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Board continues Madaket proposal to reallocate bedroom credits on 337 and 339 Madaket Road
Summary
Applicants asked to move a 3-bedroom house from 6 Ames Avenue to 339 Madaket Road by reallocating bedroom entitlement across three adjacent Madaket properties; staff and board said the change may require a MassDEP-approved aggregate plan, and the board continued the item to research precedent and legal paths.
NANTUCKET ' Property owners seeking to move a house threatened by an eroding shoreline asked the Board of Health to allow a reallocation of bedrooms across three Madaket properties, but the board continued the matter for legal and technical review.
Paul Sanchez of Nantucket Surveyors and attorney/representative Dan Malloy presented a plan in which the owners of 6 Ames Avenue (a 15,000-square-foot lot with a grandfathered 3-bedroom, conventional system) would move the existing house to 339 Madaket Road (a 34,147-square-foot lot that currently carries a 4-bedroom IA system). The owners also control 337 Madaket Road (26,825 square feet, currently permitted as a 5-bedroom system). The proposal would shift the 3 bedrooms from 6 Ames to 339, reduce bedrooms on 337 from 5 to 4, and leave the aggregate bedroom total unchanged across the three lots.
Paul Sanchez summarized the site specifics to the board: 6 Ames is "approximately 15,000 square feet" with a grandfathered 3-bedroom conventional system; 339 is 34,147 square feet with a 4-bedroom IA system; 337 is 26,825 square feet with a 5-bedroom IA system. The applicants proposed to surrender a bedroom on 337 so that 339 could accommodate the moved house.
Board staff raised a procedural question: the town's Madaket local regulation limits bedrooms to 1 per 10,000 square feet absent a variance (the "1 bedroom per 10,000" rule), and aggregate transfers or swaps of nitrogen loading typically require an aggregate plan approved by MassDEP. Staff told the board that Title 5 measurements by themselves would allow a higher bedroom count on 339, but that the local Madaket rule is more restrictive.
The board also heard that both 339 and 337 are connected to town water and that the wells had been abandoned. Dan Malloy and Paul Sanchez told the board the net bedroom totals across the three properties would stay the same and that the proposed transfers would allow the owners to move the threatened house inland rather than lose it to shoreline erosion.
Several board members said they needed time to research precedent and legal pathways; one member recalled a 2014 case that included an aggregate plan approved by DEP that involved composting toilets and a house move. The applicant asked the board to continue so the town could research past actions and state requirements.
Action: The board voted to continue the Madaket 337/339 item to the next meeting to allow staff to research prior approvals and to seek any applicable guidance from MassDEP and to permit the applicants to provide additional documentation.
Ending: The continuation preserves the applicants' ability to return with an aggregate plan or deed restrictions as needed; board staff will report back on precedent, MassDEP aggregate-plan requirements and possible paths forward.
