Homeowners in West Tisbury are sounding an alarm over a recent workforce housing proposal for what they say is one example of a change in character in residential areas by housing developments and the resulting potential environmental damage to local ponds.
The proposal, which went in front of the West Tisbury Zoning Board of Appeals on Thursday, April 9, was submitted by the Vineyard-branch of a national Christian summer camp called FOCUS, or the Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools. Representatives from the organization applied for a special permit to convert one of the organization’s existing properties into employee housing.
Two co-facilities managers of FOCUS, a couple named Stoddard and Linda Lane-Reticker, said on Thursday that they hope to turn one of their existing properties, 420 Lambert’s Cove Road, which has a view of Seth’s Pond, into dormitory-style housing for a dozen of their employees. They cited the increased need for workplace housing on the Vineyard and their desire to repurpose an empty building they own and put it to use.
“We feel that there’s a need for additional staff and we would like to house them well,” Linda Lane-Reticker said to the board.
420 Lambert’s Cove Road is made up of a main and guest house, capable of housing up to 16 people between them. FOCUS is looking to house eight women in the main house and four men in the guest house, all college-aged and employed by the organization, plus a resident manager in each. The organization purchased the property in September for $4.25 million from Ellen French Bunch and Doyle L. Bunch.
But for abutters of the long-established summer camp, some of whom were at the meeting held in West Tisbury Town Hall, the proposal is much less simple: it represents their concerns for a change in the town’s character in residential areas like Lambert’s Cove and the reach of mainland-based organizations into Island life.
Four letters were sent to the board prior to Thursday’s meeting, all from abutters who outlined various qualms about the project. Abutters particularly took issue with the summer camp’s proximity to Seth’s Pond. They pointed to elevated noise that travels across the pond to other properties, wastewater considerations, increases in nitrogen loads, and cyanobacteria blooms in the water, which can be harmful to people and pets. Neighbors also highlighted that increased activity in the area would further strain Seth’s Pond’s ecosystems.
“This is a big organization expanding their reach into a residential neighborhood,” Ben Zimmerman, a homeowner whose home abuts the FOCUS campus, said on Thursday. “It doesn’t have to be allowed, and it shouldn’t be allowed.”
The FOCUS summer camp has been held on the Island for 50 years, drawing about 700 attendees each year from May to August. Attendees ranging from middle school to college students participate in Vineyard life for a weekend to a week during the warmer months, engaging in structured activities and leisure time on the FOCUS campus off Lambert’s Cove Road. The camp experience is meant to deepen the campgoers’ relationships with God and their Christian faith, the organization’s website states.
FOCUS’s first property, acquired for $1 in 1973, is now used as the camp’s study center. They own multiple properties, including 420 Lambert’s Cove Road, across 30 acres. A few of the properties are used to house workers with the rest used for their facilities and camp dormitories, including a lodge, barn and dining hall. They also have a basketball court, a tennis court and a volleyball court on the property.
One contention for abutters is the fact that FOCUS is exempt from paying residential taxes on many of their properties due to their standing as a faith-based organization. But FOCUS is paying taxes on 420 Lambert’s Cove Road, according to Linda Lane-Reticker, because they only recently purchased the property.
Some abutters were concerned about a future tax exemption on a property that didn’t used to have one, which would reduce revenue to West Tisbury. But whether the special permit is approved or not, FOCUS, due to their tax exemptions as a nonprofit and faith-based organization, can apply for the property in question this coming July.
“It’s wrong, if not preventable, that a tax-paying residential property be converted to a non-paying commercial property,” Jon Previant, who lives across the pond from the FOCUS campus, said. Then he addressed the board: “If you allow that, then you set a very bad precedent.”
The Lane-Reticker’s did contribute a one-time payment of $4,344 in lieu of taxes to the town of West Tisbury this year for a program the town launched called PILOT, the only local tax-exempt nonprofit to do so. The PILOT program was started last spring to address the gap in revenue from the many tax-exempt property owners in the town.
The zoning board decided to schedule a hearing date for 5:30 pm on April 23 to discuss the special permit again, and urged the Lane-Reticker’s to get more information about how 420 Lambert’s Cove Road could fit into an existing Development of Regional Impact (DRI) classification that FOCUS already has for much of its campus. A DRI is a designation given as a part of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s review process for projects that would have a significant impact to its surrounding area.
“Maybe it is time for the [Martha’s Vineyard] Commission to have another look at further expansion,” Julius Lowe, vice chair of the zoning board said to Stoddard and Linda Lane-Reticker.
The Lane-Retickers agreed to look at the existing DRI and were steadfast in FOCUS’s need for quality workplace housing units. They also assured the board that they’ve abided by all residential rules in recent years, including the 10 pm sound ordinance in West Tisbury.
“One of the things about this property that was so attractive to FOCUS is it is right smack in the Vineyard vernacular,” Linda Lane-Reticker said. She and Stoddard Lane-Reticker said the home was appealing to FOCUS exactly because of its residential feel and “farmhouse look.”
The couple said their goal is to provide viable housing for their employees, especially because standards for employee housing have gone up nationwide.
“The American population has desired, by and large, a higher standard of amenities than was commonplace before. And that has been true — we have seen that play out,” said Linda Lane-Reticker.
But for the same reason FOCUS and the organization’s representatives were drawn to the property, abutters are opposed.
“There’s a changing of the character of the neighborhood,” Klaus Broscheit, who said he’s lived in the area for 30 years, said on Thursday. “I’ve watched FOCUS, over the years, expand…I’m seeing a change of the neighborhood too much.”