Seasonal Communities is probably the biggest thing the delegation and the state have worked to deliver for Cape Cod and the Islands since the the Cape & Islands Water Protection Fund was established.
— State Sen. Julian Cyr, Massachusetts State Senator, Cape & Islands
Majority of Towns Opt In to Seasonal Communities
After this spring's round of Annual Town Meetings, the majority of Cape towns have have opted into the Seasonal Communities with Dennis and Brewster as the latest to vote for the designation.
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21 May 2026 – BREWSTER, MA – During this year’s Annual Town Meeting season, Cape Cod passed a housing milestone as Dennis and Brewster both opted into the Seasonal Communities designation. This means that the majority of the region’s towns as well as all the towns on Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard have now elected to participate in the state program. The program opens up an array of housing tools that municipalities can deploy to help address the region’s housing crisis.
What is Seasonal Communities?
The Seasonal communities act is part of the wide reaching state Affordable Homes Act. It gives communities facing the unique challenges of a vacation home market more tools to support year round workforce housing options.
Why does Seasonal Communities matter?
State Sen. Julian Cyr who has been heavily involved in the legislation says it has the most potential regional impact of any legislation since the Cape & Islands Water Fund in 2018.
“Seasonal Communities is probably the biggest thing the delegation and the state have worked to deliver for Cape Cod and the Islands since the the Cape & Islands Water Protection Fund was established,” he said.
Cyr explained that the Water Protection Fund puts a 2.75% surcharge on room occupancy across the region and dedicates it to waste water funding and financing. To date the fund has award more than $360M in direct subsidies for waste water projects and saved Cape Cod taxpayers about 25% the cost of the waste water projects Capewide.
How will Seasonal Communities help?
Season Communities takes a page from the Water Protection Fund’s success, said Cyr.
It “really recognizes the headwinds that places like Nantucket and Truro and Dennis face when it relates to housing,” he added. “Our housing marking is different and so our communities need specific tools to address that crisis.”
What is the Seasonal Communities process?
The Seasonal Communities legislation gives Massachusetts towns with a high percentage of seasonal homes the right to opt into the program, but towns must also elect to join as well.
Once opted in, towns can use a variety of tools including the ability to set year-round occupancy restrictions, offering housing preference for municipal and public safety employees, set up a year-round housing trust fund, create year round artist housing, and permit both tiny homes and undersized lots for year-round residences, and increase the year round property tax exemption.
What is the status of Cape and Islands town?
With the latest town meeting votes 17 municipalities across the region have opted in:
- All towns on Nantucket and Marthas Vineyard
- Brewster
- Chatham
- Dennis
- Eastham
- Falmouth
- Orleans
- Provincetown
- Truro
- Wellfleet
Six have not yet made the decision:
- Barnstable
- Bourne
- Harwich
- Mashpee
- Sandwich
- Yarmouth
More information:
MA Seasonal Communities info page https://www.mass.gov/info-details/seasonal-communities
