Yarmouth Community Visioning ATTACHMENT Detailed Comments and Public Input Table of Contents Community Survey ........................................................................................................................................ 1 Question 1 ................................................................................................................................................. 1 Question 2 ............................................................................................................................................... 16 Question 3 ............................................................................................................................................... 36 Visioning Workshops ................................................................................................................................... 55 Workshop 1 ............................................................................................................................................. 56 Workshop 2 ..........................................................................................................................................ϭϬϵ Workshop 3 ........................................................................................................................................... ϭϱϱ Business Community Roundtable ............................................................................................................. ϭϴϵ Yarmouth Community Visioning: Detailed Comments and Public Input Community Survey The survey was available online and paper copies by request from November 2020 through the end of January 2021. They were also available in two languages: Portuguese and Spanish. A total of 382 surveys were received, all in English. Responses are presented as received, unedited. Question 1 What are Yarmouth's strengths and assets? What about Yarmouth do you value the most and want to preserve for future generations? 1 Beaches, great police and fire departments, wonderful automated update calls from town departments, All the great places to walk in the woods and swim especially Dennis Pond. Love the Bass Hole Boardwalk. Appreciate all the local programs for people with disabilities. 2 Yarmouth has the wonderful asset of shorefront, on both the Nantucket Sound and Cape Cod Bay. Other wonders include the public golf course, the Cape Cod Rail Trail, the Flax Pond rec area and summer camp for kids, the high school, the COA, the elementary schools, and acres and acres of conservation lands. The trails in back of the Yarmouth Port post office owned by the Historical Society are wonderful. We have the headwaters of the Bass River at Mill Pond, and then the western shoreline of Follins Pond on down the river to the sound. Boating, fishing, walking, swimming. I have not mentioned: Libraries, the wonderful police and fire departments and various other town departments, from the water department to 3 the natural resources, DPW, and all of the town hall staff and committees, including the Board of Selectpeople. There are multiple grocery stores and shopping opportunites, and many restaurants and churches. The only thing we are missing are mountains and large fresh water lakes, but, hey, this is Cape Cod. The alternative routes through town are also an asset, having lived on the outer cape, where a hold-up on Route Six is a hold up for the whole town. (Wellfleet and Truro). Also good, the system the town has of calling all numbers they know of to give alerts and important news (such as the recent calls regarding the Covid shots from the health department.) But I have lived here for seven years, and just heard that I should let the town know my cell phone number so I can be called. The dump: I love our transfer station and the people who work there. Great crew. 4 Green areas and beaches I would say Yarmouth's strength is how family-oriented and friendly it is. It has plenty of beaches and activities for kids to appeal to the tourists, and it is very conveniently located on 5 cape. A great place to live, work, and retire. The community has a sense of trust and safety. Police do a good job of community service. Areas of the Town of Yarmouth is known a as quaint, 6 traditional, historical, beautiful, and quiet. As a tourist destination, visitors come to admire the captains' houses to the village of Bass River. I would say it is an area unique to America. It is important that we preserve it as such. 7 open space and water protection areas 8 Beaches, golf courses, great police and fire depts 9 Beaches, cape cod cultural ctr, proximity to shopping, holiday celebrations and associated events, diverse population 10 Need to preserve beaches, open space, access to the outdoors with a small town feel for both people in town and those who visit. 11 community policing outreach programs 12 I believe Yarmouth has done so much in the way of Affordable Housing, encouraging business to the Community touching on different aspects of interest. Beaches and water facilities, Summer Cape Cod Baseball, sand sculptures, EMT and Police personnel and response, Historical Society, Churches, health and medical resources, good 13 restaurants, Libraries, Senior Center, accessible "dump", central location on Cape Cod 14 Our taxes are fair. Our beaches on the south side are plentiful and well cared for. 15 Beautiful sunsets over the bay - nice beaches on the sound. Quaint 6A area - but spread out over miles. 16 I really don't know what Yarmouth's strengths are as I have recently moved back to the cape. Our assets are our walking paths, beaches, businesses, restaurants. 17 Love the Natural Resource Office. Wonderful and welll run programs. Very friendly. 18 The location to beach and general outdoor infrastructure. I am raising 2 kids and moved to yarmouth to live full time to provide them with a wholesome and meaningful childhood. Preserving the quality of life for retirees in Yarmouth. Maintaining the rail trails and beaches, the programs at the senior center, maintaining parks and open spaces. The dump is well 19 run. Yarmouth Community Visioning: Detailed Comments and Public Input 1 20 The land that includes Bayberry Hills, the bike trail, basketball court, playground and ball field. Something for everyone. The bike ttrail is the greatest thing the town ever did! 21 Clean beaches 22 Open space and hiking trails. In the 70s my wife and children lived in Yarmouthport. Buttercup La. it was then that the “Hysterical District was created. It felt like our voice in the community was lost. We had to follow new rules for the preservation of Cape Cod. Today in 2021 thank God for the Historical District. If it were not for a handful of Cape residents who had a vision route 6A would be 23 like route 28. The Old Kings Highway is how I remember the Cape. Yarmouth officials have a moral responsibility to preserve this town for future generations. The Cape was never created to have a box store on every corner. Original Cape Coders like my wife expect change but not to the magnitude of destroying the character of Cape Cod. Our elected town officials and future leaders need to understand how fragile this peninsula is especially our drinking water. I don't avail myself with the many programs the town offers, but it sounds as if they are varied and plentiful. I'm sure the Senior Center is a great place (when opened) that serves 24 many people. On a lighter note, I think the calls to the community are excellent. Sometimes a bit corny, but still informative and helpful. The Health Dept. calls are extremely important 25 variety of housing, activities, areas ( 6A vs rte 28)etc rte 28 corridor development 26 A true seaside town, great access to beaches, recreation, youth activities, senior center, and shopping. 27 we have good open spaces, swimming places including Dennis Pond, which I love, and neighborhoods with friendly people. As a retired person living alone, I feel safe in my house. The library is wonderful in South Yarmouth but needs more funding to expand a a place to gather. Dog park is great as are the parks. But more needs to be done to develop the 28 28 corridor for businesses and walking. 29 Our open spaces, walks...HSOY, Grays Beach walk, Taylor Bray Farm, etc. Also, our libraries.9 30 A well respected,professional, and community centered police and fire departments. A very engaged and active senior center. A commitment to the arts 31 Yarmouth Beaches which are clean and well staffed. The fall seaside festival weekend and holiday parades beings smiles to everyone. 32 Beaches, trails and open areas. Conservation spaces. Make the town livable for residents amid tourist season. Designate a resident’s only beach. 33 The bike trail. -- A sense of community. It's getting a bit frayed around the edges because of politics and the pandemic but this is still a civil place to live. -- A sense of history starting with native peoples and moving forward. -- Scenic beauty from Bass Hole to the Bass River to Taylor-Bray Farm. -- A welcoming town hall atmosphere. --- The Community Preservation Act and 34 the Community Preservation Committee are a great example of good, participatory government in atcion. Town staff and committee members under Gary Ellis's leadership have created an outstanding program that has advanced the causes of affordable housing, open space, historic preservation and recreation. And the CP program has brought in additional matching funds and tax credits to make our local tax dollars go further. These are laudable achievements that