For the second time in as many years, a grass roots coalition to form a Martha’s Vineyard housing bank has begun to take hold on the Island —this time joining at least six other communities across the commonwealth.
With five towns now calling for further review, the plan to create an Islandwide housing bank is officially on hold. West Tisbury voters decided Tuesday night to reconsider an earlier vote to approve the bank.
The Islandwide housing bank appears to be headed back to the drawing board after Chilmark voters put the brakes on the plan at their annual town meeting Monday night.
After strong defeats in the three down-Island annual town meetings and a victory in West Tisbury last week, proponents of the controversial housing bank are turning their attention up-Island, where two more town meetings and a vote on the bank’s funding mechanism remain.
Edgartown and Oak Bluffs voters defeated the controversial housing bank question Tuesday night, while in West Tisbury the question won approval. Tisbury voters take up the question tonight.
As voters in four towns prepare to weigh in next week on a wide range of issues at annual town meetings, one issue has dominated Island discourse: the proposal to create a housing bank.
In 2004, recognizing the need for the creation of year-round housing across the Island, the majority of voters in all Island towns voted to petition the state legislature to create an Islandwide housing bank and fund it with a steady, dependable source of new revenue.
