She toured Navigator Homes, a nonprofit nursing facility that opened in Edgartown earlier this year. The property includes subsidized apartments for workers at Navigator and at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
Warren said she is looking for specific ideas to put in a new housing bill she called “Housing 2.0." A major federal housing bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, became law last month without President Donald Trump’s signature.
“Think more about what we could do to be helpful,” she said. “And always keep in mind, the federal government is not going to rewrite the zoning. That has to be done locally and should be done locally. But what we can do is we can create financial incentives. We can remove barriers to building.”
The new housing law includes several grant programs to encourage home construction. It also eliminates a requirement that manufactured homes have a permanent chassis, a change Warren said could save a homebuyer nearly $10,000.
“We may see a boom in innovation in manufactured housing,” she said.
Peter Wharton, director of facilities at Navigator and chair of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, told her the island’s biggest challenge is carrying capacity.
“Dedicated workforce housing, like [the new apartments], is helping, but there needs to be more,” he said. “And we also have to balance that against maintaining the rural character of the island. We're a special place, and what we can't do is pave it.”
Later in the day, Warren held a roundtable with community leaders at the Martha’s Vineyard Chamber of Commerce in Vineyard Haven.
John Keene, president of the Fishermen’s Preservation Trust, responded to this question from the senator: How does the Vineyard survive, as a thriving community, over the next 25 years?
“Focusing on the traditional aspects of what this island has carried with it, throughout its days, which are working waterfronts, farming, fishing, tourism, construction trades,” he said. “You know, through grants or funding, keeping the working waterfront and the traditional industries here thriving — not artificially propped up, but thriving.”
Among other Vineyard leaders to speak with Warren were representatives from the Chamber, Island Housing Trust, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), and Martha’s Vineyard Community Services, along with state Sen. Julian Cyr.
“The struggle that we're having is, we've lost so much in terms of year-round housing stock,” said Philippe Jordi, CEO of Island Housing Trust. “So right now, we're at approximately 38% of all housing is year-round. The rest is seasonal or investment properties.”
“Wow,” Warren said.
Lora Ksieniewicz, a business owner speaking on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, said businesses’ “biggest pain point” is trying to staff their companies well, and housing is the main reason they lose staff. She owns Yoga on the Vine in Edgartown.
Warren told the roundtable that creating federal tax breaks, targeted to local conditions — such as the seasonal economy — could be one way to get funding for new local housing initiatives without the hurdle of winning annual budget appropriations.
