A legal fight over an accessory dwelling unit in Edgartown was settled between the owner and the town this spring before it went to trial. 

Ted Scallet and his wife Roberta filed a lawsuit against the Edgartown zoning board of appeals in August 2025 over claims that the board improperly denied the couple’s plans to build a freestanding unit above a new garage. 

The Scallets argued that their application for an 18 foot by 28 foot garage with the apartment above it fell in line with the provisions allowed under the new Affordable Homes Act. The lawsuit was one of the first in the state to challenge a municipality’s interpretation of the statute. 

But no legal precedent will be set in the courts, as the Scallets resubmitted an application for the Windsor Drive property that was approved by the town earlier this year and resulted in the May dismissal of the lawsuit.

Passed in 2024, the Affordable Homes act eased the requirements to build ADUs, the 900-square feet or less units that are often inlaw apartments or freestanding smaller units on a property, to relieve some of the pressure of the ongoing housing crisis. 

Setbacks were at the heart of the dispute between the Scallets and the town. The ADU was proposed to be built 10 feet from the lot’s southern boundary. During the zoning board hearings, members said that the property required a 25-foot setback.

But in a letter to the Scallets in April, Edgartown building inspector Reade Milne said that requiring the 25-foot setback would constitute an “unreasonable regulation” under state law, and decided to move forward with permitting the ADU.

She noted that picking a different location would result in excessive costs due to an existing septic system and putting the structure 25 feet from the property line would result in a negative impact on the principal dwelling.

Mr. Scallet, a Washington D.C.-based attorney, said that the building inspector’s ruling adopts the interpretation of the Affordable Homes Act that he advanced in his now dropped lawsuit.

He also believed it could be significant going forward for other homes with similar setbacks that want to build ADUs.

“We thank Inspector Reade Milne for her professionalism and willingness to work with us throughout the permitting process,” the Scallets wrote to the Gazette. “ADUs can be an important part of the Vineyard’s efforts to create affordable housing, and we hope that other towns will follow Edgartown’s lead and reexamine their zoning requirements and procedures under the new law to make that happen.”