Three Island residents walked away from the Tisbury selectmen’s meeting this past week with the opportunity to buy a home close to downtown Vineyard Haven for a dramatically reduced price.
A long-planned program meant to encourage private affordable housing efforts in West Tisbury failed to get off the ground at a special town meeting Tuesday, when residents voted 24 to 80 against a $250,000 funding request.
A new neighborhood of 100 apartments for low to moderate income Islanders, served by four stores with employee housing, has been proposed for eight acres on Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs, just east of the future Southern Tier affordable housing complex.
The nearly $1 million in state grants awarded to Island towns last week to upgrade their wastewater systems will be a boon for planned affordable housing developments and potentially other large regional projects.
At their meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 17, the planning board reviewed a draft bylaw from the short-term rental committee which would limit residents to one short term rental property per person, with 12 weeks total allowed to be rented on a short-term basis.
Gov. Maura Healey unveiled a $4 billion housing plan Wednesday that includes a local option transfer fee, a provision that Islanders have sought for years to help fight the Vineyard’s housing crisis.
The special town meeting is scheduled to take place Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. at the West Tisbury school.
