Districts of Critical Planning Concern
(DCPCs)

The Cape Cod Commission is charged with recommending the designation of Districts of Critical Planning Concern, or DCPCs. The districts are generally nominated by a town or several towns. After going through an extensive public hearing process, the Commission recommends or decides not to recommend the nominated districts for approval by the Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates and the County Commissioners. If ultimately approved, the districts allow a town or a group of towns to adopt special rules and regulations to protect natural, coastal, scientific, cultural, architectural archaeological, historic, economic, or recreational resources or values of regional, statewide, or national significance. The rules that the nominating communities create and adopt (known as "implementing regulations") then govern development in the designated DCPC area.

To date, Barnstable County has designated 10 Districts of Critical Planning Concern that were nominated by their respective towns or the County Commissioners. (See the Designated DCPCs page.)

The latest is the Ocean Management Planning DCPC nominated by the Barnstable County Commissioners in December 2009. The Cape Cod Commission accepted the nomination for consideration and held five public hearings. In March 2010, the Commission voted to recommend the nomination to the Assembly of Delegates. The Assembly held a public hearing in April and voted to designate the DCPC as a regional ordinance on April 21, 2010. The Cape Cod Commission and Cape towns will now work together to develop "implementing regulations" for the district. Progress may be monitored on the Ocean Management Planning DCPC page.

For general information about DCPCs, download the Districts of Critical Planning Concern brochure (in PDF format; layout assumes back-to-back printing on 8.5x11-inch paper in landscape mode).