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Despite an accelerating affordable housing crisis, Truro has built only one affordable complex in the last 30 year, the 16 unit Sally's Way which opened in 2014. That project took 14 years to complete.
Efforts have been stymied by frivolous court cases, increasing costs, a slow bureaucracy and a campaign of mis-information.
Each time Truro has tried to move ahead, frivolous and ultimately unsuccessful lawsuits have delayed projects.
That is now changing as engaged citizens and businesses have demanded action, legal barriers to affordable development have fallen, affordable housing advocates have been elected and the town has increased staffing to address the problem. And the Cloverleaf Development started construction in April 2025.
The Housing Choice Act of 2020 allowed judges to assess up to a $50,000 bond on plaintiffs who appeal town-issued permits — and the Affordable Homes Act of 2024 increased that amount to $250,000. The law also tightened the rules on who can file such suits and what they must prove.
Misinformation remains rife however. Spurious claims about reduced water quality, increased taxes, clogged roads and despoiled natural habitat create fear in the community. Secretive but well funded special interest groups create controversy and anxiety each time affordable housing is poised to make gains. They have repeatedly stalled progress while putting Truro's future viability at risk.
The truth is that water is precious and will be protected, that traffic problems are caused by workers needing to come into Truro from off Cape, that tax revenues will increase as working families return and that Truro will always be a natural paradise for the simple reason that over two-thirds of Truro is restricted conservation land.
We hope you will join us to make sure that reasoned careful deliberations are the rule, that science is respected and followed so that we can all work together to create a Truro and an Outer Cape that have a bright and sustainable future.
Truro and the Fight to Build Affordable Housing
Quick Facts
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Only 1.8% of Truro's housing stock is rated affordable, one of the lowest in the state.
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In the last 30 years, as the affordability crisis has accelerated, Truro has built only one affordable housing development.
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With construction beginning on Cloverleaf and plans moving forward on the Walsh property, Truro is now taking meaningful steps to preserve its future.
Sally's Way
Sally's Way is Truro's only affordable housing complex. With 16 units, today it has a wait list of over 200 people.
Sally's way took 14 years to build. The affordable housing plan for Sally's Way was approved in 2000 but, as with the Cloverleaf project, lawsuits by abutters delayed the project for over five years.
Opponents raised the same issues regarding water quality, waste water and traffic that the Walsh Property is now confronting to further delay the project.
None of those issues panned out. Traffic disruption is minimal, water quality is excellent and waste water has not been a problem.
Voices
“(Concerns about water and wastewater) were not real problems but when cases end up in land court, they can take forever to resolve.
Susan Kadar, Truro Housing Authority
“So many of our friends have had to leave because they couldn’t afford housing. There’s just not enough housing here.”
Krista Edwards, Sally's Way resident
Life on Sally’s Way, 7 Years Later
Amid an ongoing debate about housing, this Truro project stands out
By Sabina Lum Jul 23, 2020, the Provincetown Independent
Cloverleaf Affordable Housing
The 39 unit Cloverleaf project began construction in April of 2025, eight years after the the state transferred the land to Truro in order to increase affordable housing.
By the time the first residents arrive in 2028, the project will have taken 12 years to create.
The project was delayed for years by abutters who claimed that water treatment and traffic would negatively impact them. The delays caused construction costs to rise and required the town to find new funding sources as planned sources expired. The lawsuits were withdrawn after Massachusetts passed legislation which allowed fines of up to $50,000 for frivolous land court lawsuits. (This was increased to $250,000 in 2024.)
The Cloverleaf project's final design features a total of 39 new rental housing units, thoughtfully distributed across 13 buildings. The development includes a mix of housing types, with 15 units designed for single-level living and 24 units located in two-family dwellings (duplexes).
The project aims to provide housing opportunities for individuals and families who are struggling to find suitable accommodation in the town. This includes working families, seniors on fixed incomes, and those who are essential to Truro's local economy.
The town of Truro incurred no costs for the project, with construction being funded by the developer and state and federal grants.
Voices
“This is just not about affordable housing, it’s about a moral commitment to the people who keep Truro running,”
Julian Cyr, State Senator
“The opponents of affordable housing use a playbook — delay, delay, delay. Make it cost too much money and get people to roll up their plans and go somewhere else.”
Ted Malone, Project developer
Cloverleaf Breaks Ground; Leaders Look to Future
Decade-long project timelines are an urgent problem in a worsening crisis
By Paul Benson Apr 16, 2025, the Provincetown Independent.
VOICES
Damian Archer, responding to the report that Chief Clinical Officer Marianne Harris of Outer Cape Health Services left her position because she was not able to secure housing on the Cape and had been commuting from off-Cape.
Since COVID-19, staff turnover has increased and with 'no affordable housing' in the area, it is 'almost impossible' for new staff to find a place to live.
(Harris) was the second highest paid OCHS employee, making more than $243,000 a year. She had moved here from Chicago, where she was the director of clinical practice at the University of Chicago.
Damian Archer, CEO, Outer Cape Health Services (1)
"In the three years I have been here, my physician, my veterinarian and my physical have left because of the cost of housing.
I have talked to medical staff who are forced to live in overcrowded apartments — two people in a bedroom. I have seen businesses I frequent have to close for days or even weeks because they could not find workers.
A worker I know will leave in May because he has lost his housing. He has been looking hard for nine months. Nothing.
This is a crisis. It has been on a slow boil for so long that some people don’t fully realize it. But anyone coming from out of town sees and feels it immediately."
Cass Johnson, recent Truro resident.(2)
“We’re trying to find a place that we can purchase for staff housing. But when your average price tag is a million dollars, that makes it hard.”
Scott Cloud, owner of Truro General Market. (3)
There are 380 people on the waiting list for home care from Elder Services of Cape Cod, the state-designated area agency on aging.
“It kills me,” Elder Services Executive Director Maryanne Ryan said.
The shortage of home care workers is not new on the Outer Cape. But it used to be workable, said Provincetown Council on Aging Director Chris Hottle.
Now, she said, “It’s at a critical state.”
In the past, “There may have been a month’s wait,” Hottle said. “Now it can be up to a year.”
Elder Services has over 2,400 people receiving home care, with 395 living in Eastham, Wellfleet, Truro, or Provincetown.
“The rate of pay hasn’t kept up with the times, the pandemic has done a number, and housing is affecting everything,” Ryan said.
Maryanne Ryan, Elder Services Executive Director,
Chris Hottle, Provincetown Council on the Aging (4)
Citations:
(1) Outer Cape Health Restructure as It Loses Top Staff, Provincetown Independent. 9/11/2024
(2) Letters to the Editor, Provincetown Independent. 5/2/2024
(3) Truro Businesses Take on New Endeavors, Provincetown Independent. 5/22/2024
(4) Home Care Shortage is a 'Never-Ending Crisis'", Provincetown Independent. 7/19/2023