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Public Works, Energy & Utilities Towns collaborate on coastal management
Kingston, Duxbury and Plymouth worked together to obtain technical assistance from the state that is expected to put the three towns in better position to prevent and manage damage from coastal storms.
“Because we collaborated, we represented pretty diverse interests and needs, and I think that helped us to get the technical assistance” from the Office of Coastal Zone Management, said Maureen Thomas, Kingston’s conservation agent.
Four other coastal communities – Boston, Hull, Falmouth and Oak Bluffs – qualified individually for the two-year pilot program, known as StormSmart Coasts (www.mass.gov/czm/stormsmart). One goal of the program is to help communities prepare for possible increases in sea levels as a result of climate change.
In Kingston, Duxbury and Plymouth, Thomas said, the technical assistance will be used for three related purposes: to revise, or develop, each town’s brochure outlining floodplain regulations; to hold workshops for town officials exploring what is known as the “No Adverse Impact” approach to coastal management; and, in turn, to hold coastal management workshops for builders, designers and engineers, as well as homeowners.
The “No Adverse Impact” guidelines, first laid out by the Association of State Floodplain Managers, are designed to ensure that actions taken by cities and towns will be legally defensible and will not unduly strain municipal budgets, while also being in the best interest of the environment.
Public Works, Energy & Utilities Towns collaborate on coastal management
Towns collaborate on coastal management
Kingston, Duxbury and Plymouth worked together to obtain technical assistance from the state that is expected to put the three towns in better position to prevent and manage damage from coastal storms.
“Because we collaborated, we represented pretty diverse interests and needs, and I think that helped us to get the technical assistance” from the Office of Coastal Zone Management, said Maureen Thomas, Kingston’s conservation agent.
Four other coastal communities – Boston, Hull, Falmouth and Oak Bluffs – qualified individually for the two-year pilot program, known as StormSmart Coasts (www.mass.gov/czm/stormsmart). One goal of the program is to help communities prepare for possible increases in sea levels as a result of climate change.
In Kingston, Duxbury and Plymouth, Thomas said, the technical assistance will be used for three related purposes: to revise, or develop, each town’s brochure outlining floodplain regulations; to hold workshops for town officials exploring what is known as the “No Adverse Impact” approach to coastal management; and, in turn, to hold coastal management workshops for builders, designers and engineers, as well as homeowners.
The “No Adverse Impact” guidelines, first laid out by the Association of State Floodplain Managers, are designed to ensure that actions taken by cities and towns will be legally defensible and will not unduly strain municipal budgets, while also being in the best interest of the environment.
Written by MMA Associate Editor Mitch Evich
