Island Elderly Housing has been cleared to bring the Martha’s Vineyard Commission new plans for Aidylberg III, a five-unit affordable housing project for seniors that was the subject of litigation between the two entities in 2022 and 2023.
The commission voted unanimously Thursday to modify its 2022 approval for the building, proposed for 38 Wing Road in Oak Bluffs, and allow Island Elderly Housing to submit its redevelopment plans anew.
The original decision, which included retroactive approval of the demolition of a house previously on the property, was also conditioned on Island Elderly Housing making extensive alterations to the proposed building design. Declining the changes, the housing agency took the MVC to court, where a judge in early 2023 ruled that the commission had overstepped its authority by making the approval conditions so open-ended that they effectively amounted to a denial.
Meeting online Thursday evening, the commission spent nearly 90 minutes in executive session with MVC attorney Johanna Schneider before voting in public session.
Its modified decision leaves the demolition approval in place and clears the way for Island Elderly Housing to re-submit plans for the project.
“This stays a DRI [development of regional impact], so then any other development on that site has to come back to us,” commission chair Fred Hancock said.
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