Some Edgartown residents have had their fill.
In a select board meeting Monday, neighbors lashed out against a property dubbed the Uncle Nearest House off Edgartown-West Tisbury Road, claiming that the house’s frequent parties violate the residential area’s zoning laws.
The property owned by UN House MV LLC has hosted events associated with the Tennessee-based whiskey company Uncle Nearest for the past week, from gospel brunches to cocktails hours. The events, although limited to an R.S.V.P. list, have halted traffic and drawn crowds into the neighborhood off Edgartown-West Tisbury Road.
This week, a nonprofit associated with the spirits brand applied for a one-day liquor license for a women’s networking event on August 15, prompting dozens of neighbors to speak out against the house’s activities. Although the select board ultimately denied the license, neighbors have called party foul on what they consider an inappropriately commercial operation.
A since-taken-down events page on the Uncle Nearest website listed more than a dozen events in August. Several residents quoted the page in their letters to the select board: “When it comes to Martha’s Vineyard, the history was too important to simply show up and rent a venue. So, we bought 2.5 acres in the heart of Edgartown to lay down roots for our company to have a presence…”
“‘Our company’ is what stands out to me,” resident Patty Culkins wrote. “It is not a home, it is a property.”
Uncle Nearest is a Black-owned whiskey distillery named for the former enslaved person Nearest Green, who originally taught Jack Daniels the craft of distilling. The company and its CEO, Fawn Weaver, have made headlines for their work funding other Black-owned ventures and even scholarships for descendants of Mr. Green.
No representative from the application, put forth by the Nearest Green Historical Preservation and Culture Fund, attended Monday’s hearing.
The crux of the neighbors’ complaints lies in whether the house at 10 Codman Spring Road counts as a commercial venture, which would make its events in violation of the neighborhood’s residential area zoning bylaws. However, commercial enterprises such as AirBnBs and wedding rentals have long blurred the lines between commercial and residential use, town administrator James Hagerty said.
“The town in terms of the select board can only take so much action in terms of the liquor license because there are other houses on the Island, whether they be AirBnB or otherwise…hosting similar events,” Mr. Hagerty said. “It’s kind of a nebulous spot.”
If the house is indeed just hosting private parties, noise complaints are the only course of action neighbors can take, Mr. Hagerty said. Edgartown police chief Bruce McNamee said officers have received calls about the house nine times in the past three weeks. One of those calls, he later clarified, had been a parking complaint on July 25 due to construction work at the site. Of the calls made, five were parking complaints, three were noise complaints, and one was a 911 misdial.
“Nine times in three weeks isn’t a lot in some communities, but it’s a lot for Edgartown,” Chief McNamee said.
Some residents have lawyered up in search of peace and quiet. Attorney Cass Luskin attended the liquor license hearing, representing Edgartown business owner Joe Monteiro.
“This is essentially a commercial entity acting in a residence,” Mr. Luskin said, urging the select board to use their power to deny the one-day license.
Building inspector Reade Milne said she was in talks with the house’s owner to determine whether the house actually violated any zoning bylaws and what further actions could be taken to quell concerns.
In an email to the Gazette, Ms. Weaver said that the events had been intended to be private and invite-only, and the events page had been taken down as soon as the company realized it was visible to the public. She said that errant invitees have since been notified about the error and taken off the R.S.V.P. list.
Ms. Weaver added that she has taken great effort to appease neighbors, hiring a shuttle service to decrease the number of guests parking in the area, ending music well before the 10 p.m. noise ordinance, and enlisting local officers to help with gate security.
“Ironically, the officer we hired for our event, Sunday Brunch with the Weavers, found it surprisingly calm, contrary to the neighbors’ concerns,” she said.
The one-day liquor license application that was denied this week came after a friend requested to host a nonprofit event in the space, and neither Ms. Weaver nor her husband, Keith, were involved in the application process, Ms. Weaver said. When they received word that the application had been denied, they carried on with the afternoon event, serving mocktails instead.
Ms. Weaver also countered neighbors’ accusations that her house was a commercial enterprise.
“This isn’t a commercial space; otherwise, I’d be a terrible businessperson, paying for all event costs at my home and not even accepting charitable donations,” she said. “We have and will continue to strictly adhere to city rules.”
Although the select board unanimously voted to deny the one-day liquor license, select board chair Arthur Smadbeck said he hoped the issue could be resolved smoothly between the house’s owners and abutters.
“It’s unfortunate when people are starting to do something new that they may not get it right the first time,” Mr. Smadbeck said. “Working with the neighbors will go a long way in not having this be an issue.”
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