A few months ago, I wrote a letter to the editor suggesting land conservancies consider voluntarily releasing one per cent of their holdings (250 of their 26,000 acres, approximately 43 per cent of the Island), to be used for affordable housing. Let’s take a closer look at this proposition.

Everyone knows that affordable housing (for doctors, nurses, teachers, police and the entire work force) is one of the two most important problems facing the Vineyard along with opioid epidemic. Most everyone agrees we are a train wreck if the affordable housing problem isn’t solved, sooner than later, unless the idea of having workers commute to the Island, fewer young adults, Island characters and young children is the goal.

The two per cent land bank tax on real estate sales was wonderful, creative thinking, but having nearly 50 per cent of the Island in conservation has also driven up land prices enormously, squeezing out year-round citizens. I don’t think that was the intent of the land bank. It’s purpose was to preserve the pastoral beauty and ecology of our home.

We now need to apply the same sort of forward thinking for a solution to affordable housing, preserving the social ecology of the Island including humans. General wisdom suggests that to balance this ecology, we need approximately 500 houses for low and moderate income families: hardworking families who enrich our community.

With the expectation there will be approximately 30,000 acres in conservancy within the next decade, 250 acres is less than one per cent needed to provide a reasonable amount of housing: small enclaves of modest bungalows for seasonal workers totally out of site with nearly no environmental impact.

Seasonal workers, along with high-end visitors, compete with year-round rentals. Low-impact seasonal housing would be vacant for eight to nine months per year and could be designed with nearly no nitrogen loading, relieving a great deal of pressure on the year-round rental population.

Let’s have a competition for architects, designers and landscape designers designing low cost, zero impact seasonal enclaves of housing tucked out of view.

Over the next several months, I will be attending selectmen’s meetings in all the towns to ask them to consider employing friendly eminent domain which relies on the cooperation of the nonprofit conservancies. Some say this is possible and others say it is not. It will require being embraced by the nonprofit conservancies — not the land bank — which is regulated by law.

If you are interested in either participating in this endeavor or contributing funds for legal opinions to allow conservancies to willingly release land, please email me at paullazes1@gmail.com.

Paul Lazes
Vineyard Haven