Overcrowded housing raises alarms across the Island

A complaint of overcrowding at a home in a residential neighborhood in Edgartown — where residents were living in a basement without proper egress — is pushing housing advocates to raise awareness and seek solutions for a growing problem on the Island, which some officials worry is putting lives in danger. 

Last week, a complaint from a neighbor of the house, located in Ocean Heights, claimed that 30 people were living there, which led the Edgartown health department to search the property. Health agents reported that while far fewer than 30 were found when they arrived, nearly double the permitted number of tenants were living in the home. They said that 15 beds were in the five-bedroom house. 

There were also other infractions in the basement of the home — an open-flame propane stove was on a counter, smoke alarms were removed, and there were no proper escape routes in case of fire. Wastewater use also exceeded permitting. 

The homeowner was involved in a similar complaint involving 34 beds in 2018, including 18 in the basement, according to a report from the Edgartown board of health. The case was elevated to Dukes County Superior Court, but it appears the court dismissed the case. 

The shingled, white-trimmed house in Edgartown — located at 21 19th St. North — is owned and rented out by local resident Thiago Machado. He told The Times that he’s been trying to make a dent in the local housing crisis by renting to year-rounders instead of participating in the short-term rental market, and that he had no idea there were more than the permitted amount of people living there. Machado said he had a lease in place with a tenant, and that the lease was violated. 

“I understand how difficult the housing situation is on the Island, and I genuinely feel for those who are forced to share homes just to afford to live here,” Machado wrote in a statement to The Times. 

The discovery of Machado’s property led officials to vacate some of the tenants, and Machado is required by law to house all individuals appropriately, and has reportedly done so. 

“As soon as I became aware of the issue, I took immediate action to have the house vacated, and have since been actively assisting those involved in finding alternative housing,” Machado said. 

In light of the reports of the Ocean Heights home, many town officials and housing experts have spoken out about overcrowding in Island houses — something they say is becoming more hazardous and widespread as housing stock remains low. 

“The community-wide housing shortage issue is a complicated one, but overcrowding people in unsafe living conditions is not the solution,” Edgartown health agent Brice Boutot said. “The town takes its responsibility for the health and safety of its residents seriously.”

While troubled by this report, town officials say that they’ve heard of far worse conditions of overcrowding on the Island. In some cases, officials say that businesses hire transient workers without stable housing options, leaving many to double up, sleep in mattresses on the floor, or even seek outdoor shelter. 

The rising issue has been documented in recent housing reports as well. According to the Housing Production Plan drafts released this July, households with more than four people have grown Island-wide by 29 percent over the past decade. 

In the information that’s reported to data collection institutions, nonfamily households of a larger size have been on the rise on Martha’s Vineyard as well. With a population growth Island-wide of about 25 percent since the pandemic, the data shows many residents have turned to creative solutions in their search for housing — including living with many other people. 

“There was a 40 percent increase in nonfamily households … compared with a 9 percent increase for those with family members,” the report stated. “Martha’s Vineyard [also] hosts slightly larger households [than the rest of the state].”

Some locals who are familiar with the issue of overcrowding say the residents who are at risk in these compromised situations are being taken advantage of by landlords and business owners who are not regulating their properties appropriately. They say the desperation of locals to find any type of housing at all should not be understated.

“We all need and deserve housing. Everyone here works so hard to maintain this Island, and we struggle the absolute most, and barely get to enjoy being in this beautiful environment,” co-chair of the Coalition to Create the MV Housing Bank (CCMVHB), Arielle Reid Faria, said. “Quite frankly, I don’t want to hear any more stories, I don’t want to talk about any more policy, I want people to take care of each other … Housing advocates and conservationists should be disgusted that people are being forced into these terrible living situations — and have been doing so for decades.”

Housing supply has not kept up with population growth, according to reports, and local residents are often simply trying to avoid being unhoused completely, officials say.

“As much as we don’t want to see it, people are learning how to not live in the State Forest, or in somebody’s backyard, and they’re willing for one family of four to share a bedroom in a house —- because if they don’t, they’re having to leave the Island,” Edgartown affordable housing committee chair Melissa Vincent said. “This is an unprecedented rental market that we’re in now.”

The issue has been on the radar of municipalities, health, police, and fire departments. The Island-wide municipal effort that exists to address the issue is putting more stock into building affordable housing going forward — projects like Meshacket Commons or Morgan Woods. But for many locals, the units are not being built fast enough, especially in the busy summer months. 

“I do think that we’ve seen an exodus … of people who have not been able to secure reliable housing,” Vincent said.

Former Oak Bluffs Fire Chief Nelson Wirtz said compromised living situations are more common than not — the fire department witnesses an overcrowded home at least once a week. He reports that happens when the department responds to emergency calls, or for home inspections when a house changes hands. 

He said overcrowding “is a huge, huge safety concern,” especially in situations like a basement apartment with no windows or doors to an outside area. 

Back in Ocean Heights, some tenants were in that exact scenario — which fire officials have said is the most dangerous — and they have since been relocated, Machado said. 

In the 2018 report from the Edgartown board of health, where Machado’s property was found to have more than the allowed resident limit, Machado said not all beds were occupied, but the town officials observed that nearly all of them appeared to be used for sleeping. According to Machado in 2018, the occupants of the home primarily worked in summer food service and the resort industry, and were primarily students from European countries working on J-1 visas. 

But after this issue came to a head, yet again, Machado said he can’t, in good faith, continue renting his home in this way. His solution is to add to short-term rental stock instead of continuing to provide year-round housing. 

“Our intention has always been to support the year-round community, but after this incident, we have made the difficult decision to only offer the property as a short-term rental going forward. It’s unfortunate, but we must prioritize safety, compliance, and the integrity of our home,” Machado said.