'A work in progress.' With new leadership, changes coming to Barnstable Town Council

HYANNIS — With the first month of the new year nearly at an end, new leadership is settling in at the helm of the Barnstable Town Council.

Newcomers Felicia Penn and Craig Tamash, who joined the town's top governing board after the Nov. 7 election, were selected as the council president and vice president in December and already have two meetings under their belts.

With them, they bring a change of approach — which Penn and Tamash characterize as more "different" than transformational. And certainly not change that sets up a house to divide against itself, Penn emphasizes.

"I can’t manage a group that sees itself as 'Us vs. Them.' It’s not productive for anyone, and certainly not for the organization," she said.

Penn and incumbent Councilor Paula Schnepp were nominated for president, while Tamash and incumbent Councilor Gordon Starr were nominated for vice president. Penn and Tamash were each selected by a 7 to 6 vote.

Some Barnstable Town Councilors wanted 'a change in power'

Former president Matthew Levesque, who was re-elected to the council, said the selection of freshmen members to the leadership roles is "a bit unprecedented." But it doesn't surprise him.

"I think for a number of the councilors, that was their hope: a change in power," he said. And that's OK with him.

Schnepp, who served beside Levesque as vice president, said she is not surprised.

"We had a significant change in council membership as a result of the November 2023 election. This change translated to a desire for new leadership," she said.

Penn, Tamash have long history of public service

Though Penn and Tamash may be newcomers to the council, neither are new to work and service here.

A native Cape Codder, Penn formerly co-owned Puritan of Cape Cod, a men's and women's clothing outfit her grandfather opened in 1919.

She's been deeply involved in community and county service, from serving as past president of the Hyannis Area Chamber of Commerce and of the Rotary Club of Hyannis, to chairing the Barnstable County Economic Development Council, sitting on the Barnstable Planning Board, and the Barnstable County Health and Human Service Advisory Council, to name a few of her many roles.

Tamash — a 41-year veteran of the Barnstable Police Department and now retired deputy chief — has deep connections in Barnstable.

Among other roles, he served for two years as a member of the Barnstable Representative Town Meeting before there was a town council, was a call firefighter-EMT with the Centerville Osterville Marstons Mills Fire District for 19 years, served on the Osterville Village Association board of directors for five years, and volunteers with Barnstable Neighbor 2 Neighbor — a nonprofit that connects older residents to support them staying in their own homes.

Barnstable residents voted for change

As for the change they signify, both see it as a reflection of what the voters were looking for: more inclusion in the process, more chances to be heard, more transparency.

"I think the sentiment was that it was time for a change, and I'm certainly not casting aspersions on anyone at all," said Tamash. "Sometimes you need a little change."

Under her and Tamash's leadership, Penn said, residents can expect the overriding concerns to be: how to pay for implementation of the Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (sewers), how to protect the town's drinking water and provide enough drinking water for future growth, how to support affordable housing targeted to the local workforce that is in scale with the area where it is built, and how to respond to the challenges of sea level rise and climate change overall.

"I think the former council would say they were doing that," Penn acknowledged. "Yes, they were. The difference is in the attitude and accessibility of leadership and a sensitivity to the public’s perception and ability to participate."

Like Penn, Levesque, who served as president for the last three years, also doesn't characterize the changing of the guard as "a power struggle kind of thing." His greatest desire is to see the new leadership continue to pursue the same philosophy he and Schnepp did: to think of the community inclusively.

On the Council, Levesque said, "You don't necessarily have somebody you agree with on everything. There are always differences of opinion and style, and debate is always expected and welcome."

The important thing, he said, is to invite and listen to all arguments respectfully, carefully weigh them, and, finally, "to do what's best for the whole town," not just what's best for a particular village.

Penn, Tamash concerned about housing, Hyannis zoning changes

As one example, he hopes the council can continue to weigh various solutions on the issue of housing. Levesque admitted he's concerned the new makeup of the council could put too much emphasis on policy related to short-term rentals and sideline ideas such as giving life to blighted and underused properties by reshaping them for affordable residential units to meet the needs of the town's growing population of immigrants, and young working families.

Schnepp shares the sentiments. During her time as vice president, she said, "we brought forward zoning changes that opened up opportunities for new housing units in downtown Hyannis and allowed the creation of accessory dwelling units by right across the entire town."

