The two-year saga of a controversial project has come to an end through the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) after a narrowly split approval greenlit the largest housing development in the Island’s history.
After around three and a half hours of deliberation on Thursday, April 30, the MVC voted 6-5-1 to approve Green Villa, a 116-unit project proposed to be built at 71, 77, and 79 Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road and 10 Gamba Road in Oak Bluffs. Green Villa, planned to consist of two and three-story buildings and be free of fossil fuels, was the only project that was taken up during the meeting.
While ultimately approved, some commissioners lamented the impact the project would have on the Island. Not only was the project site next to another large housing project, the 60-unit Tackenash Knoll under construction by Island Housing Trust, some commissioners lambasted the design. “Uninspired,” Tisbury representative Ben Robinson called it, and a “placeholder,” governor’s appointee Michael Kim said. He added that the plan isn’t in line with Vineyard architecture.
“This is something that was dropped from 10,000 feet, and it will be visible from 10,000 feet,” Kim said, saying it will leave an irreversible scar on the Island.
Robinson, who himself participates in the “Island Shuffle,” meaning he moves from one housing situation to another throughout the year, said he didn’t want to see such drastic changes to find a way to solve the Vineyard’s housing crisis.
“We are fundamentally changing the character of the Island,” Robinson said.
But opposition to the proposal was one vote short, and the development will now return to the Oak Bluffs officials for review for needed permits, including a comprehensive special permit and a building permit. It’s a lengthy process, as the project plans connect it to the Oak Bluffs sewer system, which the town still needs to upgrade to meet growing demand. Based on the town’s sewer infrastructure upgrade schedule, Green Villa will have an initial hookup by 2028 and a full connection by 2031.
Green Villa developers were also embroiled in a recent state ruling that questioned the MVC’s authority. The Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee ruled that the MVC does not actually have the authority to review Chapter 40B projects, a decision that the Island’s regulatory body has pushed back on and plans to appeal.
This ruling was based on a complaint filed by Cumming for a different project he proposed called Edgartown Gardens, an up to 60-unit development near the Edgartown Triangle that the MVC unanimously rejected in October. Whether the MVC’s appeal will be successful is yet to be seen. Additionally, Massachusetts Land Court is scheduled to hold a summary judgement hearing for both of Cumming’s projects on May 7, in which the housing appeals committee decision is expected to play a part.
As for the Oak Bluffs development, short-term rentals will be prohibited, and 104 of the 116 units at Green Villa will be restricted based on the Dukes County area median income (AMI). Plans include 29 units for households that earn up to 80 percent of AMI ($72,950 for one-person household), 66 for households that earn up to 150 percent AMI ($157,700 for one-person household), and nine for municipal and school employees earning up to 100 percent of AMI ($105,100 for one-person household). Only 30 of the 150 AMI units are planned to be sold to year-round businesses and used as employee rental housing.
The developers, led by William Cumming of Falmouth-based development company Atwood Co., did commit to providing an Island preference for 70 percent of the affordable housing. The prioritized groups include residents of Oak Bluffs, the town Cumming’s team is working with, households with employment on Martha’s Vineyard, and municipal and school employees.
The remaining 12 units are proposed to be sold at market rate to help subsidize the project.
Green Villa first came before commissioners in 2024. The project has had a tumultuous review process with Island officials, including litigation with the Oak Bluffs Zoning Board of Appeals over the hearing process and challenges against the MVC’s authority to review the project. But wind blew into the sails of the project last spring when the Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee ruled that Oak Bluffs did not have safe harbor, a status given to municipalities that have at least 10 percent of its housing stock be affordable and also allows them to deny or approve special permits for 40B housing developments, when Green Villa was submitted.
Green Villa, a Chapter 40B project, returned to the Oak Bluffs zoning board to create a revised proposal following a series of collaborative workshops. But a procedural issue occurred, in which the MVC hadn’t approved the project and the applicants were unwilling to extend the amount of time needed for a draft decision. Since the zoning board couldn’t issue a comprehensive permit without MVC approval, the project was effectively denied in January and waited for commissioners’ review.
While Green Villa will certainly bring a large amount of housing stock to the Vineyard, its size has raised various concerns, including environmental impacts like nitrogen impacting the nearby Sengekontacket Pond and higher peak traffic at intersections that meet Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road (estimated increases at following intersections: 5.1 percent increase at Barnes Road, 7.3 percent at Village Road, and 4.7 percent increase at County Road).
But Cumming’s offers and conditions imposed by the commission include mitigation efforts for concerns raised. While the project waits to be connected to town sewer, it will utilize an innovative/alternative septic system to reduce nitrogen output. Additionally, the developers said they plan to implement various methods to help with traffic flow and safety, such as promotion of a rideshare option for residents, work with the Vineyard Transit Authority to build a bus stop along both sides of Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road including flashing crosswalk lights, and fund at least $200,000 in roadway improvements for Oak Bluffs.
Commissioners deliberated on the merits and demerits of the project for the Island up to the last minute on Thursday. Commissioners who approved the project included Willa Kuh of Chilmark, Doug Sederholm and Linda Sibley of West Tisbury, and Peter Wharton and Brian Smith of Oak Bluffs. Commissioners who rejected the project included Robinson, Kim, Jannette Venderhoop of Aquinnah, and Mary Bernadette Budinger-Cormie of Tisbury. Jeffrey Agnoli of Edgartown abstained.
In the approval granted by the MVC on Thursday for Green Villa, various parts of the project’s design, including landscaping and the sewer system, will be subject to the additional review by the commission’s Land Use Planning Committee.