Three Island residents walked away from the Tisbury selectmen’s meeting this past week with the opportunity to buy a home close to downtown Vineyard Haven for a dramatically reduced price.
The West Tisbury select board and the town’s affordable housing committee will continue to develop a grant program incentivizing town residents to construct affordable housing on their properties.
Southern Tier, a 60-unit housing development proposed to be built next to the Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena, went before the town’s zoning board of appeals this week, one of the only remaining regulatory hurdles left for the project.
It is clear that the Island is losing the fabric of its community at a mind-boggling rate because of the lack of affordable housing here.
More than 200 Islanders are expected to take part in Martha Goes to Beacon Hill on March 23, an event organized by the Coalition to Create the Martha’s Vineyard Housing Bank.
A program incentivizing West Tisbury residents to build affordable housing on their property will not appear before voters at the upcoming town meeting.
The West Tisbury select board voted March 8 to remove the program from the town meeting warrant. Citing concerns from the town manager and town attorney, the board considered documents provided by the town’s affordable housing committee for the program to be incomplete.
A proposed zoning amendment to allow affordable housing projects on private roads in Tisbury with a special permit has split the town’s planning board.
