A planned 40-unit affordable housing development in Edgartown moved closer to approval Thursday night as the Martha’s Vineyard Commission closed its public hearing on the project as a development of regional impact (DRI), leaving the written record open until 5 p.m. Oct. 6.
With 78 bedrooms in all, Meshacket Commons is being developed by Island Housing Trust and Affirmative Investments on about 6.75 acres of land leased from the town.
During Thursday’s hearing, commissioners questioned the extent of parking for the community as well as the limits of the free wi-fi the developers are offering and the dangers of winding, narrow Meshacket Road.
“Why is there all this parking?” asked Michael Kim, the state’s representative on the commission.
“Seventy spaces for 40 units of affordable housing? Really?” Mr. Kim added.
The planned 70 parking spaces, which include five handicapped-accessible spaces, will serve the residents of 26 two-bedroom apartments, six three-bedroom apartments and eight one-bedroom units, according to the applicants.
“On other projects, we’ve always figured on a car and a half per unit and that’s basically what we have here,” said IHT project manager Derrill Bazzy.
The one exception, Mr. Bazzy said, is an affordable apartment complex on Water street in Vineyard Haven that was built with no parking at all. But the Water street residences are steps from the supermarket, ferry terminal and bus stops, while Meshacket Commons is nearly a mile from the nearest public transportation and shopping, both at Morning Glory Farm on West Tisbury Road.
“The Vineyard is unfortunately a very auto-based situation,” Mr. Bazzy said. “In our experience, one and a half [spaces] per unit is pretty much what works for our tenants.”
The parking surface will be permeable crushed stone, Mr. Bazzy said.
Arielle Faria, who lives at the IHT-developed Morgan Woods Apartments, spoke up for the parking plan.
“There is almost always full parking in the evening when everyone is home,” she said of Morgan Woods. “I do not believe the amount of parking is excessive at all.”
Bicycle storage will also be provided, to encourage bike riding, said Craig Nicholson of Affirmative Investments.
Commissioner Jeff Agnoli, returning to a theme he sounded when the hearing opened two weeks earlier, expressed deep concern about the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians on winding Meshacket Road, which lacks sidewalks.
“It’s a problem,” said Mr. Agnoli, a longtime resident of nearby Island Grove.
“There are other developments taking place along this stretch,” he added.
The town of Edgartown, not the applicants, needs to step up and address road safety, said commissioner Doug Sederholm, who chairs the MVC’s land use planning committee.
“I hope the town is listening,” Mr. Sederholm said. “It’s the town’s land. It’s the town that hired you guys and it’s the town that wants this and it’s a fantastic project, but you’ve got to do something to protect the pedestrians and bicyclists and you, Craig, can’t do it. Only the town can do it,” he told Mr. Nicholson.
Mr. Sederholm challenged Mr. Nicholson on the free wi-fi at Meshacket Commons, which will be available at the central “community house” planned for the development.
“That doesn’t mean there would be free Wi-Fi throughout the 40 units,” Mr. Sederholm said.
Providing secure wi-fi to individual apartments has proved logistically difficult at other Affirmative Investments projects, Mr. Nicholson said.
“It also becomes a maintenance and basically customer service capacity that is forced upon our property managers that they’re really not equipped to handle,” he added.
The community house will be equipped with tables and chairs where schoolchildren and others can work with wi-fi, Mr. Nicholson said.
“That was always the plan, to have tables and chairs. We’ve designed the community house to have this capacity,” he said.
The individual housing units will be wired for cable television, Mr. Nicholson added in answer to another question from Mr. Sederholm.
“That is a requirement from the state that we cannot get around,” Mr. Nicholson said.
The Meshacket Commons plan also must pass review at the town level, he said.
Several other hearings originally on Thursday’s agenda were postponed, leaving time for MVC executive director Adam Turner to update commissioners on recent and upcoming staffing changes.
“Kate Warner has been hired as our energy planner with a grant from the Vision Fellowship. We now have a climate action planner and an energy planner, so it’s a really exciting time as we start to move in different directions,” Mr. Turner said.
With the departure of longtime housing planner Christine Flynn, the commission is looking to hire for that position, Mr. Turner continued.
Historic preservation specialist Christine Mankowski is leaving the Island and likely won’t be replaced, he added.
“We may go to peer review on the historic reports,” Mr. Turner said.
A new DRI coordinator is expected to start work next month, Mr. Turner said, at which point current DRI coordinator Alex Elvin will transition into the role of chief researcher for the MVC. Mr. Elvin also will assist the commission with its communications, Mr. Turner said.
The next MVC meeting is Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. and promises a packed agenda of continued hearings including the Navigator nursing home in Edgartown, Safe Harbor Marina, a proposed demolition on Look street in Vineyard Haven and the Stillpoint gathering place in West Tisbury.
“They will all be resumed and efficiently dealt with Oct. 6,” MVC chair Joan Malkin said as Thursday’s meeting concluded.
