The developer behind two of the most controversial housing proposals in recent years is coming back to Island officials with a plan to build 40 condominiums on two acres along Edgartown-West Tisbury Road in Edgartown.
William Cumming has applied to build the Edgartown Cove housing project on a vacant lot just west of Codman Spring Road, and is set to go before the Edgartown zoning board of appeals next week.
The project is the latest so-called 40B housing project from Mr. Cumming, and could set up another battle over the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s authority to oversee these types of housing projects.
Edgartown Cove would be made of home-ownership units, with 10 set aside for sale to households earning up to 80 per cent of the area median income and 30 designated market-rate. That qualifies Edgartown Cove as a 40B housing project under state law, which means that it can have a streamlined application process with the zoning board of appeals and would be able to skirt some zoning requirements.
Mr. Cumming, who grew up in Edgartown, is currently locked in legal fights over his Edgartown Gardens proposal that was eyed for Upper Main street in Edgartown and the 116-unit Green Villa project near the high school in Oak Bluffs.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission denied Edgartown Gardens last fall and approved Green Villa in May, though with conditions that Mr. Cumming said made the project unfeasible. The developer is contesting the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s ability to review 40B housing projects after a state housing board overturned decades of legal precedent.
Under state law, 40B applications are consolidated to a single permitting process with a municipality’s zoning board to help fast-track housing in communities that lag behind on state housing goals.
Other local boards can send concerns to the zoning board for consideration, but don’t have their own public hearing process.
The Vineyard has operated differently, though. For years, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, which was created by the state legislature in 1974, also reviewed 40Bs ahead of the town permitting process.
That was all thrown into limbo in April, when the Massachusetts Housing Appeals Committee ruled that the MVC should be considered a local board and cut out of the process.
Edgartown and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission filed an appeal of that decision in Dukes County Superior Court in May. The parties met briefly last week, but took no action as the Housing Appeals Committee works on finalizing its prior preliminary decision.
If Mr. Cumming prevails, he will have succeeded in overturning the review process on the Island for some of the most disputed projects.
Despite the opposition from the commission and Edgartown, Mr. Cumming sees his fight as getting the Vineyard in line with the rest of Massachusetts.
“There is an overriding structure, legal structure in society to get this housing built, and we seem to just kind of ignore that and fight it in this community more so than others,” he said in an interview this week.
As that plays out, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and the Edgartown zoning board plan to continue reviewing 40B housing projects as they have in the past. Edgartown Cove would be the first new 40B application since the Housing Appeals Committee decision.
Edgartown zoning administrator Brae Eddleston said Tuesday that the zoning board would refer the project to the commission “without question,” and MVC executive director Adam Turner said the commission would proceed as normal.
“We’re going to review the benefits and detriments as we always have,” he said.
Mr. Cumming, who before getting into development worked in investment banking with a specialty in distressed debt, has not been shy about fighting for his projects in court and with the state Housing Appeals Committee. He said that only time will tell if another battle comes out of Edgartown Cove.
“My guess is a referral is an attempt to preserve their legal rights until Land Court rules,” he told the Gazette. “That said we will not be holding a duplicative review process.”
As proposed, Edgartown Cove would have six multi-family buildings, with a total of eight three-bedroom units and 32 one-bedroom units. The one-bedrooms would be about 680 square feet and the three-bedrooms would be about 1,360 square feet, according to the application.
Mr. Cumming said he was open to changing the units to rentals, if the town was willing to pitch in to make that financially feasible.
The buildings would have the typical New England trappings: cedar shake or clapboard siding with white windows and a pitched shingle roof.
Mr. Cumming has a purchase and sale agreement on the property for $1.4 million. The current owner is the Arthur Luongo Trust.
The decision to make this project into several multi-family buildings was due, in part, to the Island’s lack of diversity when it comes to housing types. Eighty-two per cent of the Island’s housing stock, according to Mr. Cumming, is single-family homes.
“Smaller homes serve households at different stages of life, including first-time buyers and residents approaching retirement,” Mr. Cumming wrote in a presentation filed with the zoning board.
“Additionally, downsizers are competing for the few smaller homes with young couples and younger families trying to join the property ladder,” he wrote.
Preliminary cost estimates have the one-bedroom units at $157,700 for a person making 80 per cent of the area median income, which is about $83,000. The market rate cost is projected to be about $700,000. A three-bedroom unit could be about $186,000 for an 80 per cent area median income buyer and $1.1 million at market rate.
When Mr. Cumming first broached the idea for the project with the town earlier this year, several boards raised concerns.
The affordable housing committee noted that the project consisted largely of market-rate units, which would increase demand for municipal services while providing little to no housing for the Island’s essential workforce.
“The Edgartown Affordable Housing Committee does not believe that developers should be allowed to weaponize Chapter 40B for their own gain when developments of this size do not adequateley address the real housing needs of the town,” committee chair Melissa Vincent wrote in a July letter.
The developer is seeking to connect to the town sewer, as several of the nearby properties are, but that could be a stumbling block moving forward. In documents filed with the zoning board ahead of the hearing, town officials noted that a new sewer connection would need to be built in the area.
“The timeframe for approval of a sewer main extension to capture that area is approximately 10 years on the low end and potentially 12 years before installation — if the Town decides on a multi-phase approach,” wrote Edgartown wastewater superintendent Joseph Rock.
Though the state goal for affordable housing is 10 per cent for all communities, Edgartown is currently only at about 4.5 per cent. By Mr. Cumming’s calculations, the town would need a minimum of 150 more affordable units to come into compliance with state regulations.
Mr. Cumming said he didn’t wish to get into legal spats to get his projects to fruition, but he is willing to wage that conflict if needed to build more housing on the Island where he grew up.
“I wish there was a clear set of rules and everybody followed it,” he said. “And, unfortunately, we’re in this gray zone that is going to get clarified. I think we’ll prevail. I think the commission will appeal it. And that’s okay, that’s their right.”
The Edgartown zoning board of appeals will meet on Oct. 28 at 4 p.m. to discuss the project.
This article appears in October 23 2026.