To the Editor:
The Katama Meadows project that the Martha’s Vineyard Commission is currently considering proposes 26 market-rate houses. The last Vineyard subdivisions approved with that many were Deer Run and Bold Meadows, 40 years ago. Approving Katama Meadows would be a giant step backward.
We hope that all Martha’s Vineyard Commissioners who will be voting on this matter will read this letter, and that, following deliberations, they will vote no.
Every market-rate house that is built on Martha’s Vineyard needs diverse services, and therefore increases the need for a larger workforce. That need exacerbates our severe year-round stable housing crisis. Every market-rate house that gets built on Martha’s Vineyard increases the need for expanded infrastructure. Every market-rate house that is built on Matha’s Vineyard increases environmental degradation. That is especially true of Katama Meadows.
Most market-rate houses built on Martha’s Vineyard increase the percentage of our housing stock that is unoccupied much of the year (currently about 60 percent).
Subdivisions of market-rate houses are exactly what the Vineyard doesn’t need. Market-rate houses will continue to be built on undeveloped buildable parcels, and to replace existing houses, but concentrated subdivisions are unnecessary and highly detrimental.
Despite his family’s needs for stable housing (Katama Meadows may provide some opportunities), a young fisherman said at one of the Katama Meadows hearings, “Our ponds can’t handle development like this so close to them. We’re potentially sacrificing a lot of livelihoods and resources.”
This proposal, if approved, will cause harm to our home. Therefore, it will cause harm to each of us.
John Abrams and Kimberly Angell
West Tisbury
