MVC Delays Vote Again on Meeting House Subdivision Plan

Noah Asimow Thursday, November 21 2019 - 9:11am

A Martha’s Vineyard Commission vote on the Meeting House Place subdivision in Edgartown will be put on hold after developers indicated they will file a revised plan, the commission said this week.

According to MVC executive director Adam Turner, developers Douglas K. Anderson and Richard G. Matthews are proposing new offers and changes to the plan for 54 acres off Meetinghouse Way in the rural perimeters of Edgartown. The changes have not been publicly detailed yet, but Mr. Turner said this week that a public hearing on the plan will reopen sometime in January.

The commission was scheduled to deliberate and vote on the plan at their meeting Thursday night.

The Meeting House Place developers are leading principals in a limited liability company that bought the property in 2017.

The new proposal will be the third iteration of the subdivision submitted to the commission for review. The first plan was for a clustered 34-lot market rate subdivision with home size capped at 5,000 square feet. After commissioners and members of the public voiced concerns about the project’s density, home size, location within natural heritage area and other issues, developers pulled the plan and went back to the drawing board.

They returned to the commission this summer with a revised proposal that included 28-market rate lots, a 4,800-square-foot maximum home size and less construction on ecologically sensitive land. That proposal also included 10 below-market rate townhouses for seniors or longtime Islanders.

The developers are also offering to contribute more than $1 million to affordable housing through various incentives.

The commission land use planning subcommittee has recommended that the commission deny the project.

Speaking to the Gazette by phone Wednesday, Mr. Turner said the commission would make the additional proposals publicly available online within a week. Although he did not get into specifics, he said the changes are substantial enough that the applicant requested a new public hearing process.

“There are basically changes in the housing,” Mr. Turner said. “Whether it be housing sizes, affordability, some of the structures. There are changes in the energy component. Not so much in the layout, but some things in the specifics of the layout.”

A date has not been set for the new hearing, but Mr. Turner said it would most likely occur after the start of the new year.

Comments

I am starting to question the

Ben Edgartown

I am starting to question the Commission and are they capable. I have had multiple dealings with them and this is a shake down of sorts -

I would just as soon not see

EDS Ft Lauderdale / Edgartown

I would just as soon not see another house built on the Vineyard buy that simply isn't going to happen and this doesn't appear to be too bad as revised. A study was done 7-8 years ago with all sorts of recommendations none of which have been given a second thought to my knowledge, much less implemented. The problem is way too many people are not satisfied with the way the Vineyard is. Frankly they should leave. If they don't the Vineyard is doomed; its just a question of how fast. Likewise as long as Vineyard families have more than two children and believe virtually all should be able to find good jobs on the Vineyard, the Island is doomed. This project probably will get approved though clearly it would have been easier had they been 'Island builders' many of which have done the Island no favor constructing McMansions - think of the McMansion on the south side of Sengy completed 7-8 years ago by an 'ialand' builder. Shame on him, and others. Greed reins on the Vineyard.

The dilemma is the Island

Public Trust Edgartown

The dilemma is the Island wants to tax all vacant land owners at fully buildable rates, yet make their land unusable through regulations impossible to meet. If someone buys one single vacant parcel, they can now build a huge mansion with no review, but if they divide their land, and want to build the same house, many untenable restrictions apply. The problem is the MVC has no guidelines, so the applicant has no idea what guidelines to follow to gain an approval. I am in favor of the MVC, but if it continues along this path, I suspect towns will once again leave the MVC. The MVC is simply a political group, and any applicant is at the mercy of the current mood or bias the MVC might have that particular day. A Federal lawsuit could probably end land regulation without any stated guidelines to follow.

Recommend denial based on

Downislander

Recommend denial based on what? Its on sewer and public water, so no nitrogen concerns. Large lot sizes, open space component, wildlife corridors, affordable housing lots- Im just not seeing the biggie here.

My hat is off to the MVC..

Diane Edgartown

My hat is off to the MVC.. We must remember that we are not Norwell or Duxbury, we are an Island with a very fragile infrastructure. A great example of a well planned subdivision is Deep Bottom. If you want to develop a large parcel of land the lot sizes should be similar to west Tisbury . Until we are able to get the current homes in Edgartown on town sewers we are in danger of destroying our ecological system. What is affordable housing? As I look around the island there are many homes that could be purchased, fixed up both cosmetically and structurally. We could than subsidize the sale to people who qualify. Why build? I know I will get backlash but seriously for everyone who wants to worried about climate change let’s think out of the box. Let’s also work as an Island community not individual towns.
S

All this concern over new

Edgartownite Edgartown

All this concern over new building and the environment, yet no one is enforcing the laws in places like Island Grove that require everyone to be on sewer. How about working with the builders to make Meshacket and Meetinghouse safer with sidewalks and bike baths rather than affordable housing funds that just get spent on more studies?