Oak Bluffs, West Tisbury, and Edgartown are among the first towns in Massachusetts to approve a new “seasonal communities” designation, which will open new tools to address the Island’s housing crunch.
All three towns voted the designation through at town meetings on Tuesday with overwhelming support, and they follow just Provincetown, where voters approved the distinction on Monday.
The passage is a significant step toward addressing housing needs on the Cape and the Islands, according to local state Sen. Julian Cyr, who helped craft its language.
“I’m delighted Provincetown was the first town to vote in support of their seasonal communities designation, and that my friends and neighbors unanimously voted in favor of this essential toolkit that will help procure and preserve year-round housing across the Cape and Islands,” Cyr said in a statement to The Times. “After each town votes to accept their seasonal communities designation, they will begin the process of choosing which tools from the toolbox to apply to their specific needs. That’s why it was so heartening to see voters in Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, and West Tisbury also chose to accept this designation for their towns at their respective town meetings this week. I am confident that as residents of towns that have yet to vote become more informed on what’s included in this designation, the yeses will continue to pour in.”
The seasonal communities designation is part of Gov. Maura Healey’s signature housing law passed last year. Called the Affordable Homes Act, the law is an attempt at addressing housing needs across the state. But for cities and towns with a large population of seasonal residents, there’s added support. Voters can decide whether to approve the seasonal community designation, which will provide tools to address the unique housing challenges they face.
Many of the tools have already been requested by individual towns on the Cape and Islands through home rule petitions, and are partly based on ideas from other seasonal communities around the country also struggling with housing for locals.
Among the opportunities, seasonal communities will be able to raise a residential tax exemption up to 50 percent — up from a maximum of 35 percent. With a higher tax exemption, year-round residents would have a greatly reduced local tax bill, with seasonal homeowners making up the difference.
Towns under the designation will also be required to adopt bylaws or ordinances that enable the construction of tiny houses, and allow units to be built upon undersize lots, so long as all of the resulting units are designated as year-round housing.
The designation also allows towns to build housing specifically for municipal staff without going through an extensive state review currently required. Island towns have struggled to find housing for staff.
Seasonal communities will be able to create housing trusts that can raise money and build housing meant for middle-income earners, commonly referred to as the “missing middle.”
A state advisory council is still working on draft regulations on the bill before towns can start moving forward with many of these new opportunities, but the public will likely have an opportunity to review those draft recommendations over the summer; they are expected to be finalized in the fall.
As a west Tisbury resident, I am confident that our town hall staff is always watching for our financial bottom line. Over the years I have seen it more often than not, long term forecast and planning, as best a human can. Bruce left some big shoes 😎
Wow, tools in the tax tool kit. Love it. New social jargon for a good old tax hike. And, on who? The people who don’t really live here to pay for the people who do. Clever. Keep that jargon flowing…
Comments are closed.