MVC Votes to Approve Chilmark Housing Plan for Middle Line Road

By IAN FEIN

Holding to its stance that the Island's dire need for
affordable housing trumps other planning principles, the Martha's
Vineyard Commission last week approved a town-sponsored subdivision
tucked in the woods of Chilmark.

Many commission members who voted in favor of the Middle Line Road
housing project said they believed it was in a poor location and
represented more of a suburban-type development. But they argued that
the effort represents a vital step toward keeping year-round residents
in Chilmark, where property values rank among the highest in the
commonwealth.

"The problem is that the maintenance of our natural
environment is priceless, but so is the maintenance of our community.
And I don't know how we can on this application promote both the
way we'd like to," said commission chairman Douglas
Sederholm of Chilmark on Thursday night.

"The town has made a decision that they want to take this
beautiful piece of land and put affordable housing on it," he
continued. "I think it's a tragedy to develop this piece of
property. But they have to start somewhere."

The project calls for creating six homesite lots and three duplex
rental buildings on roughly 20 acres of town-owned land off Tabor House
Road. The commission reviewed the proposal as a development of regional
impact.

Commission members approved the project 11-1. James Athearn of
Edgartown, who cast the lone vote of dissent, delivered a long,
heartfelt speech laying out reasons why he believed the commission had a
responsibility to deny the application.

Developing land for new homes is not the answer to the housing
crisis, Mr. Athearn said, citing longstanding stated goals to address
the need by making the existing housing stock more affordable. He
referred to the enabling legislation of the commission and previous
regional policy plans to buttress his argument, and listed some of the
steps he has taken to ensure that his family land will remain affordable
in perpetuity.

"Looking for land for affordable housing is following the
prevailing American principle that it is okay to consume land for
immediate benefit because the land is infinite," said Mr. Athearn,
an Island farmer who traces his ancestry on the Vineyard to the mid-17th
century. "This is the principle that killed the buffalo, put
industrial development on farmland, and built over 6,000 houses on
Martha's Vineyard in the last 30 years."

He said the project also violates smart growth planning principles,
which call for new developments to be located close to town centers and
existing services. Instead, the new subdivision will develop a wooded
site that he sees as key to keeping Chilmark rural.

"The selectmen have argued that this proposal is protecting a
rural standard. But I submit that it's actually a suburban
standard that's been generated in the last 30 years," Mr.
Athearn said. "It is a housing style that people have grown
comfortable with. But I don't think it looks back far enough in
history or forward enough into the future to protect what we think of as
the rural character of Martha's Vineyard."

A number of commission members said they agreed with Mr. Athearn in
concept, but countered that many of his ideas were unfeasible as a
practical or economic matter. Chilmark selectmen said earlier that they
could not find a more suitable location to build affordable housing.

"If they don't do this - given the particularly
acute property values in Chilmark - the town will simply become a
place where ordinary people can't live," said commission
member Linda Sibley of West Tisbury. "People are part of our
character too, and I see this as an attempt on the part of Chilmark to
maintain its character at the expense of some of its land."

The two-hour debate echoed similar commission arguments about
affordable housing projects in the past, including an 11-unit
subdivision located in globally rare coastal sand plain habitat on the
rural outskirts of Edgartown. The commission approved that project a
year and a half ago.

Some commission members appeared torn on Thursday. A commission
subcommittee earlier last week deadlocked 3-3 on whether to recommend
approval of the Middle Line Road project, but two who opposed
recommendation changed their minds by the time of the final vote on
Thursday.

"I had wanted to use this application to make a bigger point,
but I realized that would not be fair to the town of Chilmark,"
Nathaniel Orleans of Tisbury said, explaining his change of heart.
"I came to the conclusion that you can't stop the world when
trying to solve a problem. You have to try to face it while the world
continues to run."

Mr. Orleans criticized the practice of segregating affordable
housing subdivisions and he expressed concern that children who grow up
in the developments will feel some sort of stigma. Commission member
Mimi Davisson of Oak Bluffs at one point referred to the Middle Line
project as a "little ghetto," a comment that drew a quick
redirect from Mr. Sederholm.

Other commission members praised the Middle Line Road project. They
said the affordable housing plan is a much better alternative than other
ways the property could have been developed. The plan calls for roughly
75 per cent of the property to remain as open space, and for the rental
units to use energy as efficiently as possible.

Although commission approval of the preliminary plan clears a major
hurdle for the project, much work remains for the town. By statute, town
officials will have to return to the commission at a later point with a
final subdivision plan, which will address unresolved issues including
adequate access and screening for neighbors.

"We still have a long way to go," selectman and board
chairman Warren Doty said after the commission vote last week. "We
still have hundreds of hours of work to make this project happen."

Commission member Christopher Murphy applauded town officials for
their endeavor, noting that two of his children now have homes in
Chilmark because of earlier town housing efforts. He expressed hope that
selectmen will continue to pursue other housing options as they move
forward with the Middle Line Road project.

"This is not the be-all and end-all for Chilmark, but it is a
step in the right direction," Mr. Murphy said. "It's
not a form I'm particularly in love with. But how can you oppose
it when it's moving you in the right direction?"