b'C H A P T E R SI XThe retirement population was a second major asset. Planners value these men and women because they put litde demand on local services.Owners of second homes amounted to yet another source of economic strength: those whose primary residences were outside Chatham were paying more than 60 percent of its property taxes.The fishing industry was a major contributor to the local economy. Landings in Chatham/Ptown added up to more than two-thirds of the entire Cape catch.The summer population was even greater than a few years before.Biggest impact of those visitors was on the towns roadways. The Cape Cod Commission forecast that in mid-summer 2005, Route 28 between Route 137 and the rotary will reach gridlock proportions.Population pressures on the environment were headed toward becoming insidious, affecting the land, drinking water, waste disposal, and marine embayments. By 2015, reported the Cape Cod Commission, Chatham could expect significant shortfalls of water during the summer.Development of the town had reached a point at which it would be desirable economically, as well as for the natural environment, to adopt policies .designed to manage growth in accordance with plans that protect and nourish the towns existing economic assets.The people of Chatham should anticipate ways to accommodate visitors without threatening the overall attractiveness of the town.Mrs. Ecker well knew that skeptics would have to see hard numbers pegged to her analysis. So her study was laced with such figures as these:Between 1970 and 1990, Chathams population had grown at a far more rapid rate47 percentthan the rest of Massachusetts5.7 percent.92'