Editors, Vineyard Gazette:

The following letter was sent to the Chilmark board of health for its Dec. 5 meeting on the Zoia development project: I am sorry I cannot attend the board of health meeting today but I underwent knee replacement surgery last week and am confined to home and still in significant pain. In addition to the two letter requests before you for consideration, sent by our attorney, Diane Tillotson, please accept this personal request.
 
I would like the record to be clear in any present or future scrutiny of the Zoia project that misrepresentations were made by the Zoias and their representatives, that commitments to the board of health by the Zoias were subsequently ignored by them, and that actions could have or should have been taken by town officials to refer the matter to the MVC for a deliberate consideration of many factors. Mr. Zoia and his consultants proudly claim that they “did nothing wrong under the Chilmark building regulations.” I do not believe that this is true and believe that there should be a clear history and explanation of how the board of health tried to refer the matter to the MVC and were misled by the Zoias. I hope you feel the same and will act accordingly. A deliberate misrepresentation and evasion of the truth being used to obtain various building approvals should not be allowed to stand. In future years, we would not want the existence of this Zoia project to be used as a precedent for permitting other proposals. And that the building inspector could have, or should have, at the time it was clear that the Zoia promise to reduce the size of his 3,000-square-foot “accessory building” to 1,500 square feet was being violated, referred the matter back to the board of health or to the MVC.
 
I thank you for your consideration.
 
Ken Iscol, Chilmark