Town of Barnstable Barnstable, MA

Open Space and Recreation Plan

Barnstable’s open space and recreation needs had shifted since its last plan was adopted, prompting the Town to pursue a comprehensive 10-year update to its Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP), aligned with the 2025 Massachusetts Division of Conservation Services standards. Building on the foundation of the previous plan, BSC helped the Town craft an updated roadmap that reflected its current character, priorities, and goals.

Reaching the full breadth of the community was central to the effort. BSC developed a public involvement plan designed to engage a wide cross-section of residents, including environmental justice communities, non-profit organizations, and youth and adult sports teams. That outreach spanned bilingual materials, a web-based survey, stakeholder interviews, and open house-style meetings, ensuring the plan was shaped by voices across Barnstable.

BSC led every component of the OSRP, from documenting the community setting and conducting an environmental inventory and analysis to updating the inventory of conservation and recreation lands. That groundwork fed into a needs analysis and, ultimately, a ten-year action plan that guided the Town’s open space and recreation investments for the next decade.