"Evaluate opportunities to create a dog park at an appropriate location that serves the community and is compatible with surrounding uses."
That sentence is the entire dog park action in the Ten-Year Action Plan of Chatham's draft Open Space and Recreation Plan. A dog park was the second-largest unmet need in the town's own survey. The plan files it under its lowest priority tier, with staff time as the only funding source. Indoor swimming topped the unmet-needs list, and the plan treats it the same way. The draft saves its top tier for something less visible: the sidewalks, bike connections and beach restrooms that serve the places people already use most.
You can see that ordering and comment on it this evening, Thursday, November 5. The draft goes before the public at 5:00 p.m. at the Chatham Community Center, 702 Main Street.
What the survey said, place by place
The town's survey results summary counts 482 responses. The most-visited places it reports are familiar ones:
- Recreation facility: Chatham Community Center
- Park: Kate Gould Park
- Beach: Harding's Beach and Lighthouse Beach, tied
- Conservation area: Morris Island Dike
Hiking and trail walking was the top activity at 73%. Community and recreation events came next at 72%, then beach swimming at 70%. Biking, scootering or skateboarding was 47%, dog walking 43% and non-motorized boating 36%.
The survey also asked what Chatham lacks. Indoor swimming led at 38%, dog parks came in at 32% and more nature trails at 30%. A separate question asked about improving what already exists. The answers there were about getting around: a better bicycle and pedestrian network at 44%, safer and wider sidewalks at 43%, linked open spaces and trails at 36%, and dog-friendly parks at 33%.
The unmet-needs question drew requests for new facilities, and the improvements question drew requests for easier ways to reach existing ones. The draft action plan mostly follows the improvements answers.
How the draft sorts the wish list
The Ten-Year Action Plan gives every action a priority tier, a list of responsible parties, possible funding sources and a timeframe across the decade. Here is how it handles the requests that ranked highest in the survey.
| What residents asked for | Survey figure | What the draft proposes | Tier | Timeframe |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Better bike and pedestrian network | 44% | Expand sidewalk, bicycle and pedestrian connections to parks, beaches, conservation areas, the Old Colony Rail Trail and the Fish Pier | P1 | Years 1–5 |
| Linked open spaces and trails | 36% | Expand trail networks and strengthen connections to the Old Colony Rail Trail | P2 | Years 1–5 |
| Indoor swimming | 38% | Explore opportunities to expand indoor swimming facilities and programs | P3 | Years 1–2 |
| Dog parks | 32% | Evaluate opportunities to create a dog park | P3 | Years 1–2 |
| Most-visited facility, the Community Center | Ranked first | Expand and improve indoor recreation facilities and programming | P2 | Years 1–3 |
The plan defines the tiers in its Table 7-1:
P1: Actions that address immediate needs, regulatory requirements, public safety, resource protection, or projects with strong community support or near-term funding opportunities. P2: Important actions that build on P1 initiatives or require additional planning, partnerships, or funding before implementation. P3: Long-term or opportunity-driven actions that remain important but are anticipated to occur later in the planning period or as resources become available.
The plan also says that all of its actions matter to its goals and that timing will depend on funding, partnerships and permitting. Under that framing, P3 items stay in the plan and are expected later in the decade or once resources become available.
Why the top tier is about getting there
The survey explains why connections came first. It found that 94% of respondents reach parks and recreation facilities by personal vehicle, compared with 60% who walk or run and 36% who bike. The place that drew the most trail walkers in town is also a place most people drive to. The P1 sidewalk and bike action targets that gap. It lists outside funding sources, including MassDOT and DCR, alongside the Bikeways Committee, the Recreation and Beaches Division and the Planning Division as responsible parties.
The same reasoning applies at the beaches. Harding's Beach and Lighthouse Beach tied as the most-visited beaches. Both appear by name in a P1 action to repair and upgrade restrooms and aging infrastructure, along with Forest Beach, Jackknife Beach, Ridgevale Beach and Oyster Pond Beach. That work is slated for the first three years, and CPA money is listed as a potential funding source. Another P1 item covers parking, wayfinding and public access at parks, beaches, Town landings and other water access points.
Trail walkers, the survey's largest group, get a P2 maintenance item that runs across all ten years of the plan. It covers vegetation management, wayfinding, surface repairs, and removing downed trees and overhanging limbs. The Conservation Division, Conservation Commission, Open Space Committee and Friends of the Sylvan Gardens are named to carry it out. In practice, the plan concentrates its near-term effort on the places that ranked first.
Where the dog park and the pool actually sit
The two P3 items both begin with soft verbs. The pool action says "explore." The dog park action says "evaluate." Each is scheduled for years one and two, lists staff time as its only funding source and names the Recreation and Beaches Division and the Parks and Recreation Commission as leads. The Planning Division is added for the dog park. What the draft commits to in the near term is a study of each idea, not a construction project.
The dog park idea predates the survey. A June 2025 letter in the Cape Cod Chronicle argued for a fenced dog park in Chatham and suggested Volunteer Park as one possible site. That was a reader's proposal, not a Town action. The draft does not name a site.
In the meantime, the off-season is when some trails open up to dogs. The Chatham Conservation Foundation's Morris Island Trail page says leashed dogs are allowed there only from September 16 through April 30, so this is the window. The foundation's trail etiquette guidance notes that Chatham's leash laws require leashes at all times, no longer than six feet. It also lists the Town conservation trails stewarded by the Conservation Commission: Old Comers Woodland, Antenna Field Park, Training Field Triangle, McCoy Tree Farm, Twine Field and Valley Farm Trail.
The building hosting the November 5 session is already doing extra work
The Chatham Community Center ranked as the town's most-visited recreation facility, and its P2 action calls for more indoor recreation space and programming. This fall it is also housing the Council on Aging. As the Cape Cod Chronicle reported on October 14, the COA's offices and programs moved there during the $5.2 million Center for Active Living renovation on Stepping Stones Road. Director Leah LaCross told the paper the move worked better than anticipated, with some services shifted to the VFW, the town annex and Public Works on Crowell Road. She expects the COA to return to its renovated building in July or August.
The Town says the comments gathered at this evening's session will be used to refine the ten-year action plan. Questions go to Town Planner Christine O'Grady at [email protected]. The consultant BSC Group is leading public engagement with the Town, with outreach support from the Open Space Committee. This is still a draft. The tiers in the table above could change between the November 5 session and the final plan.
Chatham's trails, beach access and village connections shape how a property here is used, not just how it is described. At Christie's International Real Estate Atlantic Brokerage, we follow plans like this one because they affect daily life near the places our clients care about. If you'd like to talk through how the town's open space priorities relate to a property you own or are considering, we invite you to Request a Private Market Consultation.
