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Committee considers including voluntary managed‑retreat planning in report
Summary
Members discussed a voluntary managed‑retreat recommendation so Westport would be positioned if state/federal buyout funds become available; debate covered precedents (1938) and whether East Beach is a comparable example.
Chair (speaker 1) proposed the committee include a voluntary managed‑retreat recommendation to position Westport for potential state or federal buyout funds, saying past events (the 1938 storm) show retreat has occurred in the town before. "The most important word to me is voluntary," the Chair said, emphasizing that any retreat plan would be a tool for residents, not a forced acquisition.
Members discussed complexities: who would own conserved land in perpetuity, whether private‑public funds could be combined, precedents in other Massachusetts communities, and the difference between barrier‑beach dynamics and more permanent waterfront development. The committee did not adopt a final plan but directed staff to draft language that frames managed retreat as a potential tool and to keep the report as a living document.
