Weighing the pressing need for affordable housing over its other planning principles, the Martha's Vineyard Commission early this morning approved with heavy conditions an unusual 11-unit subdivision in the rural outposts of Edgartown.

"This is really a referendum on us as a community. If we can't find a way to provide homes for our working-class residents, then we fail," said commissioner Chris Murphy of Chilmark. "The results of this project are damn good. I think the applicant should be proud, and we should be proud."