Town Meeting: Edgartown

By KATHERINE WILEY

At this year's annual town meeting, Edgartown voters will
decide issues that range from allowing affordable housing on substandard
lots to accepting $300,000 from the Sheriff's Meadow Foundation.

The meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 10 in the Old Whaling
Church at 7:30 p.m. This year's warrant contains 53 articles and
is not viewed by town leaders as particularly controversial.

At the meeting, voters will also review the town's budget for
the coming fiscal year. This year's requests total $16,183,920.58.

The only budget items not recommended by the finance advisory
committee deal with salaries and expenses at the Edgartown School. In
the town meeting booklet, the committee stated that they feel
"that the budget request is not fiscally responsible and would
appreciate the Edgartown School making a significant reduction."

Three of the warrant articles deal with affordable housing, with two
of them representing changes in the zoning bylaws.

The first would allow substandard lots to be developed as affordable
homesites, including pieces of property that are smaller than the
minimum size allowed in zoning districts.

Under the change, lots would still have to fit certain standards.
They would have to be at least 10,000 square feet in size and meet the
board of health's requirements for siting of wells and septic
systems.

To qualify for these properties, people would have to meet the
residency and income requirements of the resident homesite committee.
They would have had to have lived in Edgartown for a substantial period
of time and be planning to stay year-round.

Like all zoning bylaw amendments, this will require a two-thirds
vote for approval.

Along with making room for affordable year-round housing, the
warrant also contains an article that would provide housing for seasonal
workers.

The change would come from an amendment to the zoning bylaws that
would permit dormitory style housing in the town's trades
district, near the airport.

This proposed change also comes with a number of restrictions. The
dormitory units could contain no more than 100 beds per building and
would have to be maintained by a private or public organization. People
could stay for no more than eight months at a time and would have to
prove that they are employed on the Island.

But the affordable housing articles don't end there. Another
asks voters to set aside 12 acres of town-owned land for affordable
housing. The land is part of a 29-acre plot off Pennywise Path that
Edgartown acquired it 1997.

This year's warrant asks the voters whether they want to
exclude four specific capital projects from the strictures of
Proposition 2 1/2. Three of the projects involve a total of $100,000 for
street and sidewalk repairs, while the other asks for $41,528 for the
final payment on the town dredge.

These exclusions would increase the annual tax by $5.45 per $100,000
of assessed value. To go into effect, these articles need to be passed
by a two-thirds vote. They will also have to receive majority approval
when they appear on the town ballot at the annual election on Thursday,
April 12.

Voters will also decide whether to accept $300,000 from the
Sheriff's Meadow Foundation. If accepted, the money would be used
to acquire land.

They will also see an article asking them to join in an
intermunicipal agreement with the county and four of the other Island
towns regarding the costs and construction of a skateboard park near the
Martha's Vineyard Arena.

They will also be asked to give the Martha's Vineyard Regional
High School permission to spend $750,000 in state Chapter 70 education
funds, part of the $1.3 million which was received after the school
budget had been approved by the towns.

Citizens will also be asked if they wish to appropriate the
following funds:

* $27,948 to implement a graphic information system (GIS).

* $32,000 to purchase a new four-wheel-drive truck for the
harbor master's department.

* $184,200 for the town's dredge management program.

* $28,000 to purchase a new pickup truck and snow plow for the
highway department.

* $118,142.78 for resurfacing of streets in town.