The Barnstable County Assembly of Delegates voted to adopt Proposed Ordinance 2025-13, an amendment to the county Regional Policy Plan (RPP), following a public hearing and floor debate on Nov. 19, 2025. The motion to postpone the vote until Dec. 3 was defeated, and the ordinance passed in a roll-call vote.

The hearing drew public comment focused on implementation and whether the RPP would be sufficient to achieve its stated vision. Chris Powicki of Brewster, speaking as a member of the Sierra Club's Cape Cod and Islands group, commended the Cape Cod Commission's outreach but warned the RPP alone would not deliver the plan's goals and urged the assembly to work with the commission on implementation over the coming five years. Stephen Buckley of Chatham urged the county to press for a regional perspective on the Cape Cod Bridges project, noting related federal and state environmental documents are extensive, "about 3,000 pages."

Executive Director Christie Sanatore of the Cape Cod Commission responded to questions about whether the Bridges program would be reviewed as a development of regional impact (DRI), saying the Bridges program "is not subject to development of regional impact review due to preemption by federal and state law" and that the commission would remain involved as an advisory and consulting party, including under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.

On the floor, Delegate Green moved to postpone the vote until Dec. 3 so the public's hearing comments could be further considered. The motion to postpone was seconded but failed in a roll call. Assembly members debated statutory limits on amendments and the 45-day review trigger under the Cape Cod Commission Act, which restricts the assembly's procedural options to approving the plan as presented or referring it back to the commission for further work.

A subsequent roll-call vote to adopt the RPP recorded 14 members in favor, representing 98.44% of the county population, and one no vote from Delegate Green. The assembly approved the RPP as transmitted by the Cape Cod Commission; under the statute the assembly may either approve the plan or send it back with comments for further commission action.

The assembly closed the public hearing and moved on to other agenda items. Staff and commission leaders said they will continue work on implementation and tracking tools in the years ahead.

The assembly's adoption takes effect under the procedural timeline set by the Cape Cod Commission Act; any formal referral or further changes would require additional commission action and a renewed local review process.