After facing opposition years earlier, a controversial housing project is going before regulators in Edgartown, this time with affordable housing built into the proposal.
The applicant, Meeting House Way LLC — operated by Utah-based developers Douglas K. Anderson and Richard G. Matthews — is proposing to create a new subdivision road called Atlantic Avenue on Division Road and Henry’s Path. The property would be divided into six quarter-acre lots set aside for twelve duplex units, twenty-six three-quarter acre “single-family lots,” and one 3.6 acre lot for around 36 affordable housing units. Doug Hoehn, principal of land surveying and civil engineering firm Schofield, Barbini and Hoehn, said nearly 30 acres of open space will be preserved for the project as well.
The town’s planning board unanimously voted on Dec. 17 to refer the subdivision to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
Robert Moriarty, an attorney representing the project at the recent meeting, said the duplexes will be for year-round Islanders and sold at the market rate. The affordable housing units will be built by an undetermined developer. Moriarty said Affirmative Investments, the Boston-based real estate consulting firm working on the 40-unit Meshacket Commons affordable housing development also in Edgartown, has been tapped to “shepherd” the project forward.
Moriarty said the planned affordable housing units will be “low-income tax credit units,” which would be reserved for individuals making between 30 to 80 percent of the area median income. According to the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority, this would be between $37,150 to $90,500 for a family of three on the Island.
He also said an earlier iteration of the project was presented to Edgartown officials six years ago. However, it did not get commission approval.
The commissioners had denied the earlier version of the project in 2020, then called Meeting House Place. Commissioners cited concerns over suburbanization, not fitting the character of the Vineyard, and ultimately deeming the project as being more detrimental to the Island community than the potential benefits — one commissioner called it a “development for millionaires.”
Before it was denied, the developers were proposing to set aside around 20 acres for 28, single-family homes and a cluster of 14 townhouses ranging between $387,000 and $359,000, although the sale price of the houses would increase 3.5 percent annually after a one-year period. There were no affordable housing units proposed and instead the developers offered a $1.1 million contribution to the Edgartown affordable housing committee alongside the 1 percent fee paid on any future sale.
Dukes County Superior Court upheld the commission’s denial in April 2023 when the developers filed a lawsuit against the commission. The developers sought to appeal the ruling in May 2023.
Moriarty said during the planning board meeting that settlement talks are underway between the applicants and the commission.
Still, some concerns were raised before the project made its next round with the commission.
Planning board member Julia Livingston pointed out the possibility of the single-family lots eventually adding accessory dwelling units, which could substantially increase the number of housing units in the proposed area. State law allows homeowners to build accessory dwelling units up to 900-square feet “by right” in districts zoned for single families.
“The way I think of it, 36 low-income tax credit units, 12 duplex units, and 52 ADUs and single-family homes. That’s a hundred,” Livingston said. “Just saying.”
The project representatives said these are still aspects that will need to be reviewed through the commission’s process.
Some meeting attendees highlighted the potential environmental impact of the project.
Emily Reddington, executive director of the Great Pond Foundation, said the town is working on a comprehensive wastewater management plan and new data regarding pond health has emerged since the project was first proposed six years ago
“We now know that 70 percent of nitrogen impairment is coming from two coves in Edgartown Great Pond are sub-watersheds, that’s Meshacket Cove and Slough Cove,” she said, warning about the damage excessive amounts of nitrogen flushing into Great Pond can have. The developers are planning to connect the project to Edgartown’s water and sewer systems, which will need to be reviewed by the town’s wastewater commissioners.
Jason Honeyman, an abutter to the project, pointed out that the proposed open space is smaller than the previous iteration of the project, which offered over 31 acres of open space.
A date for when the Martha’s Vineyard Commission will take up the project has not been decided yet.
