in open
space and recreation policies.
A working group made up of Town staff, including the Natural Resources Department and Recreation
Department, as well as representation from the Brewster Planning Board, Open Space Committee, and
the Cape Cod Commission helped guide the update process. Other Town department staff and Town
boards and commissions were also consulted. Stakeholders and members of the public were also asked
to provide input and perspective through the public engagement process. These included:
• Brewster Conservation Trust
• Association to Preserve Cape Cod
• Brewster Council on Aging
• Brewster Chamber of Commerce
• Nauset Public Schools
As noted above, the planning process of the 2020 OSRP involved the review of existing and ongoing
open space, recreation, natural resource, and resiliency planning initiatives to ensure consistency with
these efforts. As community driven projects, these initiatives involved significant public engagement
such as workshops, community surveys, and stakeholder meetings and represent the direction of
residents. The Town uses the resulting plans to guide local policies and actions. The OSRP needs to be
consistent with the documents, and it is also essential to not repeat what has already been asked and
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reported. The OSRP provides an opportunity to explore areas of open space and recreation needs that
may need more attention or expand on current efforts as appropriate. It is important to recognize that
the OSRP will not list all the recommendations and strategies of these reports, plans, and strategies, but
incorporates them by reference, and any updates that take place going forward. This ensures a succinct
and focused OSRP.
Below is a brief summary of planning initiatives and resources that the OSRP supports and references
throughout the document, as needed. It is followed by public engagement that was conducted as part of
the 2020 OSRP update process.
1. Previous Planning Initiatives
Brewster Integrated Water Resource Management Plan
In 2009, the Town of Brewster Comprehensive Water Planning Committee recognized that an integrated
approach was needed to protect and restore the Town’s waters. Integrated water management
recognizes that impacts to groundwater also affect surface waters and vice versa. Both water quality
and quantity impacts are possible, so any evaluation of the Town’s water resources must consider both.
The Brewster Integrated Water Resource Management Plan (IWRMP)1 was implemented in three
phases. Building on the work of Phases I and II, Phase III began in 2013 and assessed the challenges and
proposed solutions to manage the Town’s water resources, specifically the evaluation of wastewater
and nitrogen management alternatives, and the development and finalization of updated by-laws and
regulations to implement the stormwater management recommendations developed during Phase II.2
Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy
In 2016, the Brewster Coastal Access Advisory Group conducted a survey to gather opinions about
accessibility, amenities, usage, water quality, and other issues around the Town’s beaches. Around 2,000
people completed the survey. Results were used to develop the Brewster Coastal Adaptation Strategy.
The strategy is a framework for future decision-making about Brewster’s public coastal areas. It assists
the Town in meeting the diverse access needs of the community and adapting to coastal change, sea
level rise, storm surge, and shoreline erosion.
Biking Brewster: A Strategy to Enhance Biking in Brewster
Biking Brewster was drafted in 2016 by the Brewster Bikeways Committee. It is a plan to help inform
local decision makers about improvements to the road network, upgrading public facilities, and building
public awareness in ways that promote the safe use of bikes for recreation and as an alternative means
of transportation in Brewster. It builds on the 2014 OSRP, where residents expressed the need for more
bike trails and biking opportunities.
1 https://horsleywitten.com/brewsterIWRMP/
2 https://horsleywitten.com/brewsterIWRMP/documents.html
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Brewster Age-Friendly Action Plan
In 2017, the Brewster Council on Aging worked with the Center for Social and Demographic Research on
Aging at the Gerontology Institute at UMASS Boston. The project included a needs assessment of the
Town’s older residents, including recreational needs.3
Brewster Vision Plan
In 2017, the Town designed a visioning process that engaged residents to understand the community’s
values, key issues the Town will face in the future, and priority actions it should take to address these
issues. Three deep-dive community workshops were held in late June of 2017 that asked residents what
they value about Brewster, what are its challenges, and what are its assets. Approximately 135 citizens
participated. The results led to the key issues, or building blocks: community character, open space,
housing, local economy, coastal management, water resources, governance, and community
infrastructure. Local experts worked together to draft summary papers for each building block that
provided background information and summaries of issues in Brewster. A second round of workshops
were held to review this information and produced a list of priority actions for the Town.
In February 2018, the Town administered a survey asking citizens to rate the importance of each action,
from “not important” to “extremely important.” The survey was available on-line and paper copies were
available in locations throughout town. Over 1,200 people took the survey. Water resources and open
space were the highest scoring building blocks. Because all the actions in these building blocks were
rated as important or higher, all were incorporated into the final Vision Plan.
