Block Island residents prepare for 'summer shuffle'

NEW SHOREHAM, R.I. -- Warm ocean breezes signal moving season on scenic Block Island, where scarce housing leaves year-round workers like Nancy Perry almost begging for beds every summer.

Although Perry is the town finance director, she still isn't sure where she'll be living when her lease expires this month.

"I knew housing was a problem, I almost hesitated to take the job," she said. "I'm getting antsy, but everyone is keeping their ears open."

Town Manager Nancy Dodge said people who try and call Block Island home take short-term leases because they have no choice.

"It's the summer shuffle," Dodge said. "We lack stable rental units so people can live here."

Wealthy summer residents, vacationers and daytrippers each year transform the sleepy island 12 miles off Rhode Island's coast into a pricey tourist haven.

During the summer, the overnight population swells by more than 10 times, to about 11,000. Rents typically quadruple, beyond what most residents can pay.

Residents of other island vacation spots, such as Massachusetts' Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, can relate.

"Housing is so expensive, people are moving off the island because they can't make ends meet," said Tracy Bakalar, executive director of the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce. "We're losing teachers, firemen and policemen."

Third move

Perry is moving for the third time since taking the job a year ago. Her first four months were at an old Coast Guard station the town uses for new hires and summer help.

Town officials fear the housing crunch may soon be beyond control.

The porkchop-shaped island is 3 miles wide by 7 miles long. The tourist-based economy depends on preservation of open space, natural habitats and recreational areas so less than 25 percent of the island's 6,000 acres is available for development.

As available land dwindles, the price to build keeps rising, along with the value of existing housing.

The annual income needed to purchase the average-priced home is estimated at $150,000, but the median household income is only $50,000, according to a March town report.

The island could be fully developed in less than a decade.

"We can't make the island bigger and we can't bring land prices down," Dodge lamented.

Last year, the National Hotel and the Harborside Inn between them spent $100,000 to rent 50 rooms for summer help, said Julie Fuller, the National's director of housing.

"It's a money-losing prospect," she said.

One idea that's been floated is for the town to run a commuter boat to the mainland, just for those who work on the island. But officials aren't sure enough workers would make the daily commute to justify the year-round cost.

Local resistance

Efforts to encourage construction of apartments and affordable homes have often met with local resistance.

"People are afraid someone is going to get an apartment, rent it and make money," Town Council member Martha Ball said. "Everyone is so afraid somebody is going to get away with something."

Island officials are seeking General Assembly approval to create an affordable housing board. The committee would manage a housing trust fund that would include money from house-rental taxes.

Another proposal before state lawmakers would lessen taxes paid by first-time homebuyers.

Officials estimate 16 year-round rental apartments and 19 homes on the island meet town guidelines for affordable housing. Eight of those homes are set to be occupied in June.

Some hope is being offered under a new project developed by the Block Island Economic Development Foundation, a 25-year-old nonprofit group dedicated to helping develop affordable year-round housing.

Owners get a house for $168,000 since they'd never be able to afford paying market prices. They can only sell at a preset amount, plus inflation, to someone else who would qualify under the program.