The Martha’s Vineyard Commission spent nearly three hours weighing positive and negative aspects of the proposed Katama Meadows subdivision Thursday night, without arriving at a final vote.
Commissioners now plan to tackle the decision Oct. 15, more than nine months after opening their latest public hearing on the project in January.
“It’s time to get this over with,” Doug Sederholm said.
Last week, the commission voted that Katama Meadows would be detrimental to the Vineyard’s natural environment, its character and identity and the social development and recreation of its residents, while finding potential benefits to the local economy and the Island’s stock of low- to moderate-income housing and a likelihood of neutral effects from night lighting and traffic.
Thursday night, commissioners determined the subdivision posed neutral impacts on taxpayers, municipal services, and local regulations.
They also found the project would neither aid nor interfere with Edgartown’s general plan, but that it would have a negative effect on the commission’s 50-year Island Plan adopted in 2009.
Next week, the commission will make its core determination, which is enshrined in the MVC’s enabling legislation: whether or not the proposal is both essential and appropriate, given the available alternatives.
Martha’s Vineyard Commission meetings take place at 6:30 p.m. in the commission building on New York avenue in Oak Bluffs, as well as online.