The Edgartown board of health on Tuesday ordered the owner of an overcrowded residential Ocean Heights home to make improvements following two recent inspections at the property.

The board found 15 beds spread across five permitted bedrooms at the 19th St. North residence during an inspection on June 24 that deemed the property an imminent hazard. During a public hearing Tuesday, Edgartown health agent Brice Boutot said the board partially condemned the house after determining the basement was an immediate concern for the health and safety of occupants.

“[The basement] was a death trap waiting to happen,” Mr. Boutot said during Tuesday’s hearing.

The board first received complaints in April from concerned neighbors that observed overflowing trash, more than 20 cars on the property and a number of rats. Upon inspection, the board also found a number of fire code violations, including a lack of smoke alarms and egress windows in bedrooms, as well as an open-flame stove connected to a propane tank in the basement.

The five-bedroom residence was purchased in 2018 by Thiago Machado, the owner of Washashore Heating and Cooling.

During a public hearing on July 8, the board of health required Mr. Machado to vacate all residents from the basement, reduce occupancy to five people and comply with fire code requirements.

 Following a second inspection, Mr. Boutot reported at Tuesday’s hearing that the basement was unoccupied, smoke detectors were installed and the open-flame stove had been removed. The fire and building departments still need to make their inspection.

Mr. Machado was required to submit a written plan of corrective action. In the plan, he included a bedroom in the basement with a kitchenette. He listed a kitchenette in the main house garage, which he also listed as a bedroom space, along with another kitchenette in the guest house garage, which he said is an office space. 

Mr. Boutot said only one of the kitchenettes, in the main house, could remain.

“Kitchenettes are meant to support the single-family kitchens,” Mr. Boutot said. “This is a single-family home. These are clearly different dwelling areas as they’ve been used in the past.”

He said the basement is not code-complaint and cannot be listed as a sleeping area until the board lifts the restriction. He said the office spaces are also not allowed.

“You have broken the rules,” Mr. Boutot said. “I could see the board denying any exception to those rules. That’s where we’re at right now.”

Building inspector Reade Milne echoed Mr. Boutot.

“My proposal is that we look at what was permitted and allowed, and that’s our starting point...” Ms. Milne said. “Anything that [Mr. Machado] wants to end up with, comes based off of that.”

Mr. Machado attended Tuesday’s hearing but made no comment. His lawyer, Robert Moriarty, spoke briefly on his behalf. 

“I did speak to my client about how we need to get rid of the kitchenettes,” Mr. Moriarty said. 

Mr. Boutot and Mr. Machado will meet on July 30 to discuss next steps. Mr. Machado is required to submit an updated plan by Aug. 1, after which Ms. Milne will either approve or deny within 30 days. Mr. Machado is required to make the necessary renovations to his home by Dec. 1, 2025.

Mr. Machado was also cited in 2018 for another overcrowding incident at the same property. At the time, the issues were discovered by Edgartown police officers who were responding to night-time reports of noise and disorderly conduct. A later inspection found 34 beds in both the main residence and guest house, which Mr. Machado told the health department he was renting to European students with J-1 visas who were primarily working for food establishments in Oak Bluffs and Edgartown.

A Dukes Country Superior Court mandate required Mr. Machado to reduce occupancy to 10 people, the property’s maximum septic capacity. After health inspections found Mr. Machado was in compliance, the case was dismissed. 

Town officials later tried to reopen the case after neighbors observed Mr. Machado doing work on the guest house — raising concerns about occupancy. Court records indicate the case did not proceed.

In an interview with the Gazette after Tuesday’s hearing, Mr. Machado said he was unaware of the recent overcrowding. He claimed that nine people were living in the house, but he had no prior knowledge that that many people were there. 

“I don’t think this is fair,” Mr. Machado said.

Mr. Machado told the Gazette he was renting the home to a family and only had one signed lease, which stated there could be no more than six residents. He said he didn’t know there were others living in the house and did not supply the extra beds, nor the camping stove. 

“I can’t go to the property everyday [and] inspect the house...” Mr. Machado said. “I have to work 16 hours a day.”

Prior to the inspection, Mr. Machado said it had been over a year since he had been to the house.

Mr. Machado told the Gazette that he referred the residents he had to vacate to a friend with a house in Oak Bluffs and they are living in his friend’s two-bedroom basement.

“As soon as I found [out] about the problem, I was able to take action,” he said. 

In a statement, Mr. Machado wrote that his intention was always to support the year-round community. Given the situation, he said he’s been forced to make the difficult decision to only offer the property as a short-term rental moving forward.