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Buying, selling, building or altering a property on Cape Cod — especially if located near the waterfront or wetlands — usually requires securing permits from multiple regulatory agencies and boards. This process can be confusing and overwhelming. It can even result in fines, depreciation of property assets or legal action.

For over three decades, CIE has consistently won regulatory approval for our clients in Cape Cod’s extremely challenging regulatory landscape. We bring a deep understanding of all applicable regulations, excel in presenting client cases to achieve desired results and think strategically to uncover creative solutions for complex issues.

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Services

CIE can guide you through what is often a complicated and lengthy permitting process for projects like these:

Protecting public assets. If you’re seeking to fill, dredge, remove or alter a wetland (e.g., salt marsh, salt pond, tidal flat) or natural buffer zone (e.g., coastal beach, dune, bank), you must first file a notice of intent with the local community’s conservation commission.

Increasing property value. Smaller residential lots in nitrogen-sensitive areas in Mashpee and Falmouth may be restricted to one- or two-bedroom homes. Using our in-depth knowledge of Title 5 regulations and wastewater technology, CIE can help some of these property owners gain the right to add more bedrooms.

Protecting shorelines from coastal erosion. Property owners can stabilize coastal land and protect residential and commercial infrastructure by building shoreline armoring structures (e.g., seawalls, breakwaters) designed to hold back the ocean and prevent sediment loss.

Combatting beach erosion. Cape Cod’s beaches are eroding at an alarming rate. CIE has a successful track record in the analysis, permitting and execution of beach nourishment projects, which involve dredging or taking sand from elsewhere and putting it back on the beach.

Managing a complex approval process. CIE is experienced in assessing, designing and permitting floating and seasonal docks, piers, bulkheads and boardwalks for private, commercial and municipal clients. We can guide you from proposal to permitting and from conceptualization to construction.

Reinstating a wetland’s natural functions. We design and permit projects to recapture a wetland’s physical, chemical or biological characteristics, such as restoring illegally altered wetlands and/or wetland buffer zones or creating new wetland areas to replace those that have been compromised.

Ensuring safe usage of waterways for vessels. CIE develops successful dredging strategies for municipalities and landowners that preserve aquatic resources and wildlife. Besides guiding you through the permitting process, we work with dredging contractors to conduct pre/post-dredge surveys using our drone survey technology.

Controlling erosion and damage to land assets. Soft solutions, the preferred option for dealing with rising sea levels and storm surge, are not always viable solutions. We provide all redesign/repair and permitting services for rebuilding, licensing or modifying pre-existing seawall and bulkhead structures.

Protecting against rising sea levels and increasingly severe storms. The first step in any project located in a special flood hazard zone is to evaluate the site and applicable flood zone regulations. Our design services ensure the structure is built for compliance and meets flood insurance requirements.

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