Revised Meeting House Way Development Comes Before MVC

<p>A redesigned Meeting House Place subdivision plan is set to go before the Martha&rsquo;s Vineyard Commission for a public hearing Thursday evening.

A redesigned Meeting House Place subdivision plan is set to go before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for a public hearing Thursday evening, after concerns about the Edgartown development’s size and scope sent previous iterations of the project back to the drawing board.

Even though the commission held two public hearings on the project earlier this year, the applicants have since altered the original plan multiple times, leading to the most recent version. The developers are a limited liability company called Meeting House Way LLC, with principals listed as Douglas K. Anderson and Richard G. Matthews. The developers bought the property in 2017 for $6.6 million.

The new version of the plan has trimmed the development envelope on the 54-acre property between Meeting House Way and Meshacket Road in Edgartown. It includes a denser, 28-lot subdivision with 10 below-market rate townhouses available for first time homebuyers and “empty nesters.” Acreage for the market-rate lots will range from half an acre to just under one acre, with the average lot size around three-quarters of an acre.

About 58 per cent of the property will remain undeveloped open space, with 21 of the 25 acres of priority Natural Heritage habitat remaining protected. The property includes habitat for the endangered imperial moth.

The penultimate version of the plan included 34 market-rate lots broken up into three development clusters, with lot acreage ranging from half an acre to just less than two acres. While previous plans limited the homes to 6,300 square feet and seven bedrooms, the new version limits square footage to 4,800 square feet with a maximum of five bedrooms per lot. All access for the subdivision will come off Division Road.

Even with the changes, the subdivision remains one of the largest housing developments to come before the commission in recent years and has prompted changes to the commission’s affordable housing contribution. The new version of the plan offers to pay the Edgartown affordable housing committee $1,112,200 in mitigation, $490,000 of which would be paid on receipt of permits required to construct the subdivision. Additionally, the applicant will pay another $22,222 for every lot sold, which would total $622,200. Every future lot sale would require a fee equaling one per cent of the sale price to go to the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority or a similar agency.

Another significant difference between in the new plan version is the inclusion of 10 townhouses, each one 1,000 square feet in size. The townhouses would be priced at $579,000 for qualified buyers and subject to an annual five per cent increase in price. Qualified buyers include first-time homeowners who have lived and worked on the Island for five years, or a person who is at least 60 years of age and has lived on the Island for the past 15 years. The townhouses would be deed restricted for 25 years.

The market-rate lots would also have sustainability and green energy covenants, including a requirement for Energy Star-rated appliances and the construction of solar power arrays.

The public hearing begins at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Olde Stone Building in Oak Bluffs. Commissioners will also open a public hearing on the Mill House project, which was demolished earlier this spring.

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/22/2019 - 13:48

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Jo

$579,000 is not below market rate for a two-bed condo in that neighborhood. The most recent two-bed condos in Meetinghouse Village have sold at market rate for significantly less. The Meetinghouse Village condos are over 20% larger, have few restrictions, are already built, and have a pool! I am in favor of townhomes for young families, empty-nesters, and anyone who wants one, but how about something that is at least AT or below market rate?

BS Oak Bluffs

Newly built condos in Edgartown have been selling for roughly $697 a sq ft. So yes, these are under market value by well over $100 k.

Bob Edgartown

No they are not and if you live in Katama then you should know they are selling 1,300 sq ft condos for over $800K and they are not even winterized!! A brand new home anywhere on the island for $579,000 will sell in minutes to the qualified year round population.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 08/22/2019 - 17:20

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Meeting House neighbor Edgartown

MVC is getting conned. ADEC Realty Trust (Burke Ross), and the other 9 acre abutter, are waiting in the wings to propose their own subdivisions right after this is approved. They are staging this together so as not to get caught in a larger scenario. Beware.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 08/23/2019 - 18:18

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fair is fair edg

Let them build at the same density as the whiners in Island grove. `1/2 acre zoning. we need the ratables and the tradesmen need work

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