Edgartown selectmen reacted sharply after learning that state Sen. Julian Cyr and Rep. Dylan Fernandes had filed legislation to establish a housing bank three months ago.
Question, concerns and support were all expressed at a housing bank forum held to discuss the details of two warrant articles coming to town meeting floor this season.
Edgartown selectmen sent a letter to state Rep. Dylan Fernandes and Sen. Julian Cyr voicing strong opposition to the establishment of a housing bank using funds from the short-term rental tax.
An ad hoc citizen group has assembled to develop an action plan for the growing housing crisis on the Vineyard. The first step comes at town elections beginning next week, when voters will be asked to weigh in.
Community Preservation Comes Before Taxpayers at Annual Town Meeting
By JAMES KINSELLA Gazette Senior Writer
Abbe Burt looks at initiatives such as the Community Preservation
Act and the Community Housing Bank, and sees important ways of
addressing the Vineyard's lack of affordable housing.
Richard Combra, an Oak Bluffs selectman, looks at the same
initiatives and sees another tax on Island residents.
This week, the idea took a giant step closer to reality when Aquinnah became the sixth town to support the creation of a housing bank, modeled after the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank.
The concept is called the Martha's Vineyard Housing Bank.
Now the heavy lifting begins.
In order to become law, the housing bank needs approval from the state legislature and also every Vineyard town.
Draft legislation for the proposed Martha's Vineyard Housing Bank will circulate around the Island this month as organizers seek public comment before the bill is filed in the state legislature some time in early September.
If approved at the state level - a prospect that many are calling difficult - the legislation would still need to come back to the Vineyard for another round of binding votes.
Affordable Housing Initiative Clears Key Hurdles at Ballot Box
By JAMES KINSELLA
Voters in three Vineyard towns yesterday brought the Island a step closer to the creation of a housing bank by backing the initiative and enacting the Community Preservation Act.
Approval of the CPA in Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and West Tisbury provided a crucial step on the road to establishment of a housing bank, which would be modeled on the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank.
Martha's Vineyard may have an affordable housing crisis on its hands, but it also has the community support and political will to address the issue.
And if the Island's many grassroots housing organizations cooperate in their present efforts and continue to experiment with new ones, the crisis in the long run could change the Vineyard for the better.
