Island Community Pushes Back on Proposed Katama Meadows Project

•  

I’m writing to urge the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to deny the proposed Katama Meadows subdivision at its July 30 vote.

The negative impacts from increased nitrogen flowing into Edgartown Great Pond and the destruction of dozens of acres of natural forest combined with the minimal positive impact on our community housing crisis should disqualify Katama Meadows from further consideration.

The MVC exists precisely to prevent this kind of high-impact development that benefits a developer while providing little benefit to our year-round residents.

Denying this project isn’t a vote against housing. It’s a vote for housing that actually meets the Island’s needs, without sacrificing the water, land, and character that make the Vineyard unique. I hope the MVC maintains its tradition of protecting our natural resources while managing smart growth for our Island.

Janet and Mark Kastrud,

Oak Bluffs

•  

I’m in my twenties, I grew up here, and I hope to find a way to stay — which is exactly why I’m asking the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to think hard before deciding on the Katama Meadows subdivision.

I’ve heard the argument that this project will help the Island’s housing crisis, and I want to believe it. My generation needs it. This is not it. This is 26 luxury homes on undeveloped land near Edgartown Great Pond that aren’t just housing 26 families, but likely sitting empty nine months a year and full of weekly renters the other three. That’s not housing. That’s not community. That’s inventory.

And the pond can’t absorb it either way. Nitrogen loading from septic systems is already stressing Great Pond and the shellfish beds people my age still remember being able to fish and swim near without a second thought. Clearing the acreage this project requires means losing forest that’s been quietly filtering runoff and storing carbon for longer than any of us have been alive. Once that buffer is gone, it’s gone. You can’t deed-restrict your way back to a healthy pond.

Approving a project this size on this land, next to a pond already in trouble, isn’t smart growth — it’s the “uncoordinated development” the Commission’s own founding law warned us about.

I’d rather the Commission take the time to get this right — real affordability, real environmental limits — than approve something we can’t undo because we were in a hurry.

Alex Rego,

Oak Bluffs

•  

This message is to share my concerns over the Katama Meadows Development, and its negative effect on the character, quality of life, and the environment of this island. I’ve called Martha’s Vineyard home for 13 years, and in that time I’ve watched the Martha’s Vineyard Commission do the hard, unglamorous work of keeping this island from being carved up piece by piece. That work is being tested right now with the Katama Meadows proposal, and I hope the Commission votes no.

This development will not help our year round and affordable worker housing problem, we cannot out-build this problem. If we continue to think that we can, we will find ourselves with an island mired with even worse traffic, even more crowded grocery stores, even more overwhelmed business owners and health services strained to the breaking point. The only real solution to our housing crisis, and the tactic we will be forced to take when we have reached maximum development, is controlling the current housing stock. Limiting the number of short term rental properties, limiting the number of second homes, and controlling rent prices.

Some lots in Katama Meadows will be sold ‘affordably’, but this is a red herring to the true purpose of the development, which is to generate profits for the developer. Luxury developments are using affordable housing as the carrot at the end of the stick that will lead us further into wealth inequality and servitude to the ultra wealthy. Is that the island character that the Commission is trying to protect? All things must be in balance, and in my mind we have more than enough wealthy people to work for.

This is all besides the environmental effects, more risk to the aquifer, more nitrogen in the great pond, more waste to truck off island. Developing land is a one way street, once that land is cleared and houses are built, it will never, ever, return to the state of nature it is in now.

The MVC was built for moments exactly like this one. I trust it.

Carter Payne,

West Tisbury

•  

The Katama Meadows project that the Martha’s Vineyard Commission is currently considering proposes 26 market-rate houses. The last Vineyard subdivisions approved with that many were Deer Run and Bold Meadows, 40 years ago. Approving Katama Meadows would be a giant step backward.

We hope that all Martha’s Vineyard commissioners who will be voting on this matter will read this letter, and that, following deliberations, they will vote no.

Every market rate house that is built on Martha’s Vineyard needs diverse services and therefore increases the need for a larger workforce. That need exacerbates our severe year-round stable housing crisis.

Every market rate house that gets built on Martha’s Vineyard increases the need for expanded infrastructure.

Every market rate house that is built on Matha’s Vineyard increases environmental degradation. That is especially true of Katama Meadows.

Most market rate houses built on Martha’s Vineyard increase the percentage of our housing stock that is un-occupied much of the year (currently about 60 per cent).

Subdivisions of market rate houses are exactly what the Vineyard doesn’t need. Market rate houses will continue to be built on un-developed buildable parcels and to replace existing houses, but concentrated subdivisions are unnecessary and highly detrimental.