Like Levesque, Schnepp said, "I hope that new leadership will continue to prioritize providing affordable housing options for all in our community."

Penn and Tamash agree housing is a top issue, and there is room to discuss more than one simultaneous approach.

"No councilor is going to say we don't need affordable housing. Of course, we need affordable housing," said Tamash. "The question is, how do you get there? I don't have the answer, but we're never going to build our way out of this issue."

Penn and Tamash are concerned about some of the zoning code changes adopted for downtown Hyannis.

"The Growth Incentive Zone, which is still in place and preceded this new zoning, allowed for commercial on the first floor with top-of-shop housing up to three floors by right.  This zoning allows for the same, but up to 4 floors — which has to be recessed 8 feet — except, for some strange reason, the mandate for commercial on the first floor only runs on Main Street between Ocean Street and Sea Street," Penn said.

This makes no sense to her "as it's the first-floor commercial use that drives the vitality of Main Street, not housing on the first floor," she said.

"Main Street needs the synergy of not only first-floor commercial uses but also interactive recreational spaces to attract and retain customers," Penn said. "Over the past 15 years or more, Main Street has lost its mini-golf and carousel, both of which were major attractions for families. These have not been replaced. Building large buildings directly on Main Street just for housing, in my opinion, will deaden the space more."

Penn thinks the zoning as is "needs to be fixed to accommodate this," as well as to rethink the feasibility of allowing just one parking space per unit.

Barnstable needs to disincentivize short-term rentals

Penn and Tamash agree that short-term rentals are problematic and should also be a top topic of discussion.

"What we're seeing now is the houses that used to be available (for long-term rent) are now being bought up by investors to use as Airbnbs," Tamash said. "It's not just us. This is a nationwide phenomenon."

As part of its housing conversation, Penn thinks the town needs to find a way to disincentivize commercial uses of properties in residential neighborhoods.

Offshore wind projects will be deeply scrutinized

Off-shore wind is another area where the newly constituted council is positioned to give a more hypervigilant reception, though this shift began before the election. In October, the body put the brakes on further local action related to Park City Wind and Commonwealth Wind until they could investigate concerns about cable landings at Craigville and Dowses beaches, as well as plans for a substation on Shootflying Hill Road upgradient from Lake Wequaquet and a wellhead protection area.

The council indicated at the time that the membership did not support bringing cables ashore at Dowses Beach based on the project's environmental impact report and had questions about electromagnetic fields and routing cables from Craigville Beach underneath the Centerville River.

Although there is generally support for renewable energy, Tamash said "people are starting to realize a lot of the implications of having these huge industrial wind projects in the town."

Penn agrees.

"There is lots of risk involved in hosting these cables," she said. "This is an area that is new to all of us, and therefore, I will be supporting efforts within the town to gain as much information as possible so that future decisions are well-informed."

Penn wants to bring more transparency to Barnstable Town Council

In other areas, Penn said she has several changes in mind "that are meant to make the council function better and be more responsive to the residents."

"It's a work in progress," she said.

One of her planned changes is to open the council's agenda-setting meetings to the public and to all councilors.

"I heard over and over again that it was a secret as to how items made it on the agenda, and I think this is something that can be rectified immediately," Penn said.

She's also asked staff to make agendas available by the Friday before the council meetings, which are typically held twice a month on Thursdays, instead of two days before the meetings. It's an effort aimed at helping councilors prepare for the upcoming meeting and to give the public more time to access the agenda.

"Already, I am getting positive feedback from agendas being released the Friday before the Thursday meetings," Penn said, "and since our meeting times are in the process of being changed to 6 p.m., I believe the public — and fellow councilors — will respond well to that, too.  These are little changes but they mean a lot in the long term."

Penn to create Barnstable Town Council subcommittees

Penn wants to create several council subcommittees comprised of councilors, but also posted and advertised to the public, "so if members of the public wish to attend and contribute, they are welcome to do so."

"For example, I hope to create a Town Council Rules and Town Charter Review Committee. The town council rules have not been reviewed since 2019, so this work needs to be done," said Penn, though she has no specific changes in mind.

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to news and features in Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: New Barnstable Town Council seeks change in housing, offshore wind