The Island Housing Trust is planning to hold an informational meeting at 7pm on Wednesday, June 24th at the Howes House in West Tisbury, regarding our efforts to facilitate owner-developed Accessory Apartments as a way of encouraging both Affordable and Community Housing within the existing bylaws and fabric of West Tisbury.

We’re pretty excited about Accessory Apartments as a way for us to work with already-developed properties, and in support of individuals who envision the opportunity to create small-scale rental housing opportunities utilizing the existing West Tisbury zoning bylaws. Our program, provisionally called Partnership for Accessory Apartments would be designed to assist the homeowner at the initial stages of development to determine the feasibility of an Accessory Apartment on their particular site, including an analysis of the financial costs and resulting benefits of creating an affordable unit. We are also in the process of developing conceptual “Backyard Cottage” designs that could either be pre-built or site built in a cost-efficient (and energy-efficient) way. Through a comprehensive overview of options available to the homeowner, our goal will be to provide a roadmap of what would be the most effective way for them to move forward.

Our hope for the meeting on Wednesday the 24th is that it will provide us with feedback and input on our proposal, and learn how best to make this program a successful one from an Island-wide, Town-wide, and Homeowner-specific perspective. We are inviting West Tisbury Town Boards, along with Building inspector and Board of Health, all the island Town’s Housing Committees and Planning Boards, the Regional Housing Authority, the Healthy Aging Task Force, Designers, Builders, Homeowners, and the Public in general. Presentations will be brief, after which we’ll have an extended question and comment period gathering input and ideas.

If you have any questions or need more info, feel free to call Derrill Bazzy (508-693-1117 x4)