One of the hottest topics on Nantucket currently is affordable housing. Several developers are jumping on the opportunity to use the shortage of affordable housing to leverage the approval of their development plans. For some it is working, for others, not so much. The Richmond Development Group, which has a major development planned for off of Old South Road, which will include apartments, single family houses and retail/office space, took its time, spoke with Town boards, planners and residents and formulated a plan from the feedback they heard. Although their original plan narrowly was defeated at the 2015 Town Meeting, a Special Town Meeting was called months later specifically to vote on Richmond’s plan and it passed no problem. On the flip side, a developer is trying to strong arm his way through permitting by way of MGL 40B, Sections 20-23, which is legislation aimed at creating affordable housing, to create 50+ apartments on 2.6 acres of land off of Surfside Road – very dense per Nantucket standards. A 40B allows a developer to by-pass zoning and basically get permits by right, as long as 20-25% of the units are deemed affordable. Although Town boards can make comments, they can’t approve/disapprove. So, the developer thought he had it in the bag and was going to break ground no matter what the neighbors and/or boards said. Not on Nantucket. The Town says that the particular property is not in the sewer district, therefore it cannot connect to the sewer line and therefore has to be on septic. There is not enough room on the lot to accommodate a septic for 50+ apartments (maybe 9 two-bedrooms on a good day). Might be time for this developer to rethink his approach between his curls.
To Have or Not To Have
