MARGARET KNIGHT

508-627-8894

(margaret02539@yahoo.com)

When my mother was a child in the 1930s, she said you could see pretty much everywhere on Chappy from the high spots because the fields had not yet grown up all the way after being grazed by sheep. When I started my house in 1973, I could see Cape Pogue Pond from my second floor; now I can’t imagine being able to see the water — it’s more than a quarter-mile away through the woods.

Since then, many more houses have been built, and part of the reason we don’t experience the great increase is because they’re back in the woods. According to a Chappaquiddick Island Association report, in 1954 there were 74 houses; in 1985 there were 257; in 1998 there were 379. In 1998, the CIA figured there could be approximately 586 additional houses at maximum density for a total of 965. Today there are about 425 houses.

Back in 1963, when some people were becoming concerned about keeping “the beauty and charm of the island,” as well as wanting to “promote a continuing increase in property values,” a resolution was made in a CIA letter to Chappy landowners asking for approval of a voluntary land-use policy that included no new commercial enterprises (ie. retail, inns, restaurants, bars, etc.), no temporary dwellings like tents and trailers, a minimum of 600 square feet floor space for a stand-alone dwelling not associated with a house, and a one-acre minimum lot. Chappaquiddick’s first real zoning bylaws came in about 1968 with a one-acre minimum lot size that was increased to three acres in the 1970s. Tents and trailers are still not allowed but there is no minimum square footage for homes, at least in zoning regulations. The issue discussed today is more the maximum square feet.

We’re used to the zoning laws that shape what we can and can’t do on Chappy now — some people more than others, of course. The days of Chappy being the backyard of Edgartown — when you could do what you liked as long as no one from town government heard about it — are in the distant past, more or less. Maybe it’s just because there are more of us now, to see what the others are doing, that the trespassers of the law come to the officials’ attention.

As time passes, trees and bushes are always growing up and blocking views of things, for better or worse. One view we’ve valued over the years is that of the outer harbor as we come out of the woods at the top of the hill before Litchfield Road, heading to the ferry. Many of us have been resigned to losing that view as the bushes grew up — but not all of us! Over the years there have been rumors of people sneaking out in the dark of night to do a little gratuitous pruning – but now those people can rest in their beds at night.

When the probability that a new guest house would block the remaining view of the outer harbor, some Chappaquiddickers got together to see what they could do. Dick Knight from the Chappy Open Space Committee, Woody Filley, and architect Peter Breese figured out that the best view was actually further up the hill from David McCourt’s proposed guest house. The conservation commission approved cutting the trees and bushes in the shore zone, across the road from where Hotel avenue joins the main road, and Mr. McCourt generously agreed to pay for the cutting. The Land Bank has taken on the future maintenance of this historic view easement. Now as you come out of the trees, you can see a spectacular view out over the water, the lighthouse, and the town. It’s worth slowing down for!

Welcome back to Allen Slater, who says he’s glad to be home. Allen has been living in South Carolina but now has moved back to Chappy. If you don’t know Allen, you can recognize him in his truck with his real estate business logo from down south, which mentions “Carolina Hospitality.” We may need his help as spring proceeds (if it ever starts!) and the big dig continues, with traffic slow on both sides of the ferry, resulting in occasional driver grumpiness.

The under harbor work is going well, though. Hemlock Directional Boring’s giant machine began drilling from the Edgartown side on Monday, after it had had to wait two-and-a-half days in Woods Hole before being allowed on the ferry. Ken Traub of HDB said the SSA claimed it was too big for the ferry, even though it had already been to the Vineyard and back a couple months earlier. The first pass with the drill was finished on Tuesday afternoon when the nine-inch drill head popped through the asphalt near the ferry end of the waiting line area with a spray of sand and water. David Scott of Bay State Piping, in charge of the whole project, said they will start on Monday to enlarge the hole to 24 inches before getting it ready to pull the four conduits through. This week the conduits were welded together, and they lie along the main road in four long lines.

Felicia Cheney will attend the Chappy Community Center potluck on Wednesday, April 6 with plans for the new library. There won’t be a formal presentation, but Felicia will be available for answering questions. If you’re not coming to dinner, stop by the center by about 7:30 p.m. if you want to see the plans or talk to Felicia.

The library will host a free program on how to use the United States Census Bureau Web site. Tia Costello from the Boston office of the Census Bureau will give a talk at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 2. This program is for anyone who would like to learn how to mine the census web site for specific information about the Vineyard community.