In a standing-room-only joint meeting Friday, the Chilmark selectmen and the town housing committee held a lottery to decide which of 13 qualified applicants would receive one of four one-acre house lots in the soon to be developed Nab’s Corner affordable housing parcel fronting South Road.
“We are here this evening to award four lots to very deserving families,” selectman chairman Bill Rossi said. “It’s been a pretty exciting process. There’s a lot of excitement here tonight, and I wish everyone the best of luck.”
Selectmen honored former selectman Frank Fenner, the chief shepherd of the project to acquire the land, which involved lengthy negotiations and a lawsuit, with an invitation to select the lottery numbers at random from the number jars. “There’s not a more noble venture, as far as I’m concerned, than to try to make affordable housing,” Mr. Fenner said.
As each name was picked and read the news generated applause, and in one case tears of joy.
The four lucky winners included families and individuals: Chioke, Mattea and Zora Morais, age 5; Caitlin Cook, Calder Martin and Maeve Cook-Martin, age 6; Dennis Jason Jr.; and Gerald Caton.
All of the winners enjoyed “preferred” status, a ranking that increased their odds based on their having lived or worked in Chilmark for a minimum of five years.
When asked if he was thrilled, Chioke Morais, a carpenter who has lived in Chilmark seven years, told The Times, “I am.” Mattea Morais is a teacher at The Martha’s Vineyard Public Charter School.
Caitlin Cook was happy and a bit overwhelmed as well. “This is crazy: I cannot even process this,” she said, beaming. “I’m nervous too. It’s a big undertaking to build a house.” Her husband Calder Martin also teaches at the Charter School.
Dennis Jason, Jr. is a commercial fisherman and the son of longtime harbormaster Dennis Jason. Gerald Caton is a Chilmark firefighter and fine woodworker.
Thirteen families and individuals were part of Friday’s lottery. Those with Chilmark preferences were weighted more heavily in the process. All 13 applicants received a drawing number to rank them, and if any of the winning four families should back out, then whoever has the next highest-ranking number would be able to take the vacated slot. Overall, it was a young-looking group.
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. Any future sale must meet affordable housing program guidelines.
Mr. Doty summed up the evening’s excitement. “We have been working to create more opportunities for housing for people of modest means,” he said. “We’re very proud of our Middle Line Road development. According to housing assessment needs, rental units are needed more than ever, but they are the most expensive for the town to create, so we have moved more toward resident home sites.”
Housing committee chairman Jim Feiner agreed that there is an “obvious need.”
“It’s hard because somebody wins and somebody loses,” Ms. Wallace said. When asked what might be done differently the next time, she added, “I think we are going to look at the (implementation) guidelines, as they were last voted on in 2007. We are going to clarify definitions; for example in the appeal process if someone wanted to appeal, what could they appeal ‘on.’”
The next steps for the Nab’s Corner home-site winners is to go to the zoning board of appeals for a special permit, and obtain a building design and a financing plan. All winners already have a letter of approval from a bank deeming them eligible for a loan to build a house, which was part of the application requirement.
“It doesn’t actually mean that they have the loan,” Mr. Doty said, “It means that the bank said they could qualify.”
Mr. Doty said he hopes that those who were not lottery winners Friday night will “stay in touch” because there are plans for more resident home sites in the future.
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 town of Chilmark concluded a three-way land swap agreement designed to create four new affordable house lots, new conservation land and trails in Chilmark, and consolidate the Hillman’s property holdings.
