The developers of Katama Meadows, a proposed 52-home subdivision on Edgartown’s rural west side, last week provided new details on how they intend to make half the lots affordable for year-round Islanders.

Formerly known as Meeting House Way, the latest version of the controversial project calls for 26 market-rate home sites with no ownership restrictions and 26 smaller lots that would be deed-restricted to full-time Martha’s Vineyard residents.

The 54-acre subdivision, located between Pease’s Point Way, Division Road, Meshacket Road and Swimming Place Path, also would have some open space and a private road.

Under the current proposal, the 26 market-rate lots at Katama Meadows would average nearly 32,000 square feet.

Another 12 home sites, which the developer is calling community lots, would average about 10,275 square feet. 

Katama Meadows’ attorney Robert Moriarty told the Martha’s Vineyard Commission Thursday night that 10 of these lots would be deed-restricted to year-round residents earning up to 200 per cent of the area’s median income (AMI) and two would be donated to Habitat for Humanity, a national nonprofit that works with first-time homeowners.

Katama Meadows plans to donate the 14 smallest house lots — averaging about 7,100 square feet — to the town of Edgartown, which in turn would donate one to Habitat for Humanity.

All three of the Habitat properties at Katama Meadows would be permanently deed-restricted to households earning up to 80 per cent of the AMI, Mr. Moriarty said.

Four of the Edgartown lots would be permanently restricted to households earning up to 150 per cent of the AMI, he said.

The town’s nine remaining lots would be reserved for municipal employees, under occupancy terms that remain unknown.

If the Martha’s Vineyard Commission approves the Katama Meadows subdivision, Mr. Moriarty said, the town would then conduct a municipal housing needs assessment to determine the income levels and occupancy requirements for the nine lots.

Commissioner and hearing officer Douglas Sederholm objected to the lack of specifics in this part of the proposal.

“We are supposed to approve a project, but we don’t know what’s going to happen to nine out of 14 town lots,” Mr. Sederholm said.

“That’s a real problem in terms of us having to approve something after the fact … if we ever approve this,” he said.

Melissa Vincent, who chairs the Edgartown affordable housing committee, said the town needs the municipal housing needs assessment in order to make sure it is targeting the right price range for its workers, including double-income households.

“The information is critical for us. We are looking at this project as a way to house folks whose incomes are at a higher level, so that we can be able to service the needs of our community,” Ms. Vincent said.

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission also heard additional testimony on traffic and nitrogen impacts from the planned development, which has drawn vehement opposition from Island environmentalists, conservation groups and area residents.

In a letter filed with the commission two days before the meeting, Mr. Moriarty assailed previous testimony by the Great Pond Foundation that Katama Meadows poses a nitrogen risk to the Edgartown Great Pond watershed.

“This commission should see their opposition for what it is: unsupported fearmongering to protect the interests of a select few at the cost of the continued vitality of the Island community and its economy,” Mr. Moriarty wrote.

Speaking Thursday, Emily Reddington, the executive director of the Great Pond Foundation, said her organization is preparing a detailed response to Mr. Moriarty’s assertions.

“Our sole objective is to sustain the life in Island ponds [and] when new projects are under review, such as Katama Meadows, Great Pond Foundation’s role is to make sure that the fate of Island ponds is considered in weighing the benefits and detriments,” she told the commission.

Other public testimony Thursday included a plea for approval from Edgartown resident Colleen Macsuga.

“I have been priced out of affordable housing opportunities, but still cannot purchase a market value home, making me the true missing middle,” Ms. Macsuga said.

Retired builder and housing advocate John Abrams suggested the 26 market-rate properties could demand additional services to an extent outweighing the benefit to the community of the deed-restricted municipal homes.

“Have you actually looked at whether the number of people that will be housed on these 14 lots is even close to equivalent to the additional people that will need housing to serve those houses?”  Mr. Abrams asked.

Former commissioner Kate Putnam said the income limits for the community lots don’t match up with the cost of building a house on Martha’s Vineyard, which she estimated at $600 a square foot.

“A single person who [earns] 200 per cent of AMI cannot afford to build a house here,” Ms. Putnam said. 

The public hearing on Katama Meadows will continue April 9.

In other business Thursday, the commission opted not to take up a referral from Chilmark for the demolition of a house more than 100 years old at 1 Carroll Lane. The decision returns the application to town officials’ hands.

The continued public hearing on the proposed Green Villa condominium complex was postponed, at the applicant’s request, to March 26.

Martha’s Vineyard Commission executive director Adam Turner opened Thursday’s meeting with a few words in memory of former commissioner Jay Grossman, who stepped down for health reasons last October and died on Tuesday at 60.

“He always had a good attitude, whether we disagreed with him or not,” said Mr. Turner, who described Mr. Grossman as a role model.

“He knew just what to say and how to be … and he really believed in the commission,” Mr. Turner said.