Commission weighing projects with over 500 bedrooms 

With the Island in the midst of a housing crisis, four large projects — some of the largest developments likely seen on the Island — are before the Island’s regional regulatory board, all combined proposing a total of more than 500 bedrooms.

The four include three 40B applications: 132 bedrooms as part of the Green Villa in Oak Bluffs, 100 bedrooms in Edgartown Gardens near the Triangle, and 19 bedrooms in Cat Hallow in Tisbury; the other is a sub development in Edgartown, called Katama Meadows, that so far includes 286 bedrooms. 

All four are currently, or will soon be, before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and while there’s optimism that the projects could bring relief to Islanders struggling with housing, there is  pushback from some in the community that are worried about the impacts of the projects, from an increase in traffic congestion to nitrogen pollution on local estuaries.  Others worry, with some buildings as high as four stories, that some don’t align with the Vineyard’s community. 

The inundation of proposed units has also raised questions to what kind of housing is needed on the Island and whether they could challenge the reach of the Commission’s authority. Chapter 40B applications give developers large leeway in communities where affordable housing makes up less than 10 percent of the market. The Vineyard is well under the 10 percent margin. 

Chapter 40B is a state statute that enables local zoning boards of appeals to approve housing developments under flexible rules if at least 20 to 25 percent of the units have long-term affordability restrictions.

How much the commission can regulate the projects could come down to the courts. The Oak Bluffs zoning board of appeals had filed a civil case against the 100-unit Green Villa proposal in Dukes County Superior Court last fall. The town challenged the project saying the developers were attempting to circumvent the usual Vineyard special permit process. Later, the developers requested the state Housing Appeals Committee to determine whether the project could bypass the regular Martha’s Vineyard Commission process in favor of a more streamlined zoning board review. 

The Green Villa developers had filed for the case to be dismissed in December, but a resolution has not been reached yet. A decision could determine the authority of the commission over 40B projects going forward.

William Cumming, a developer involved in both the Green Villa and Edgartown Gardens projects, has argued to commissioners at recent public hearings that Vineyard towns do not meet the 10 percent threshold for affordable housing under Chapter 40B, and these proposed developments would make strides in achieving this goal. He underscored that following the 40B process is a state law, which typically trumps local bylaws. 

“The question isn’t if we like the developer or we like the project, or if it’s pretty or if it’s ugly,” Cumming told the Times. “It is — does it comply with state and federal laws? It’s these local concerns that are overridden by this law. And the regional need for affordable housing.” 

He said that many of the issues being raised at recent public hearings and in the community have been mostly about local issues. “Local issues are overridden when the region’s need for affordable housing exists,” Cumming said. “If you don’t have 10 percent of affordable housing, it trumps local permitting.” 

He said that if there is a health and safety issue, like a dangerous driveway connected to the project, local boards can have oversight. But nuisances issues like traffic, a town can’t deny the project based on that local issue.

According to the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities’ 2023 subsidized housing inventory, the most recent data set available, the only town on the Island that meets the state threshold is Aquinnah at 15.35 percent. Other Vineyard towns are at roughly half of the threshold or less: 5.76 percent in Tisbury, 4.69 percent in Oak Bluffs, 2.99 percent in Edgartown, 1.42 percent in West Tisbury, and none in Chilmark. 

The data does show Vineyard towns are comparable to many other municipalities in the state. Out of 351 Massachusetts municipalities, 71 meet the 10 percent threshold. 

Across the Island, the debate is playing out over whether these projects will help the lack of housing, or if the impacts from the projects are too big and out of character. While Island housing advocates are optimistic that these are badly needed units for Island workers and families, some are cautious about what may be approved.    

John Abrams, president emeritus of South Mountain Company and a member of the Coalition to Create a Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank, underscored that the commission and the towns’ boards will need to thoroughly vet these projects.

“Historically, there have never been this many underway at one time,” Abrams said. While the amount of proposed units is “a bit of a flood,” he liked that the projects hit various needs on the Island, from low-income housing to the “missing middle.”

While building housing is needed, Arielle Faria, another member of the Coalition to Create a Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank, said that developments need to be made in an environmentally conscious manner. Still, she highlighted that work is underway by Islanders to tackle the housing crisis. 

“Things are moving and they have to because we’re losing people left and right,” Faria said. “I have had so many friends that have moved out of state. Not just the Island …That’s a problem.” 

Ben Robinson, Tisbury representative on the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, said it was a tough situation because while the Vineyard certainly needs more housing units, he was wary of pushing projects through with an “antiquated 40B law.” 

“It pigeon holes us,” Robinson said. 

He was also concerned that so many of the units are targeting the so-called missing middle, arguing more housing could go to lower-income Islanders scraping by to survive on Martha’s Vineyard. 

Robinson noted that the commission’s “reactiveness” to projects — as in reviewing projects brought to them — puts the Vineyard community on the back foot and having to deal with proposals from developers based on “perceived needs,” which don’t necessarily match Islanders’ needs. 

While there are other large projects being developed by Island Housing Trust, like the 60-unit Tackenash Knoll, formerly called Southern Tier, in Oak Bluffs and the 40-unit Meshacket Commons in Edgartown, Robinson said these projects were created with backing from the respective towns’ affordable housing officials. Even Navigator Homes, being built to house seniors and Martha’s Vineyard Hospital employees, was “community-derived,” Robinson said. 

Although there are divergent opinions on how to supply housing on the Island, the fact remains that many properties have been purchased by businesses and investors to be turned into luxury homes or short-term rental units. Housing advocates say that the Island cannot build their way out of the housing crisis and that repurposing existing units was necessary, which is why creating a Martha’s Vineyard housing bank was essential to funding this goal. 

Brian Smith, the Oak Bluffs commissioner who had previously objected to his town being burdened with such large housing developments compared to other towns, declined to comment on any projects under review by the commission. 

However, he will be co-chairing the commission’s renewed planning and economic development committee with Edgartown commissioner Kate Putnam to hone in on the “built environment” in the coming weeks. Smith said the committee will focus on what direction the Island is headed and use it as an opportunity to determine the amount of development Islanders are willing to tolerate. 

Smith also said this falls in line with a goal of the commission: stopping overdevelopment on the Vineyard. 

“We’re running out of room for development and we’re becoming another suburb,” Smith said. “We need to rein that in.”