Communities in Massachusetts have broad powers to protect the general welfare of their constituents using land use and zoning policies. These powers will expand in the future alongside climate change. Municipalities should use the opportunity to incentivize new economic activity outside of the floodplain and lease underutilized land to solar projects that fund climate adaptation.

New England is largely dependent on natural gas for power generation and heating. These resources rely on aging infrastructure. ISO New England has estimated that there could be fuel shortages and electrical system reliability issues by 2024 due to regional fuel security concerns.¹ It is therefore important that the Cape Ann region increase its energy independence.

Cape Ann should explore a comprehensive regional zoning plan that establishes ‘sending areas’ for residents at flood risk and ‘receiving areas’ for residents and businesses outside of the floodplain. Additional coastal overlay districts should limit damaging seawalls and jetties along the coast and protect existing marshes.

The Cape Ann region uses over 324,609 MWh of electricity and over 12,931,108 Therms of natural gas annually.² To increase resilience, individual buildings should be outfitted with solar panels.

There are 20,361 buildings across Cape Ann that are suitable for solar power installation. These buildings have annual solar radiation greater than 800 kWh and greater than square meters of rooftop space for solar installations. If every suitable rooftop on Cape Ann was outfitted with solar panels, residents could generate 516,206 MWh of electricity per year. Five building complexes have significant solar potential and should be outfitted with solar panels immediately.

The undeveloped public land across Cape Ann could produce 4,272,900 MWh of solar power annually to power Cape Ann. This would build on a regional tradition of climate innovation that the City of Gloucester pioneered with Blackburn Industrial Park’s wind turbine installations.

Each community could lease fifteen-acre parcels of underdeveloped municipal land to solar companies. Each of these solar farms would produce enough electricity to power 400 homes. The lease proceeds would enter a climate trust to fund adaptation projects across Cape Ann.

There will be competition and conflict to build solar and wind farms or develop housing on the limited stock of public land on Cape Ann.

To reduce these tensions, and increase the amount of undeveloped municipally owned land that can be dedicated for development while preserving open space, photovoltaic solar panels can be deployed on reservoirs and still water bodies. Solar panels deployed on water bodies can shade the water, reducing evaporation.

Cape Ann could establish itself as a leading innovator in the Commonwealth and the nation by deploying floating solar, and provide electricity to power 9,300 residential homes.

Each community on Cape Ann maintains different zoning and planning regulations. A comprehensive regional plan would help guide sustainable development.³

While each community on Cape Ann has a different character, there are districts that serve similar purposes in each municipality. Some such categories include: established neighborhoods that have started to see flooding; cultural and marine heritage districts, including the working waterfront; resilient downtown areas located in upland areas with access to public transportation; and upland single family neighborhoods suitable for future development.

A regional plan that identifies these districts in each community would guide sustainable development into the future and, when applying for federal grant programs, establish Cape Ann as a climate innovator.

To facilitate the development of these districts, municipalities should establish benefits for developers and residents looking to invest in resilient downtowns and near-future neighborhoods.

Near-future neighborhoods can be established along inland and upland roadways with established water, wastewater, and electrical infrastructures. This process of relocation and unbuilding requires that receiving areas or near-future neighborhoods be developed to accommodate residents before they relocate from established flooding neighborhoods.

Cultural and marine heritage districts, including the working waterfront in each community, should be individually adapted with seawalls and bulkheads to protect these areas and their economic interests. Operations that do not rely on immediate waterfront access, such as packaging, can be transferred to resilient downtowns. These areas stimulate the local economy, provide jobs, and attract new residents with upzoned areas and mixed-use development.

Overlay districts on the existing shoreline should be established based on the riverine and oceanic zones across Cape Ann.

Conventional practices, including hard revetments and seawalls, have limited effectiveness, destroy intertidal habitats, and alter sediment transport patterns. Hard structural solutions should not be permitted in environmentally sensitive coastal areas. Existing coastline stabilization structures should be deconstructed wherever possible. After structures are demolished, they should not be rebuilt. Beach renourishment projects and green infrastructure should only be implemented in zones where such structures do not exist.

Solar panels on south-facing roofs build electric resilience across Cape Ann.

A solar array in Dogtown Common on leased municipal land funds climate adaptation measures.

Living shorelines are the only erosion structures permitted along the coast. After structures are damaged, they are removed to reduce erosion.

Properties donated to the Cape Ann Sea Level Adaptation Land Trust enter the public realm to be enjoyed by residents in perpetuity.

Cape Ann is already changing. The region can adapt in the face of these changes with a vision for a resilient and equitable future.