The Boathouse and Field Club, a private, members-only club in Katama, pleaded guilty before a superior court judge last Friday to involuntary corporate manslaughter, taking criminal responsibility for the drowning death of a three-year-old boy last summer in the club’s pool.

Despite continued pressure from some Edgartown officials, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on Thursday stood firmly behind its previous decision to hold a public hearing on a request from the developers of the Field Club in Katama to pay $1.8 million to the town instead of designating three lots on their property for affordable housing.

After an hour of emotionally charged debate, the commission voted 10-3 to hold the hearing.

The developers for the upscale Field Club and adjoining subdivision in Katama have agreed to pay the Edgartown affordable housing committee $1.8 million in lieu of designating three lots in their project for affordable housing as required by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

The project was approved as a development of regional impact (DRI) in 2004 and calls for the construction of a 32-lot subdivision on the 24-acre site as well as a members-only recreational club. Club owners plan to sell 500 memberships for about $100,000 apiece.

The developers of a proposed exclusive recreational club at Katama
have resubmitted their application, substantially unchanged, to the
Edgartown zoning board of appeals only two weeks after withdrawing it in
the face of opposition from some board members.

The Edgartown zoning board of appeals this week gave tentative
approval to plans for an upscale members-only recreational facility in
Katama called the Field Club - although the board stopped short of
putting the plan to a vote.