The Chilmark select board will wait a bit longer to decide what to do with six acres known as Peaked Hill Pastures.
At a single-issue meeting Tuesday night, the board discussed at length a proposal by the planning board to seek a request for proposals (RFP) to develop 12 to 15 affordable rental units and four to six ownership units in the so-called “turnkey model.” Turnkey means a developer designs and builds the housing units, and then a lottery system is held to choose eligible buyers.
The planning board’s recommendation comes after three community forums over several months. After the select board expressed some concerns about the proposal last week, the planning board’s subcommittee, which led the community sessions on Peaked Hill Pastures, met on Friday and ultimately reaffirmed its support for the project as presented.
The select board didn’t outright reject that proposal, though none of the three board members seemed inclined to move forward with it. All three offered ideas of their own. Select board chair James Malkin discussed selling two lots at market rates; select board member Warren Doty said he’d like to see a mixed use of the property, including some “you build” homes like the Nab’s Corner affordable housing project in Chilmark, and rental apartments similar to those developed by Island Housing Trust at Scott’s Grove in West Tisbury; and select board member Bill Rossi said he would like to see more “you build” homes that would be under the town’s control and fewer rental units than were proposed.
Malkin suggested all three board members put their ideas on paper and reconvene next Tuesday with an eye toward coming to a consensus.
Tuesday’s Zoom call attracted more than 30 people.
Richard Osnoss, planning board member, said it was difficult for his board and the subcommittee to come to consensus on the plan they put forward. “One thing we agree on is we need to get this going quickly,” he said.
Peter Cook, another planning board member, told the select board that turnkey developments provide “uniformity of design and control,” and are preferred by banks.
Malkin explained that he’d like to see two market-rate houses, along with affordable housing, so it doesn’t become a development only for people who need assistance, and to keep “a diverse group of people in an area so it doesn’t become a project-type area.”
Nettie Kent Ruel, a member of the town’s affordable housing committee, bristled at the idea of giving up available town land for market-rate homes, calling it a “huge red flag.” “That really gave me a shudder down my spine, because that’s not what the town needs. We need more affordable housing,” she said. “I don’t think you guys listen to the public. The public was saying more homeownership, more build-your-own home. They were concerned about rentals. The idea of a condo-style settlement over there sounds strange to me. As someone who grew up on this Island — all my peers — there’s something about being an Island kid, you want to build your own house.”
Jim Feiner, another member of the town’s affordable housing committee and a real estate agent, wondered aloud if the select board was backpedaling. He said the demand for affordable housing isn’t going away on the Island, and urged the town to go with a developer. “What I like about someone else building a large-scale project is there is an economy of scale to keep the price down,” he said.
Malkin said he doesn’t want to see the town’s hands tied by stipulations that come with state and federal funding used by developers to make affordable housing financially viable. He added that newly approved affordable housing projects in Oak Bluffs and Edgartown are not something he thinks would be appropriate in Chilmark in terms of density.
The select board will discuss the issue again at its meeting Tuesday, Dec. 21, at 5 pm. Whatever is decided, the plan will go before voters at town meeting.
In other business, the select board voted to accept the use of West Tisbury’s building inspector as an alternate inspector while Forrest Filler, who is filling in for building inspector Lenny Jason, gets certified. The board agreed to a reciprocal agreement with West Tisbury, should that town be in the same position. Malkin also reported that Jason, who is out on medical leave, is recovering and “not looking forward to eating egg whites.”
Doty also provided a quick update on the housing bank situation, saying that town counsel Ron Rappaport, who represents five Island towns, is working with the Coalition to Create the Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank to iron out language in the warrant article and special legislation. Malkin pointed out that the board’s approval of placing the article on the warrant did not preclude changes to the warrant article prior to town meeting. “I think it’s fair to say that when we supported the presentation that was given to us by that group, we did reserve the right to review the final draft of the proposed legislation before we actually took it to the town meeting,” he said.
Oh wow. Setting aside the classism and racism for now, this is a shocking turn of events. The Chilmark Planning Board and Housing Committee after having spent years on this Peaked Hill issue and having tons of expertise are being overruled by the Select Board? We need families in homes right now or this island as we know it is over. Let the town decide. Let the people who live and work on this island decide. While we still have some of them left.
Happy to see Chilmark is moving forward on affordable housing. Whatever form the solution takes, please make sure that the affordable housing created is restricted to be permanently affordable. I’m as yet unclear how the “you build” approach retains the housing built as permanently affordable housing. I’m curious if the houses referred to at Nab’s Corner have restrictions that set the sale price and maintain affordability when the houses turn over, or whether they enter the pool of market rate housing. Using public funds or land to subsidize housing and not ensuring ongoing permanent affordability would be fiscally unwise.
Hi Marc,
The houses are deed restricted to be permanently affordable and are in fact 99 year leases held by the town to ensure that they do remain affordable.
The funniest comment in the article is that the Chilmark selectmen do not think Edgartown or Oak Bluffs affordable housing is appropriate in their town. Unfortunately the Chilmark selectmen just do not get it density is the only way to really tackle affordable housing. But the snob zoning on the entire Island continues to ignore this.
Shameful and an embarrassment! One of the wealthiest towns in the state of Mass. by property values, currently has 0.0% of affordable housing as tracked by the state. As a community we cannot fail any worse than that, unless our goal is to have 0.0.
I have two issues with the affordable housing issue; one generally, and one specific to the Peaked Pastures plan. Generally, I’m curious about how many of the units on the island have gone to island-born or long-time residents. Are we giving these to people who came here 2, 3, or 5 years ago, then discovered that housing was problematic? I’d like to see preference given to hard-working island kids who want to stay here, have been priced out of the market but would qualify for affordable housing.
Specifically, I’m not sure that Peaked Hill is a good spot for this. 20 units on 6 acres of land seems dense, and in an area where a vehicle is pretty much a necessity. Potentially another 20 cars added to the Middle Rd. traffic equation. Yes, there’s bus service but for anyone with a job (or a life), living in the wilds of Chilmark with no car is no fun.
The solution to affordable housing is easy. Change zoning. I remember the late MVC Director Mark London responding to an inquiry as to how much population the island can sustain and he stated “we’re roughly 5 times the size of Manhattan so around 9 million people”. We can house every family that needs affordable housing if we agree to zoning changes that allow tall buildings, wider roads, traffic lights, sewerage treatment plants, malls and all the good stuff that goes along with being more suburban/urban. These types of changes have required a super majority vote at a town meeting. For over 5 decades Islanders have rejected these kind of changes and as a result overwhelmingly rejected zoning that would create affordable housing opportunities. They have created a few pockets that are developed each year to make them feel good about solving the problem but very few of us want to confront the problem head on. Why?? Because we’re all smart enough to realize it will destroy our economy.
Comments are closed.