Windsor Circuit Ltd., the owner of the building that formerly housed the Lampost, is seeking to overturn a 2022 commission decision that denied the company’s request to reduce the number of restricted workforce housing units in what used to be the bar’s upper three floors. 

The owner of the former Lampost building in Oak Bluffs went to court against the Martha’s Vineyard Commission late last week.

The commission vote was unanimous to deny a request to reduce the number of workforce housing units in the downtown building. The critical need for worker housing was cited.

A key subcommittee of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted 7-0 with one abstention Monday night to recommend that the full commission deny a plan by the owner of the former Lampost in Oak Bluffs to sharply reduce the number of restricted workforce apartments.

Workforce housing was in the spotlight Thursday night when the owner of the Lampost in Oak Bluffs aired a formal request to reduce the number of restricted workforce apartments in his building.

In a hostile standoff with the commission over whether renting out restricted workforce housing as short-term summer rentals violates a condition attached to a prior approval, the owner of the Lampost said he is not out of compliance.