Despite his family’s needs for stable housing (Katama Meadows may provide some opportunities), a young fisherman said at one of the Katama Meadows hearings, “Our ponds can’t handle development like this so close to them. We’re potentially sacrificing a lot of livelihoods and resources.”

This proposal, if approved, will cause harm to our home. Therefore, it will cause harm to each of us.

Sincerely,

John Abrams and Kimberly Angell,

West Tisbury

•  

The Martha’s Vineyard Interfaith Climate Action Team (ICAT) urges that the Martha’s Vineyard Commission deny the Katama Meadows proposal. The proposal would disrupt a significant habitat corridor, thus impairing the biodiversity of the area.

If approved, Katama Meadows would lead to:

-Increased nitrogen pollution in Edgartown Great Pond, which will cause irreparable harm to shellfish, eel grass, and our ability to both harvest from and recreate in its waters.

-Significant habitat destruction and fragmentation of one of the last wildlife throughways in Edgartown.

-Clearing of 28 acres of forest, resulting in about 1,500 tons of lost carbon storage – a massive carbon footprint antithetical to the MVC’s Climate Action Plan adopted just four years ago.   

As a faith-based group that promotes sustainable use of Martha’s Vineyard lands and waters, ICAT views the Katama Meadows proposed project as directly contrary to the MVC Climate Action Plan of which we are supporters.

Sincerely, 

Martha’s Vineyard Interfaith Climate Action Team 

•  

My name is Dylan Spencer Kenney. I have raised my children on this Island, and I deeply love this community. My husband is a disabled veteran, and despite having a pre-approved VA loan, our family has still struggled to purchase and secure housing. As a member of a local family directly impacted by the housing crisis—who would be perfect candidates and tremendously benefit from housing opportunities—I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s decision to deny the Katama Meadows Luxury Development ahead of the vote on July 30.

Even in our vulnerable position as a family trying to buy a home, I choose t

o support this denial for the greater good. I want to make it clear that while housing is indeed desperately needed, it cannot come in a way that destroys the environment and pretends to help people. I can see past the sugar-coated narratives and understand that true philanthropic contributions will not include destruction.

We cannot afford to think only short term while ignoring permanent consequences. The long-term ecological damage to this island is simply not worth the benefit being promised. Once damage is done to Edgartown’s Great Pond, it cannot simply be undone. This island and its ecosystems are not replaceable, and no amount of polished language, branding, or marketing can reverse permanent environmental harm.

I trust the fishermen, the environmentalists, the scientists, and the longtime community advocates who have spent decades protecting these fragile ecosystems. The science is factual, and the scientists are warning us that the ecological damage is not worth the benefit.— Dismissing these legitimate environmental concerns from scientists and residents as “fearmongering” is deeply troubling: environmental caution is our responsibility.

The MVC has the power to protect the narrative. The problem is pretending this project is serving as a philanthropic action when it is a highly profitable private development designed to support luxury homes for second homeowners, while simultaneously impacting the environmental stability of our island. This project is being packaged as charity and goodwill, but it is marketing and greed being repackaged while the community is asked to absorb the environmental risk.

Twenty-six luxury homes are not the solution to the island housing crisis. Calling this a “pocket neighborhood” does not erase the environmental impact this project will have on the Edgartown Great Pond and the surrounding ecosystem. The proposed $25,000 septic housing fund feels more like a symbolic gesture—a temporary bandage used to make permanent environmental harm feel more acceptable. Furthermore, the proposal for reduced-price lots do not realistically solve housing insecurity for working families, veterans, or young island residents, especially since VA loans cannot easily be used for construction financing. Until the town has a plan for the 2.8 acres and a way to fund it, there is no affordable housing, as the state defines it, associated with this development. There is actually no immediate housing available at all. We must ask ourselves: are 12 incredibly small, densely planned building lots for the high end of the missing middle and a 2.8-acre, completely unbuilt land gift enough of a benefit to outweigh the very serious detriments to our environment brought about by 26 luxury homes?

Denying this subdivision is not an attack against community housing; it is a necessary demand for community housing that doesn’t come at the degradation of our environment, and a demand that housing plans truly meet the needs of the community.

Thank you to the MVC for your dedication to protecting our way of life, ecosystems, listening to the community, and ensuring sustainable development for future generations.

Respectfully,

Dylan Spencer Kenney,

West Tisbury Resident

•  

After calling Martha’s Vineyard home for the past 27 years, I feel it is time for me to speak up for the Island I love.

