Neighbors and Residents Lambaste Draft Plan for Old House Pond

By IAN FEIN

Martha's Vineyard Land Bank officials came under fire
this week for their draft plan for Ice House Pond Preserve and the
methods by which they obtained the property.

About 30 residents turned out for a public hearing on Monday,
and not one person spoke in favor of the level of public access the
land bank has proposed for the 11-acre property on Old House Pond,
also known as Ice House Pond. The draft management plan currently
calls for a six-vehicle trailhead, and would limit the number of
people allowed on the property at any one time to 20.

Person after person - mostly from West Tisbury and many
neighbors to the pondfront property - told the land bank that
protecting the fragile pond was far more important than public use.
Some criticized what they thought was faulty science in the draft
plan, and many pleaded with the land bank to do more study before
opening the pond to the public.

Some residents also said they had been land bank supporters
until they learned of the public agency's deceptive methods in
purchasing the property. The meeting at times grew combative between
land bank officials and members of the public.

The land bank bought the property in January of 2003 using a
blind trust as cover. Old House Pond is a freshwater glacial kettle
pond hidden in the woods off Lambert's Cove Road.

"It's sad but it's true that the land bank has lost our trust
by its arrogant and heedless acts, by its science-be-damned attitude
. . . . by its patronizing tell-them-anything manipulative methods
and practices," West Tisbury resident Benjamin Reeve told land bank
commissioners and town advisory board members at the hearing Monday.

"Your enabling act says that you can acquire ocean and pond
frontage to protect their natural and science resources," he
continued. "Which says that you're required to protect this property.
You can't just exploit it."

"That's not true," replied town advisory board member Michael
Colaneri, one of the most vocal supporters of increased public
access. "We're not exploiting this property."

The land bank cloaked its identity when it purchased two lots
on the pond through a straw agent representing a blind trust. The
public agency did not reveal its land acquisition until last
November, when it defended its deceptive methods - used again in a
later purchase of four beach lots off Tisbury Great Pond - under the
belief that the owners would have refused to sell the parcels to the
land bank.

Island residents have historically enjoyed casual use of Old
House Pond, but the land bank purchase will for the first time open
formal public access.

West Tisbury resident Sandy Fisher reminded town advisory
board members that her family, which has owned Nip'n'Tuck Farm for
the last half-century, always allowed pond access through their
property to respectful town residents - including the board members
and their families.

Ms. Fisher read into the record a letter she wrote that
referred to her late father, Fred Fisher, a dairy farmer, town icon
and longtime selectman.

"I truly believe that if he were still alive, and still a
West Tisbury selectman, that we would not be here today having this
discussion," Ms. Fisher said, holding back tears. "Not because he
would've wanted to keep people off the pond, but because of the
highly unethical procedures used in the procurement of the property."

Many pondfront neighbors mentioned possible legal action they
might take against the land bank - either because of rights to access
roads, or whether the public agency's plan violates deed covenants or
its own enabling legislation.

Oakham resident Judith Lane owned property on Old House Pond
for 34 years before she sold it unknowingly to the land bank. Mrs.
Lane and her husband Mark Mattson - both of whom happen to be
freshwater pond scientists - wrote letters to the land bank last week
criticizing its draft management for their former property.

"The land bank may not be an entity on the Island forever,
but the pond will be," Ms. Lane said in her letter. "It is
disheartening to see that so much of their [land bank commissioners']
emphasis . . . . is spent in discussions of what recreation is going
to be present on the preserve rather than how to manage the property
to protect and enhance the rare natural resources and habitat that
are present."

In his letter, Mr. Mattson said the land bank erroneously
refers to the pond as Ice House Pond when its official name is well
documented as Old House Pond. One longtime riparian owner at the
hearing on Monday had crossed out "Ice" on the cover of the land
bank's draft plan and rewritten "Old."

Both Mr. Mattson and Ms. Lane, as well as a number of other
freshwater pond scientists familiar with Old House Pond, submitted
technical comments to the land bank that identified factual errors,
omissions and inadequacies in the draft management plan. The
scientists, some of whom are considered experts on glacial kettle
ponds, described Old House Pond as a statewide environmentally
significant and fragile site that merits special attention and
extensive study.

In a presentation to land bank officials using graphs and
other visual aids, Mr. Reeve also identified errors in the draft plan
and suggested that the land bank did not know how big nor how deep
Old House Pond actually is. His calculations found the pond a full
acre smaller than land bank estimate.

"Like many other numbers in the management plan, I don't
think it's right," Mr. Reeve said. "I ask that you send the
management plan back to staff. I think it's faulted to the point that
it's the only thing to do."

"There are things your management plan does not reflect any
awareness of, and I think it's important for the people who live
around the pond that you take the time to figure them out," he added
later. "The thing that most annoys some of us abutters is the utter
unwillingness of the land bank to engage in any kind of science
regarding water quality. If you were wiling to study the pond and see
what it really could support and then make a decision about swimming,
we would be more than appreciative."

More than one person asked how the land bank would deal with
excess cars and people beyond what the plan allows. Land bank
officials admitted that it posed a challenge, and did not have a
direct answer. Access roads were another issue debated on Monday, and
one resident recommended the land bank purchase a small piece of land
on Lambert's Cove Road for parking, and make people walk in to the
pond from there.

West Tisbury resident Harriet Bernstein suggested the land
bank might consider prohibiting cars altogether.

"I've always heard of this Ice House Pond, and I've always
wanted to go but have never been able to. And it's okay if for the
rest of my life I'm not able to go there so easily," she said. "It's
a pristine property and it should be preserved. If not everybody in
the whole world can get to it, that's okay. I think the land bank has
a great responsibility to maintain that property and I'm glad that
they own it. But I don't think it has to have cars."

Most of the comments were about access or protecting the
pond, but some nearby property owners expressed concern about privacy.

"I don't think I should have to encounter tourists or other
people. I like my privacy," said Wintergreen Lane resident Julie
Sierputoski, whose home is directly across from the proposed land
bank trailhead. "I don't want to see strangers when I'm gardening or
having a cup of coffee on my property."

The land bank will accept written public comments on the
draft management plan until noon on Monday. Central commissioners and
town advisory board members will then hold a joint meeting Monday at
5 p.m. in the Howes House to work toward a final management plan,
which still must be sent to the state for approval before the
property can be opened to the public.