Let’s face it; if the character and beauty of this Island is its lifeblood, the second home industry is a form of incremental suicide.
Let’s face it; if the character and beauty of this Island is its lifeblood, the second home industry is a form of incremental suicide. Death by a thousand cuts. House after house is built, each one fragmenting and wiping away more of the natural world, the very thing that attracted people here in the first place. If we lose an intact environment, we lose some very real value, not just rural character, clean water and shellfish resources, but the people, their disposable incomes and their tax dollars.
Growth as an economic engine must necessarily have limits when the natural assets are what drives the economy. This is especially true on an Island — a finite area of land, and, in the case of our Island, we are both shrinking (from sea level rise) and sinking (subsiding).
Growth equals more noise, more roads, more traffic, more lights, more people. Less nature. There will come a tipping point where too much growth spoils the magic. People will turn their backs on the Island because it will be just like everywhere else (only more expensive and harder to get to).
The second home market and spiraling property values is a major contributor to the need for affordable housing. It is the root cause of runaway growth and is propelling environmental degradation. The rate of growth of second homes needs to be slowed.
Meanwhile, support for common sense affordable housing strategies is critical:
• Focus on infilling and redevelopment of the built environment — the Phillips Hardware project is an excellent example, and updated zoning to accommodate it.
• Focus on areas near existing transportation, shopping and schools.
• Focus on building walkable communities that break our constant dependence on car trips.
• Focus on areas that are sewered; new septic systems will increase the already dire problem of excess nitrogen in the salt ponds.
• Avoid undeveloped areas; if new construction must happen, focus on areas near existing development that won’t fragment the natural environment.
About affordable housing, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s Island Plan states:
“The provision of community housing is essential to preserving the social fabric of the Island community and to maintain an adequate work force to sustain the Vineyard economy.”
It is time to take a hard look at the underlying assumptions. Is the Vineyard economy sustainable? Not if it is based on a model requiring continued growth. More second homes means more required services. That means ever more affordable housing. More trees felled, more pavement, more waste, and the loss of the very social fabric we are trying to protect.
We can’t keep relying on second homes to pay the bills and drive the economy. There has got to be a brighter, more sustainable path to follow.
Liz Durkee
Oak Bluffs
The writer is the Oak Bluffs conservation agent and a board member for the Vineyard Conservation Society.
Comments
Hello Liz and thank you for
Paul Lazes Vineyard HavenHello Liz and thank you for your letter to the editor. A few thoughts : Although you will not agree, please see my recent letter to the editor "What's Wrong with this picture".
I agree with you about many of your suggestions, but don't believe there is a realistic way to either stop second home development or that your solutions to affordable housing is enough in what appears to be the necessary time frame. There is a rush caused by the amount of people who end up leaving the Island annually and my guess is this will accelerate. Making annual gains by increments of 10-20-30 newly affordable housing is realistically being overshadowed by people who can't wait.
The solution has to be many pronged. Your ideas are valid and ought to be pursued and I encourage you to consider my proposal.
Sincerely,
Paul Lazes
I agree 110% with
marcia ditieri past yearly residentI agree 110% with conservation efforts. As a long time visitor I always looked forward to long bicycle rides with nature all around, horse and Llama farms. Clean Oceans and Ponds (which are now dying, due to a antiquate sewer system. Recent mass tree cutting instead of arborists healing not destroying, the forests.
Culling is not the answer to Lyme disease reduction, Ticks are the problem. Injectable birth control to keep deer in check, Sterilization of ticks so they do not reproduce and insects that kill these monsters instead of Hunters killing the deer.
I have not returned in the past few years, because the Martha's Vinyard of the past, seems to be dying. Residents used to keep it simple, protect what was important, & kept it beautiful. There were homes for every Class of people, but greed has taken over. I pray it's not to late
Perhaps the writer doesn't
deshandra brown mvPerhaps the writer doesn't remember the 'good old days' before the building of second home became the economic engine that drove the island economy, and 'lifted all boats'. Typically a family would struggle, on the verge of poverty. The husband might do some caretaking,house painting, drive some rich persons boat in the summer to make ends meet. The wife would be a cleaning lady at one of the hotels. In the winter, they would collect unemployment and go scalloping 'off the books' for a few bucks. Life basically sucked. Then, after our infamous Senator Ted Kennedy's careless driving killed Mary Jo (RIP), Jaws came along. We had our minor building boom/bust scenarios in the 1980s-1990s. Then Slicky Willy and Hillary came here, and were followed by the limousine liberal Hollywood types who wanted a piece of the rock, along with their wall street puppeteers. Then Barry decides to bless us with his presence for 7 summers, further cementing the thought among these limousine liberal money types that this was the 'place to be'. While I do disagree with their political leanings, their money is green. It has lifted ALL boats here. Without exception ,everyone makes a buck off the second home industry, from the tradespeople to the service industry that maintains it, cuts the grass, cleans the houses, etc etc. Lets not forget the restaurants and shops that make their living from those with discretionary income. Go take a sightseeing flight around the island with that biplane in Katama. YOu will be AMAZED at the amount of GREEN forested land. Make no mistake about it, the majority of it will NEVER be built upon. And most of these second homeowners who subsidize the year round residents ask for nothing other than to be left alone. And when they aren't here using the goods and services their property taxes subsidize, they are generously opening their checkbooks to the massive amount of island nonprofits who have their hands out.
Sorry, but that ship left the
Frank MillerSorry, but that ship left the pier more than forty years ago.
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