I strongly support the creation of housing that truly serves Island residents and helps people remain part of this community. But community housing should not require us to sacrifice the natural resources that sustain us all.

The proposed Katama Meadows development would threaten Edgartown Great Pond, wildlife habitat, forestland, groundwater, and the environmental health of the Island. Once these resources are damaged or destroyed, they cannot easily be restored.

This is why the Martha’s Vineyard Commission is so important. We need a body willing to look beyond the interests of a single development and consider what is best for the Island as a whole.

Denying Katama Meadows is not a rejection of housing. It is a call for housing that meets the real needs of Island residents without permanently degrading the homeland we are trying to preserve.

I respectfully urge the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to deny the Katama Meadows subdivision.

Lynn Thorp,

Oak Bluffs

•  

On Thursday July 30, the Martha’s Vineyard Commissioners will have their final deliberations and vote on Katama Meadows. The MVC has the unique power and mandate to steer our future in a way that preserves all we love about the Vineyard and that I believe that the commissioners, and their staff need to exercise fully.

My hope is that they will think about how this project fits into a larger picture of what we want for the Vineyard, one that is sustainable and enjoyable for us all.

The MVC is being flooded with housing development applications, scantily disguised as affordable housing projects but which, in reality, do much to increase our market rate housing stock. Katama Meadows is, unfortunately, one of a number that has come before them in this year alone.

At the Vineyard Conservation Society annual meeting, some alarming statistics were cited. It was said that of the 55,000 acres we have here, 13,500 could sell be developed; that we have 19,000 homes here now and could have another 11,000. I don’t believe we can sustain that and be anywhere akin to the Vineyard we all know and love. For many who have been on this island for a long ome, we are sadly already well past that. We need to therefore work as hard as we can star%ng right now to be thoughVul and conscientious in how we shape the future of our Island.

It is time for the MVC to take a broader view and do some regional planning: lay out a solid master plan for what this Island can sustain and sell be habitable and enjoyable for all. This means looking at carrying capacity factors: how much more development we can sustain and the impacts of increased population on traffic, schools and health care, considering how much ferry service we want, issues of water quality-both drinking and in our ponds, wastewater and solid waste, housing needs and quality of life and community. With a master plan, applications can be weighed as to their true benefits and detriments, instead of being decided upon piecemeal.

Katama Meadows clears 28 acres of land which lessens carbon sequestration, has the potenial to cause harm to Edgartown Great Pond and in reality, does little to add to our needed affordable housing as only 3 of the proposed 52 lots have a vehicle – via Habitat for Humanity- to be built at an “affordable” rate.

I hope that the MVC will deny this project which offers little to our Island and then take the @me to shape a vision for our future that is sustainable and enjoyable for us all that can serve as a guide for thoughVul decision-making.

Sincerely,

Kate Warner,

West Tisbury

•  

Community is probably the best thing we have going for us as an Island of noteworthy distinction and popularity. In spite of arguable changes that have been made during our history, ones that threatened this benchmark of our MV culture, we have been able to abate threats to our sense of “community.” We instinctively know that this ethos actually works and has splendid benefits, and is the prize we naturally seek. I think most of us did not come here to belong to a crowd. Rather, we came for insularity that was graced by the comfort, safety and necessity of “community.”

When I think of the proposed development of Katama Meadows, I think of its inherent threat to what we are as a people. Right away, I think...here we go, one more stab at our hallowed “community” that we so love and which has, for most of our existence, defined what we seek as Islanders. This is not the kind of development that is conducive to the common ground of devotion to one another, upheld rules that protect our Natural Habitat, the lack of class distinction, our own happine

ss, absence of school shootings, other horrible crimes that occur on a regular basis off-Island, walking freely, and being unafraid in the woods and in towns.

We have a sense of community that permeates all that is good about us, but I don’t see this in the Katama Meadows project. There is nothing in this project for the community with the exception of the three lots designated for Habitat for Humanity. I wonder, too, if the proposed 26 large lots for market-rate luxury houses of 3,800 square feet will it do anything good for the community, as they will most likely be short-term rentals and investment properties. That smacks of “transient” to me. Also, what about the pools that surely will be included along with the manicured, fertilized lawns and what that will do for the water system we depend upon? Then there are the 2.8 acres divided into 14 lots for supposedly construction of affordable housing, but there is no plan or funding for construction of the housing. Furthermore, why are these lots sequestered away from the others? This is not community minded, it’s isolation.

