Chilmark selectmen Tuesday night described the outline of the Nab’s Corner Community Housing application process to a large crowd of hopeful applicants for one of the four one-acre resident house lots fronting on South Road.
The winning applicants will sign a 99-year ground lease at a cost of $25,000, designed to ensure the permanent affordability of the property.
“You want to be sure you don’t invest too much money into the property in case it has to be transferred [later],” selectman Bill Rossi said. “Whoever wants to purchase the property or the next generation must be eligible for the affordable-housing program.”
The housing committee will hold an application workshop at 7 pm, Sept. 25,in the selectmen’s meeting room. Representatives from banks, the Dukes County Housing Authority, and the housing committee will be available for guidance.
The application process is open, but Selectman Rossi explained, “There are certain preferences given to people who are involved or working in Chilmark or have been here a long time. At the end of the day it’s a lottery, and the important process is being deemed eligible.”
The deadline to submit a completed application is 5 pm, Oct. 14. Selectmen will hold a lottery to award the four lots on Dec. 5. Application packets are available at town hall.
The four affordable housing lots are the product of a complex land swap and a long-running legal battle. In 2007 the Hillman family, the Land Bank, and the town of Chilmark concluded a three-way land-swap agreement designed to create four new affordable house lots and new conservation land and trails in Chilmark, and to consolidate the Hillmans’ property holdings.
As time passed, Mr. Hillman wanted more money and held up the deal.
In January, a Dukes County Superior Court judge ordered the Hillman family to abide by the terms of an agreement signed in October 2007 with the town of Chilmark and the Land Bank, freeing up the town to create the lots.