If it’s floating, it better be for boating. Tisbury selectmen are considering a yearlong moratorium on floating workshops, houseboats and other non-water dependent uses and vessels in the town harbor.
During annual town meeting, voters gave the town the power to establish rules and regulations for nontraditional floating vessels. When prior plans for these unusual usages of the harbor came up, no board appeared to have oversight. Concerned what this could mean for future development on the water, the selectmen decided they needed regulations.
“We have no mechanism in town to deal with this . . . . so I would like the planning board and others to develop some guidelines so if we want to have some use for use there’s some kind of permitting process for this use,” selectman Tristan Israel said at the board meeting last Tuesday. “This has nothing to do with boats out in the water, that’s a totally different issue.”
Ben Robinson of the planning board said they have been gathering information and are on track to hold public discussions in the fall regarding regulations. A public hearing on the moratorium will be held on June 19. Any changes to bylaws would have to go through a town meeting.
Also last week, selectmen approved new shellfish regulations. Under the new rules, drags with teeth, tines, rakes, scoops, fingers or any other extension, attachment or device the constable consider harmful to eelgrass are prohibited. Also the recreational-only portion of Lagoon Pond was moved to an area behind Wind’s Up to make it more accessible.
In other business, recycling will still be free at the local dropoff center, but other fees will increase. A sticker now costs $35 (a $10 dollar increase), and $20 for senior citizens. Fee hikes were also approved last month for curbside pickup; the town contracts for the service through Bruno’s.
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