Harwich Conservation Commission Begins Review of First-Ever Flood Plain Performance Standards

HARWICH -- March 13, 2026, Harwich Conservation Commission opens review of draft coastal flood plain rules affecting up to 1,800 structures. The commission held a special work session March 13 with staff from the Cape Cod Commission, Cape Cod Cooperative Extension, and the Pleasant Bay Alliance to review draft coastal resiliency regulations that would, for the first time, set performance standards for development within the town's FEMA flood plain. Conservation Agent Amy McGowan noted the town currently has no such standards despite having an estimated 1,700 to 1,800 structures in flood-risk zones, more than any of the other Pleasant Bay towns in the regional effort. The draft regulations, developed with legal help from Noble, Wusherman and Hart, would divide the flood plain into three subzones, V zone, coastal A zone, and A zone, each with escalating restrictions, and would be added as a new chapter to the commission's existing wetlands regulations, requiring a commission vote after a public hearing rather than a town meeting vote. Cape Cod Cooperative Extension's Shannon Hulst noted that adopting the development limitations could raise Harwich's community rating system flood insurance discount from the current 15 percent to 20 percent. Commissioners agreed to take up the draft in sections beginning at either the April 1 or April 18 regular meeting.