From this input, the Town drafted the Brewster Vision Plan and conducted a final round of workshops
that focused on implementation. Participants identified stakeholders for each building block, including
Town government, community groups, and individuals. The final plan4 was presented to the Board of
Selectmen, which it approved in July 2018.
Brewster Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Workshop
In 2019, the Town received funding from the Massachusetts Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness
(MVP) Program to complete climate change vulnerability assessments and resiliency planning. An MVP
workshop was held in March 2019 to identify the natural hazards threatening the Town that are
exacerbated by climate change. Mitigation actions that can be taken to reduce the adverse effects were
discussed and prioritized. Twenty-two community members participated in the workshop, representing
different areas of Town.
Attendees recommended seven high priority action items to address vulnerabilities and build on existing
strengths. The seven elements are highlighted in the MVP Workshop Summary Report.5 Following the
workshop, the Town held a public information and listening session to provide an opportunity for
residents to learn, ask questions, and provide feedback on the seven high priority items identified at the
workshop.
3 http://records.brewster-ma.gov/weblink/0/doc/89079/Page1.aspx
4 http://records.brewster-ma.gov/weblink/DocView.aspx?dbid=0&id=90826&page=1&cr=1
5 http://records.brewster-
ma.gov/weblink/0/edoc/107178/Brewster%20MVP%20Workshop%20Summary%20Report.pdf
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Brewster Coastal Resources Management Plan
In 2019, Phase 1 of the Town’s Coastal Resources Management Plan was released.6 Lead by the
Brewster Coastal Committee, the plan articulates a vision and policy direction for managing the Town’s
coastal resources. It identifies five priority issues and recommends management strategies for
implementation. These include:
• Increase resilience of public beaches and landings
• Preserve ecosystem services provided by healthy coastal wetlands
• Provide access for water dependent activities
• Preserve peak-season access to public beaches and landings
• Protect infrastructure, visual access, and sense of place threatened by changing conditions
The plan builds on prior planning initiatives, including those listed above. It was developed with the
consultation with topical experts and public input from five workshops. The plan will help the Town
meet the diverse access needs of the community and adapt to coastal change.
2. Community Survey
A community survey was administered between April 13 and May 11, 2020. It was available through the
Town’s website, and municipal departments and local partners were asked to via email to their
memberships, including the School Department, Recreation Department, Council on Aging, Brewster
Land Trust, Association to Preserve Cape Cod, and others.
It should be noted that the Town began the update of the OSRP at the onset of the 2019 novel
Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which greatly impacted how it was able to conduct public
engagement. On March 10, 2020, Governor Charles Baker issued a State of Emergency, which was
followed by Order No. 13 on March 23, ordering the closure of non-essential businesses and prohibiting
the gathering of more than 10 people through April 7, which was extended to May 18, at which time
select businesses were opened and under strict protocols to protect public health. In late April, the
Governor announced that public schools would remain closed and virtual learning would continue
through the end of the year. While Town government continued to provide services during this time,
Town Hall and other municipal facilities were closed to the public. The Town was unable to make paper
copies of the survey available at popular locations, and the mailing surveys was both cost prohibitive
and administratively difficult given public health concerns.
See Section 6. Community Vision and Appendix X for a summary of the community survey results.
3. Public Workshop
Scheduled for June 18, 2020.
6 https://www.brewster-ma.gov/committees-mainmenu-29/coastal-committee/2588-final-phase-i-brewster-
coastal-resource-management-plan
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C. Enhanced Outreach and Public Participation for Environmental
Justice Populations
According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA),
“Environmental Justice (EJ) is based on the principle that all people have a right to be protected
from environmental pollution, and to live in and enjoy a clean and healthful environment.
Environmental justice is the equal protection and meaningful involvement of all people with
respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws,
regulations, and policies and the equitable distribution of environmental benefits.”
The Massachusetts Environmental Justice Policy defines EJ populations as “those segments of the
population that EOEA has determined to be most at risk of being unaware of or unable to participate in
environmental decision-making or to gain access to state environmental resources. They are defined as
neighborhoods (U.S. Census Bureau census block groups) that meet one or more of the following
criteria:
• The median annual household income is at or below 65% of the statewide median income for
Massachusetts; or
• 25 percent of the residents are minority; or
• 25 percent of the residents are foreign born; or
• 25 percent of the residents are lacking English language proficiency.”
The Massachusetts Office of Geographic Information (MassGIS) has mapped environmental justice
populations for all communities in Massachusetts. According to the mapping provided by MassGIS,
Brewster does not currently encompass any EJ populations according to the criteria summarized above.
In addition, according to the U.S. Census, over 95% of the population speaks only English. Despite this,
the Town of Brewster made every effort to include all citizens in the public participation component of
the OSRP.