Residents in Mashpee launched a new website, envisionmashpee.org, to keep the community informed about future development and its impact on the environment. Anyone interested and invested in the preservation of Mashpee is encouraged to visit the site.
On paper, the town of Mashpee and the Tribe agree on the community's core needs and the environment. The town's vision statement says, 'Mashpee is, and shall remain, a small-town community whose members choose to live in harmony with one another and with nature.' Realizing this statement is where differences become apparent.
Mashpee remains at a crossroads of conservation and new development. The waters in the town are dying. The Tribe is fighting to preserve its ancestral homeland while the town is entertaining the idea of clearing 187 acres for a densely populated development. If allowed to move forward, the development would add 1,710 residential units to stress the land and water further.
The rivers, lakes, and coastal waters are already in crisis. It's the Tribe's position that the environment cannot support a massive increase in population and wastewater that will come with Mashpee Commons' proposed expansion plan.