Another extremely discouraging fact about this project is what it will do to the community of Edgartown and to the Island as a whole in the harm it will cause with increased nitrogen pollution to Edgartown Great Pond. How will that pond be fished after that or used for recreation? Along these lines, it is frightfully sad to think of the clearing of 28 acres of land, resulting in about 1,500 tons of lost carbon storage – a massive carbon footprint that is anti-ethical to the MVC’s Climate Action Plan that was adopted just four years ago.

I think and know from personal experience that the MVC is there to keep watch over and protect the whole Island. Note that “Island’ is capitalized and also bears the nickname “The Vineyard” because we are, indeed, singular, and a sparkling gem in the ocean, a very special place that is increasingly popular and sought after for our uniqueness. We are six towns that act as one, and that is so E Pluribus Unum.

The MVC is an essential helpmate to keep this idea of “community” alive and in very good health. At this point, I am in favor of the MVC turning this project down because many of us don’t find it safe for the Island.

Respectfully submitted,

Doris Ward,

Edgartown

•  

I am writing to express my opposition to the proposed Katama Meadows development. It’s clear that many Islanders share the view that this development is not the answer to any of our problems. This project would result in the deforestation of a 54-acre lot, destroying areas designated by the state as “Priority Habitat”. This development would also further strain the already fragile Edgartown Great Pond ecosystem through additional wastewater and fertilizer runoff.

Yes, we are experiencing a housing crisis, and I do believe that there are times when it’s worth sacrificing undeveloped land to provide affordable housing. However, with more than 40 per cent of the Island permanently protected as open space and roughly another 30% already developed, the Vineyard has a limited amount of land remaining to build on. We are also seeing signs that the Island is approaching its carrying capacity, including increased traffic and growing strain on our public systems.

All that said, we should do our best to ensure that new developments aren’t just more summer homes. New housing should serve the teachers, first responders, service workers, fishermen, tradesmen, and small business owners who keep the Island running year-round. Unfortunately, I do not believe that the Katama Meadows project will do any of that. 2.8 acres out of the 54 will be gifted to the town of Edgartown for potential future affordable housing. The developer himself is not building any affordable housing, making it difficult to see how this proposal meaningfully addresses the Island’s housing shortage.

Reflecting on my experience growing up on the island relative to stories my parents tell of their childhood here, I am struck by how much of the Vineyard’s character has been preserved. I believe one reason we’ve stayed cool, while many other tourist destinations have not, can be attributed to the MVC. It’s a very unique regional body that has done a good job at slowing the pace of change and taking the time to make sure any DRI goes forward in the island’s best interests. With that in mind, I hope the threat of litigation from the developer will not affect how the Commission votes on this issue.

This is not the development the Island wants or needs. I support the MVC in voting no on the Katama Meadows proposal. Sincerely,

Silas Abrams

Chilmark

•  

I’m writing as a resident of Oak Bluffs to share my concerns about the Katama Meadows development proposal, and to say something about why the Martha’s Vineyard Commission itself matters so much to me.

The MVC exists because no single town board can be expected to weigh a project’s impact on the whole island, the water we all drink, the pond we all fish and swim in, the roads we all sit in traffic on. That’s the entire point of the Development of Regional Impact process. Katama Meadows is a real test of whether that process works the way it’s supposed to.

What draws me — and I think what draws most people — to this island is precisely what large-scale development erodes: clean water, open land, working farms and fields, and a slower pace of life that depends on all of us keeping growth in proportion to what the land and infrastructure can actually support. If projects like Katama Meadows continue to be approved, we will lose all of this. We already see the Great Ponds being covered in harmful algae blooms due to excess nitrogen runoff from houses, beaches becoming smaller and smaller due to erosion, and once open spaces becoming overrun by new houses, shops, and parking lots.

If Katama Meadows is approved by the MVC, we will see these effects in double time. The traffic will get worse, a project of this size will add cars to roads that are already at capacity in the summer, and will make an already-stressed ferry reservation system even harder for residents to navigate. The habitat that supports hundreds of rare and threatened species will be gone, leaving them with nowhere else on the Island to go. The community and character will also be threatened, growth at this scale does not just affect the environment it also costs the town in infrastructure, emergency services, and school capacity.

I want the MVC to know that many residents — myself included — stand firmly behind them. The right decision for Martha’s Vineyard shouldn’t be made under the shadow of a lawsuit.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Maija Kastrud

•  

I strongly urge the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to reject the Katama Meadows development. I will support the MVC on this decision.

