The Martha’s Vineyard Commission has ended its long-running public hearing on the proposed Katama Meadows project in Edgartown, although written testimony is being accepted until 5 p.m. May 28.

In one of the largest subdivision proposals seen in recent decades, Utah-based developers Katama Meadows LLC are planning 52 homesites on 54 acres of open land, with 26 market-rate lots and 26 smaller lots that would be deed-restricted for year-round residents with moderate incomes.

Most of the lower-priced lots would be sold to income-qualified buyers for $225,000, according to the plan.

Three of the restricted lots would be donated to Habitat for Humanity and 13 lots would be given directly to the town of Edgartown for its housing needs.

“Your housing policy provides that an increase in housing diversity and choice increases the availability of year-round housing and increases housing affordability. This proposal does all of that,” Katama Meadows representative Robert Moriarty told commissioners during the last session of the public hearing May 14.

MVC housing planner Laura Silber noted that although some Katama Meadows opponents had testified that Edgartown has other land available for housing, the town-owned sites are small and scattered widely.

“Most of them are under two acres. The bulk of them are under one acre, and the town has only identified one comparable size lot of five acres, that’s adjacent to the wastewater treatment plant,” Ms. Silber said.

Many of the lots owned by the town also are not on the sewer system, limiting the number of bedrooms that can be built, and a number of the properties lack clear titles, she said.

In his closing statement to commissioners last week, Mr. Moriarty emphasized the suitability of Katama Meadows for the town and the Island, both of which are hard pressed to retain middle-income workers and families.

“This project advances the goals of the Island towns to pursue housing solutions for public employees and critical service workers,” he said.

Some Island residents have testified in favor of Katama Meadows during the months-long commission hearing, saying the development could make it possible for them to have their own home.

The overwhelming majority of public comment and testimony, however, has been opposed to Katama Meadows, as it was to the developers’ earlier proposal for an all-market-rate subdivision.

Known then as Meeting House Place and Meeting House Way, the previous application was denied 10-4 in 2020, after which the developers took the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to court. A judge found in the commission’s favor in the case, but the developers appealed that decision.

Under an agreement between the two parties, the Meeting House Place lawsuit currently is on hold while Katama Meadows goes through the MVC process.

In both cases, environmentalists and conservation groups have said that pollution from the homes would devastate nearby Edgartown Great Pond, which already is impaired by nitrogen runoff from existing development.

Katama Meadows has proposed to offset its excess nitrogen by establishing a fund to connect older homes in the watershed to the town sewer system.

After the Martha’s Vineyard Commission closes the written record on May 28, a date will be set for deliberations and a decision on the application.