To the Editor:
As a member of the Coalition to Create a Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank and a Realtor retired after more than 30 years, I see our housing crisis looming in front of all of us, as noted in the editorial published on Nov. 6 (“A nod to M.V. Commission for rejecting Edgartown Gardens”).
The editorial concludes that the commission needs to defeat the lawsuit by the developer “to stop these obtrusive apartment buildings” from carpeting downtown areas, and then recognizes, “We can’t just sit back and say ‘No’; we need to be aggressive in forging new pathways to build affordable homes.”
When I finished reading the editorial on page A4, I read the article on page A5, “Harbor Homes open for the season.” Harbor Homes has been looking for a permanent home for many years, and has faced the “no” to date referenced in the editorial. It still has no resolution to assisting the less fortunate on the Island. We continue to take comfort in agreeing that we have a housing problem and a homeless problem, but we continue to kick the can down the road and not accept our responsibility to deal with this crisis. Is it possible we need to provide developers more guidance as to what we will or will not accept, be willing to sit down with anyone who is willing to help alleviate these problems and work together for solutions?
I am pointing a finger at myself, fellow residents, developers, town boards who need to aggressively find those guidelines and solutions now. We have run out of time for discussion, formulating plans, providing guidelines; the time is now, and we need to take constructive, positive action. If not Edgartrown Gardens, then what, and where? It is not just the commission’s responsibility; it belongs to us as abutters, residents, and town boards who say “no” without a willingness to sit down and negotiate equitable solutions that can be accepted by developers, and which we are willing to live next door to. It should not be a process driven by lawsuits; it should be a willingness to share a common goal as partners in our mutual community. Please note the overuse of “willingness” and “common goal”: Intended.
Elaine T. Miller
Vineyard Haven
We’d all like to have more affordable housing for islanders, that’s a given. However this is not a problem we can build ourselves out of. How many units of housing are sufficient to cure the problem 100, 500, 1000? If we build these units we can’t guarantee they go to islanders. Even if they do most of the spaces where the current islanders live will be backfilled by new people moving to the island most likely with costly needs and services and children who who burden our tax base making it even more expensive for islanders trying to stay in their homes. We could build 1,000 more units of affordable housing which would be very attractive to families currently living off island wanting to move to a more desirable place with much higher wages than where they currently live. Is this our goal? Is the goal unlimited increase in population with the resulting increase in traffic, wastewater, increased municipal services and traffic lights at every intersection? That’s where we are headed folks.
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