This unnecessary luxury housing development would require the removal of many trees near the Edgartown Great Pond. This deforestation would be the destruction of one of the last green swaths of intact land to support wildlife movement across the eastern part of the island.

Furthermore, the condition of Vineyard ponds is already fragile due to existing development impacts, including runoff from fertilized lawns, which has been scientifically proven to be at fault in weakening the ponds’ ecosystems. The forested land in question is at once a carbon sink to protect our climate in this vulnerable era, and forested land doesn’t leach nitrogen the way lawns do.

Furthermore, excessive deforestation endangers our island ecosystem through habitat loss and destroys the arboreal canopy, which provides relief from increasing heat.

Scientific studies tell us there are already dangerous levels of nitrogen due to the runoff from existing lawns, which is proven to be injurious to the ponds’ ecosystems, without adding additional building development. Just this week (July 20), there were bulletins warning of cyanobacteria blooms cau

sing neon green slime in our great ponds, making these recreational goldmines a danger to humans and pets, instead of the treasure that they could be.

I know full well the need for affordable housing. As the parent of two grown kids and a school teacher in contact with hundreds of students who are facing the need to go somewhere else to start their adult lives, I see the need every day. It is heartbreaking to think that home ownership here is an impossible dream, out of reach for so many due to the price of land and housing.

The island’s character is under incredible pressure. The very fabric of our communities is being degraded by the amount of expensive housing being built. Katama Meadows represents still more unneeded luxury development which endangers the future safety of our towns. It is hard to attract and keep highly trained and vital professionals such as medical providers, police officers, school teachers, or trade professionals, who are unable to secure reliable housing. Many young adults who grew up here and truly care about the island they call their home can’t afford to stay.

In sitting through meetings at the MVC, it was clearly shown that the so-called “attainable” housing units that have been proposed by the developers of the Katama Meadows will still cost well above a million dollars — out of reach of most local home buyers.

Neither our environment nor our community can withstand this pressure, and what weakens the community will also weaken the business climate of Martha’s Vineyard. Finally, this development has been described as not an affordable or community housing option but more of a way to extract money and export that money to Utah, as was said during a public hearing I attended this spring in the MVC offices.

Martha’s Vineyard Commissioners, I believe in you and your mission. Please protect the island community we love and the ecological conditions that allow us and the animal and plant communities to continue to survive along with us. What we need is housing that truly meets the needs of the island community and doesn’t come at the degradation of our environment.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Bradley,

Edgartown

•  

As a year-round resident and concerned citizen of Edgartown for over 45 years, I rely on the MVC to look out for the best interests of our Island community. I support the MVC decision to deny Katama Meadows. I worry that we are losing our talented young people and skilled professional workers essential to keeping our island health, well-being, and economy thriving. We do urgently need low-income and affordable housing opportunities that meet the interests of maintaining a healthy community. What we do not need is development primarily benefiting those who wish to invest in housing potentially designed for seasonal short term rental property. A development like Katama Meadows is exactly what we do not need.

The consequence of allowing developers with financial interests and investment (i.e. greed) in exploiting this beautiful community is ruining our environment and acting against the real needs of community residents, non-profits, and businesses here.

Respectfully,

Lynn Ditchfield,

Edgartown

•  

This letter is in support of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission voting no on the Katama Meadows project. Development of this size will negatively impact further traffic congestion, Edgartown Great Pond pollution, habitat fragmentation and quality of life on the Vineyard.

Traffic has become so bad that there are times when there are no parking spaces for going to the market and other errands. And nitrogen loading in the Great Pond will increase cyanobacteria growth.

This development will exacerbate the already existing problems we have just getting around on the Island. If it weren’t for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, we would have been similarly impacted years ago. It’s time to say no to further development of this size. We’ve reached our capacity.

Martha Moore,

West Tisbury

•  

I am writing in opposition to the proposed Katama Meadows project.

I’m a 26-year-old woman who grew up on the Island. I work in the service industry year-round, and already many times this summer I’ve ben asked, “where are you from?”

I state that I grew up on the Island, and they become shocked and curious. They tell me how much they are enjoying being here and how beautiful it is. Eventually, they ask me if I am planning to leave. I never know how to respond because it is such a bold question. The fact is I do not want to leave. I love this community and this beautiful Island.

I believe that this development of Katama Meadows will only increase this idea that Martha’s Vineyard is a temporary place. The large growth of most likely short-term rentals and investment properties does not benefit the local community and environment.

Support small, smart growth.

Salyn Yancey,

Vineyard Haven