‘A deathtrap waiting to happen’

Updated, July 30

Following a report of overcrowding at a residential home in Ocean Heights, Edgartown health officials are requiring the homeowner to make a number of improvements, but they stopped short of issuing a fine for now.

After a property at 21 19th St. North was partially condemned by the Edgartown health department when dangerous living conditions were found earlier this month — including a camping stove, multiple kitchenettes, no suitable egress from the basement, removed smoke alarms, and overcrowded conditions of more than double the permitted occupants living on the premises — the board of health held a meeting last week to determine next steps.

Edgartown health agent Brice Boutot said he assessed the property and condemned the basement area. He also ordered the homeowner, Thiago Machado, to bring the home up to code by installing new smoke detectors, removing the camping stove, and ensuring only the allowed amount of residents were living there with none occupying the basement. He is also ordered to remove several additions to his home that have been qualified as a risk. Boutot will issue a fine if Machado does not abide by the requirements set out. 

But some attending the meeting pushed for even stricter enforcement of overcrowding, citing Machado’s prior infraction from 2018. Machado was cited then for overcrowded conditions, when 34 beds were found sprawled across his home — including in the basement, with no proper egress — and health agents said they were clearly used for sleeping, despite Machado’s assurance that they weren’t. This month, conditions were less severe than the previous infraction, with 15 beds found, but conditions were still deemed dangerous and dire. 

“When I went there to reinspect, there had been some progress made on these orders,” Boutot said to Machado. “The basement is condemned until we lift that restriction … The office spaces are not allowed … Normally they can be disqualified by deed restriction; that is an exception, not a rule. You have broken the rules.”

Machado was present at the meeting, but his lawyer, Robb Moriarty, mainly spoke on his behalf. Moriarty acknowledged the kitchenettes, and said he told his client to get rid of them, and requested an additional meeting with Boutot and Edgartown’s building commissioner, Reade Milne, to discuss the adjustments needed to bring the property up to code. He also said safety was their priority in the future. 

Machado must submit a permit application to the town of Edgartown by August 1, which Milne has 30 days to either approve or deny, after which point Machado must make the necessary renovations to his home in order to pass a final inspection by Dec. 1. 

“We can discuss things as much as we want, but I think we’re giving enough guidelines,” Milne said. “[We’re] setting a timeline based off of building permit submission.” 

Milne said there were additional infractions found at the home by local fire chiefs, including a water-heater vent that shot out onto an outdoor deck, which she said must be addressed as well. She said everything must be compliant in order to move forward. And the new additions to the house will be held to today’s code standards, instead of the year the home was originally built. 

“Unpermitted work is part of this,” Milne said. “How we got here is the overcrowding … And [additions to the home] that housed an unsafe amount of people in an unsafe way.”

Edgartown resident Brendan Langley spoke out during the meeting about the issue of overcrowding, and what he described as a lack of municipal effort to deal with it head-on, although he acknowledged the efforts this time around of the Edgartown health board.

“We’re really at a point where this clearly has traction,” Langley said. “I just don’t understand why it took so long to get to this point … Given the history of this building and what was recently found, why wasn’t the whole building condemned until these things were addressed?”

Boutot addressed Langley directly about his concerns. “We’re listening,” he said. “Where [imminent harm] was most apparent was in the basement … [that] one particular area was a deathtrap waiting to happen. We’re gonna keep on this path, and we’re gonna keep the momentum going.”

Langley requested the board take more consequential action against the homeowner, referencing the previous board of health inspection in 2018.

“There are criminal charges levied against this person,” Langley said. “If 30 people [in one home] is not criminal and negligent, then I don’t know what is. Why were these charges inevitably dismissed?”

Milne responded to Langley, and said she was present in 2018 when overcrowded conditions were found. She said health agents need permission to enter a home, and by the time she entered Machado’s residence as the building commissioner, he had removed consequential items from the premises. 

“I hear your frustration. Liability is certainly something that is always on my mind … [But] by the time I went to the property … he had removed anything that could be an issue,” Milne said. “It takes an inordinate amount of time and energy to address and stay on top of these issues.”