Still Rural, Mullen Way Sparks Heartfelt Debate Over Old
Neighborhoods

By IAN FEIN

Saying that the changing character of historic middle-class
neighborhoods is a concern better addressed Islandwide, the
Martha's Vineyard Commission last week opted against creating
special zoning regulations for Mullen Way, a narrow tree-lined side
street in Edgartown.

The 11-3 vote came late Thursday night after an hour of deliberation
and two hours of testimony in a packed public hearing with more than
five dozen people in attendance. More than one commission member said
the decision was one of the most difficult faced by the regional
planning agency in the last few years.

Brought by a group of residents who felt that existing regulations
could not protect them from a proposed subdivision at the end of their
road, the nomination of Mullen Way as a district of critical planning
concern (DCPC) divided town officials, neighbors and even some families.
Evident in the lengthy testimony and large amount of correspondence sent
to the commission, the critical district nomination struck a chord with
people across the Island on both sides of the issue.

Supporters saw the proposal as a clever way to protect the scale and
character of small Vineyard neighborhoods that are slowly being turned
into trophy suburbs, while opponents called it an inappropriate end run
to halt unwanted development. As designated special places, DCPCs allow
towns - through the enabling legislation of the commission -
to adopt zoning regulations that would otherwise be unenforceable under
state law.

During consideration of the Mullen Way nomination, commission
members discussed creating an umbrella DCPC that would include other
small neighborhoods that warranted special protection. The Islandwide
neighborhood district curried favor with a consensus of commission
members, who were nonetheless reluctant to make Mullen Way - by
most accounts a charming yet forgotten dead-end road off Pease's
Point Way - the cornerstone of such a progressive planning
concept.

"The problem with this is that you have raised a very
important issue, but not the right way of going about it," MVC
member Douglas Sederholm of Chilmark said to the Mullen Way residents
who initiated the nomination.

"Standing alone, little old Mullen Way is not of critical
concern," he continued. "If you look at it with other
neighborhoods and think about the fabric of the Vineyard, then it is.
But we don't have those [other neighborhoods] before us
yet."

Commission member James Athearn of Edgartown suggested that because
each neighborhood is unique, the commission might have to develop
guidelines and regulations for them on an individual basis. He also said
the issue was too important to put off much longer. As chairman of the
Island Plan steering committee, he has heard widespread concerns about
the growing trend of old Vineyard homes being torn down and replaced
with larger buildings.

"I am reminded of the common human failing whereby people say:
‘This is important work to do, but there is good reason not to do
it today,'" said Mr. Athearn, a farmer. "If we stop
the [building] clock today, we might be putting one good foot
forward."

By deciding not to designate the DCPC last week, the commission
lifted a month-long building moratorium that took effect in late July,
when it first accepted the Mullen Way nomination. After turning down the
nomination on Thursday, the commission voted unanimously to form a work
group on the possible Islandwide neighborhood district, but a few
commission members expressed concern about what would happen to Mullen
Way in the meantime.

Mullen Way resident and commercial fisherman Robert Coad, who
spearheaded the nomination, said yesterday that the neighborhood group
would now wait to see what the subdivision developers intend to do with
their eight-acre property. Landowner Michael Kidder said he plans to
work with the neighbors and town boards to come up with a mutually
agreeable solution.

"I want to do something that works for the Island and for
Edgartown," said Mr. Kidder, a Chappaquiddick resident who
purchased the Mullen Way property for $6 million, more than three times
its assessed value. "I'm not into high density anything, or
making a large profit."

Mr. Kidder withdrew the last version of his eight-lot subdivision in
July after the Edgartown planning board referred it to the commission as
a development of regional impact (DRI). The planning board, selectmen
and Edgartown police chief all expressed concerns about the safety
impacts the subdivision posed for the narrow road, prompting one of the
central questions of the critical district nomination: whether the
existing zoning regulations were adequate to protect Mullen Way. Also at
issue was whether Mullen Way represented or included any regionally
significant resources in need of special protection.

Described by some as a time capsule of a past era on the Vineyard,
Mullen Way is made up of mostly small bungalows and Capes built in the
first half of the 20th century, as well as an old transported farmhouse
that might be the second-oldest home in Edgartown. A number of longtime
Island residents sent letters asking the MVC to protect what they said
reminded them of what the Vineyard used to be, while others testified at
the hearing that Mullen Way was not unique and did not merit special
designation.

Edgartown planning board chairman Alan Wilson called the nomination
inappropriate and said that Mullen Way did not rise to the significance
of other DCPCs in town, while his fellow board member Roger Becker
weighed in otherwise. Though admittedly still up in the air, Mr. Becker
said the arguments supporting the neighborhood district were quite
compelling. He noted that the planning board, acting under the state
subdivision control law without a DCPC, did not have the ability to
address the size of the proposed homes, the width of the public way, or
the historical integrity of the architectural styles.

"If the commission wants to protect those things, they need to
step up and help the planning board address them. This could be the way
to keep our neighborhoods from being cleared out by people who have too
much money," Mr. Becker said, adding:

"If people are willing to buckle themselves under these
regulations, limit the size of their homes, and the neighborhood is for
it, how can the commission not back them up?"

Mullen Way property owners appeared to be split roughly right down
the middle, with at least six homeowners in favor of the district, and
others staunchly opposed. Allen W. Norton wrote a letter in support of
the district, while his daughter, Melissa Norton Vincent, testified
against it. One neighbor said the issue was dividing decades-old
friendships.

Longtime Mullen Way resident Thomas Teller, who opposed the
district, also questioned the working definition of the word
neighborhood.

"When I moved to Mullen Way more than 50 years ago, every
single house was occupied by year-round residents. Today, only five are
occupied year-round," Mr. Teller said. "Neighborhoods are
made up of people; they're not made up of houses."

The MVC received a substantial amount of correspondence from
Vineyard friends and business associates of Mr. Kidder, praising his
dedication to sound land-use decisions. But commission chairman Linda
Sibley of West Tisbury at the hearing did not allow any discussion about
either his character, or that of Island attorney Ronald Monterosso, who
presented the Mullen Way nomination to the commission but was also one
of the loudest opponents of the proposed Chappaquiddick DCPC more than
four years ago.

Some commission members took the long view, saying Thursday they did
not think the neighborhood district, if it were to begin with Mullen
Way, would receive the necessary two-thirds approval at an Edgartown
town meeting. Voters in Edgartown have a history of rejecting DCPC
regulations - at one point leading to the town's temporary
withdrawal from the commission.

Mrs. Sibley said she was nearly brought to tears by one letter in
favor of the neighborhood district - written by a longtime
resident lamenting the changes he had seen on the Island, and asking the
commission to protect Mullen Way from a similar fate - but added a
note of caution.

"Doing it wrong could be a terrible catastrophe. I don't
think this will get two-thirds [of Edgartown voters], and I fear that
would set us back tremendously," Mrs. Sibley said, suggesting that
the commission first develop the criteria for neighborhoods to be
included in the district. "If we do it that way, I think we would
come up with a greater chance of success."