Cat Hollow gets MVC green light

Despite the protest of some abutters, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on Thursday approved a 12-bedroom affordable housing project proposed to be built in Tisbury, with room for further expansion. 

Commissioners voted 10–1–0 to approve the Cat Hollow project after deeming the housing it would create outweighed potential detriments like nitrogen pollution and added traffic. Tisbury Commissioner Mary Bernadette Budinger-Cormie was the sole dissenting vote, while West Tisbury Commissioner Ernie Thomas abstained. 

The project is being developed by Island Housing Trust (IHT), and was proposed under Chapter 40B, a state statute that provides large leeway to develop more densely in communities where affordable housing makes up less than 10 percent of the market. IHT is proposing to build 12 bedrooms in three new duplexes on a 2.86-acre lot on Lobster Alley. There is also an existing three-bedroom building owned by the Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA) for its workers on the property. The trust is looking at potentially expanding the VTA house by three bedrooms, although a final plan hasn’t been submitted to the commission yet. 

The developers offered ways to reduce the project’s impact, like mitigating the project’s nitrogen output, partially by paying for the conversion of two offsite innovative/alternative septic systems in the western part of the Lagoon Pond watershed. Additionally, the proposed bedroom count was reduced from 22 to 18.

Four of the duplex units will be sold to Islanders who make between 80 and 140 percent of the area median income. For a three-person household, according to the 2025 Dukes County income chart, that’s between $93,800 and $189,100. Two of the duplexes will be sold to year-round Islanders who make above affordable housing thresholds, but still struggle to find housing at market rates, often called the “missing middle.” Tisbury can consider placing a preference on public sector employees, like teachers, under a newly established “seasonal communities” designation. 

Budinger-Cormie took issue that the project’s traffic study, which utilized 2023 numbers, did not have more recent stats. She also said the project would have served her town better had it offered more affordable housing for low-income residents. 

Michael Kim, governor’s appointee, and Ben Robinson, Tisbury commissioner, agreed with Budinger-Cormie. While they ultimately voted to support the project, Kim highlighted that there’s a greater need to serve lower-income families on the Island, like those who make up to 65 percent of the area median income. For a three-person household, according to the income chart, 60 percent of the median income would be $81,060. 

“Those people have choices,” Kim said, referring to Islanders in higher income brackets. 

The project still has additional steps before it gets full approval to move forward, such as submitting a final landscaping plan to the commission’s Land Use Planning Committee for review before it can receive an occupancy permit from the Tisbury building department.