A new subdivision plan in Edgartown could help Islanders who make too much money to qualify for affordable housing but don’t earn enough to afford the Vineyard’s sky high real estate prices. 

In a meeting with the Martha’s Vineyard Commission last week, attorney Rob McCarron pitched creating nine “community” lots and seven market-rate lots on about 4.5 acres of land on Jernegan Pond Road. The community lots would be restricted to people making no more than 200 per cent of the area median income — a higher percentage than public affordable housing projects are allowed to target.

With the Island’s median home sale price at $1.5 million in 2023, hitting this “missing middle” demographic could help the Island keep its professionals, Mr. McCarron said. 

“The affordable housing programs, while incredibly helpful and important, you can’t earn too much or you don’t qualify for them,” Mr. McCarron said. 

The backers of the project hope it can help keep professionals on the Island.

Ray Ewing

The backers of the project hope it can help keep professionals on the Island.

Ray Ewing

Mr. McCarron did not plan to build any homes on the lots, with the exception of one duplex that would be set aside as more traditional affordable housing for people making under 140 per cent of the area median income. Community lot purchasers would be limited to building homes with no more than 1,800 square feet of living space and a small outbuilding. 

The 17-acre property eyed for the subdivision is owned by the Jean G. Cohen Family Trust. A former Edgartown town treasurer and selectman, Ms. Cohen died in 2018, and Mr. McCarron is a trustee of the family trust.  

Mr. McCarron also told the commission he was interested in setting up five of the units to be for people who are first responders, or work at educational institutions and health care, and he planned to implement a one per cent transfer fee on future property sales that would go to the Edgartown affordable housing committee. 

As part of the project, about 10 acres of the 17-acre property would be donated to Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, which owns the abutting Dark Woods Preserve.  

While numbers were still being fleshed out, the trust’s application said that the three-bedroom community lots would be offered for sale at about $225,000, which would be a discount of between $350,000 and $400,000 from the current market value. The average lot size for the development would be just under 8,000 square feet. 

Several residents on Jernegan Pond Road threw their support for the project. Peter and Nancy Shemeth have lived on the road for 48 years and said it would be a positive for the Island. 

“The plan meets the needs for those in the community that are unable to purchase a home and do not qualify for affordable housing projects,” the couple wrote in a letter to the commission. 

Commission members had several questions about the project, including on the income restrictions and the open space plan. Some last-minute changes to the proposal from the applicant prompted the commission to set up a second public hearing date on Sept. 12.

Commission member Doug Sederholm seemed impressed with the idea. 

“You’ve put a lot of work into this and we appreciate it,” he said.