Town Boards Frown On Proposed Zoning Change To Create Community Housing At Former Junkyard

The latest attempt at creating attainable year-round housing on Nantucket faces a steep, uphill climb through the island’s municipal government process.

Citizen articles on the warrant for September’s Special Town Meeting that would allow a proposed attainable housing development on Woodland Drive have received negative recommendations from the Select Board, Finance Committee, Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission, and Planning Board. Most recently, the articles, submitted by Stephen Maury to change the zoning at 13 and 13a Woodland Drive to allow for greater density and alter the sewer map, were criticized by some members of the Affordable Housing Trust.

Woodland Drive is located off Skyline Drive and backs up to Richmond Great Point subdivision off Old South Road. The two properties were sold for $3 million in May 2024 by the estate of Walter Glowacki to Woodland Limited Partnership. The entity’s mailing address is 57 Main Street, the location of Congdon & Coleman Real Estate, where Maury is the owner and principal broker.

“The idea of making the large zoning change is something people aren't comfortable with at this time,” said Abby De Molina, a member of the Trust and the Planning Board.

The two properties - a combined 4.8 acres of land - are currently zoned as LUG-2 and R-20, and one of Maury’s citizen petitions would change both to R-5 zoning, which allows 5,000-square-foot lots and 40 percent ground cover.

The increased density has been the primary reason for opposition from local boards, with members suggesting they would support the project if zoning were different. Opponents worry that the development could cause traffic problems, strain town utilities, and alter the character of the neighborhood, which is currently in a rural zoning district.

“I applaud what you're doing here and would support it if it didn't require a zoning change,” Affordable Housing Trust member Penny Dey said.

But Stephen Maury argues that the properties already abut densely developed land such as the Richmond Great Point subdivision and were singled out by the town as prime locations for housing development in the recent Housing Production Plan. Additionally, there just isn’t a parcel on the market currently zoned to accommodate the kind of attainable housing Maury wants to build.

“If there was a big section of land that was available for this type of development, it would have been purchased, people would have put pools in the backyards,” Maury said. “The truth is, if we're going to do a development with the density of this it's going to require a zoning change.”

Maury has also emphasized that his plan would clearly increase the community value of the land, transforming an unlicensed junkyard into 40 units of attainable housing, all of which would be restricted to year-round occupants, with preference going to essential workers such as firefighters, teachers, and doctors. Maury’s goal is to fight the island’s housing crisis by targeting the most important affected population: the professionals who keep the island running.

“I've spoken with attorneys about how we can do this. It's not easy to restrict property to certain occupations but there are ways I think we can effectively achieve this without being discriminatory in any way,” Maury said. “These homes have to be able to be lived in by the people I'm hoping will live there. So that means they have to be permanently [attainable].”

Maury’s plans for community housing on Woodland Drive are still early in development, and he remains hopeful that he can alter them to earn the support of local politicians.

“My goal is that voters make an informed decision. If it's the will of the community that zoning remains as it is, then so be it, and we will develop the property, or I will sell the property, more likely, under its current zoning,” Maury said. “I'm not interested in doing something outside of the rules. I do think it's important voters in the community have the chance to weigh in and say if they think that year-round housing…with ownership opportunities is something that has benefits that outweigh the costs.”

Members of the boards and committees that have opposed his project generally have not criticized his intent, instead focusing on the location and the dramatic zoning change it would entail.

“It's unfortunate about the zoning,” Affordable Housing Trust member Meg Browers said. “I don't want to throw the environment under the bus for the sake of housing people.”

Maury argues that dense zoning is needed for attainable housing.

“For housing to be truly affordable it needs to be developed at a certain scale,” he said. “Those options don’t exist anywhere else.”

The Affordable Housing Trust does not traditionally issue recommendations on citizen warrant articles and refrained from doing so on Maury’s article. But due to the recommendations from other boards, Maury would need two-thirds support for his articles at Town Meeting, a high bar, especially given the opposition he faces from local homeowners and homeowner’s associations. At all the meetings where Maury has presented, public comment has been overwhelmingly dominated by nearby property owners criticizing his plans.