Members of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission discussed a controversial Edgartown subdivision last week for two hours before tabling final deliberations and a decision until the end of the July.
The commission has held hearings for months on the Katama Meadows proposal, which includes a mix of market-rate and affordable building lots, the latter of which would be donated to the town and Habitat for Humanity.
In all, the project would have 52 homesites on 54 acres, with 26 of them set aside as market-rate and 26 would be deed restricted for people who are year-round residents with moderate incomes.
At the commission’s July 9 meeting, MVC members ran through offers from the Utah-based developers, who had previously applied for the Meeting House Way subdivision that was rejected by the MVC in 2020.
The new Katama Meadows development would give 1 per cent on the sale of the market-rate units to the town for affordable housing, disallow any accessory dwelling units from the subdivision, and limit the 14 town and 12 attainable lots to four-bedroom homes.
Portions of the 26 non-market rate lots would be set aside for different income ranges. Katama Meadows proposed the range run from 80 per cent of the area median income to 200 per cent. The town would undertake a needs assessment paid for by the developer to figure out the income brackets for some of the units.
Some argued that there shouldn’t too many restriction placed on the community lots, and the town should be able to have more flexibility.
“I would rather see Edgartown have the flexibility to maximize the land that they’re being gifted for future affordable housing and not be bound by some arbitrary decisions now about the size of a garage or whether you can have an ADU or not,” said Ben Robinson, a Tisbury commissioner.
From the onset of the meeting, commissioners expected that this project, which has come under fire for the market-rate units and potential impact on the environment, would take multiple meetings to get through delibrations.
“[This is] the most time I’ve ever spent on one project at land use planning in 24 years,” said West Tisbury commissioner Doug Sederholm.
The commission voted to accept the offers, a procedural step that comes before the commission debates the pros and cons of the subdivision and takes a final vote. The commission is scheduled to take up the project again on July 30.