A controversial plan for a path in Katama is headed this fall to the Edgartown select board for consideration.
The town planning board held a hearing last week on Swimming Place Path, a thin dirt trail that runs between Road to the Plains and Herring Creek Road. The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank has asked to clear the path to make it more accessible, which has drawn criticisms from homeowners in the area.
After hearing public comment, the planning board voted 3-2 to send the proposal to the select board for further approval.
Many in the room at the Sept. 15 meeting were abutters to Swimming Place Path and opposed the effort to expand the ancient way due to privacy and safety concerns.
“It’s not a particularly scenic walkway and it doesn’t connect anything,” said Jim Martin, president of the Edgartown Estates Association. “So, it’s very difficult to see what benefit is going to be afforded to the public by opening that up.”
Additional concerns brought up by the community included parking and the rights to public access, which according to members of the planning board will include pedestrians, non-motorized bicycles and equestrians.
“A lot of these little paths, like this particular one, really will be considered a neighborhood path until it does reconnect to another path,” said Steve Ewing, a representative for the Land Bank in Edgartown. “Whether you want to or not, you might really appreciate it. In the end, a lot of people consider these paths as assets.”
The path is about 350 years old, and the Land Bank had initially proposed to make a wider gravel path. The Land Bank later proposed clearing the path to be five or six feet wide.
Over the years, the path has become overgrown and in some parts is currently inaccessible to the public.
“This public meeting was supposed to be about the specific location of the path, not about whether we were going to recommend it,” said Julia Livingston, a member of the planning board. “That’s what this meeting was supposed to be about and I understand it’s always a good idea to hear from everybody, but to me, right now it’s very hard to access this path because it’s so overgrown.”
Voters allocated funding for the project at town meeting in 2022, and, at the time, the assumption was the land was owned by the town. A title examination in 2024 later revealed that the land belongs to the private landowners.
Landowners in the area felt the planning board’s vote to kick the project up to the select board was ignoring their concerns.
“None of our concerns have been addressed in any way, shape, or form, and somehow this path keeps reviving when none of our issues are being addressed,” said Jenny George, who lives along the proposed path.
Mr. Ewing noted that the ancient way, first recorded in 1675, has a long history in town.
“This path has been here a long time, long before any of your houses were built,” said Mr. Ewing. “[The town council] concluded that protection of the path and continued public use of it are consistent with recorded local policy. This is what the planning board is trying to enforce, consistent with recorded local policy.”
This article appears in September 25 2026.
When is the selectmen’s meeting? I am an Edgartown native who lives in Edgartown Estates. We used to ride horses through that path. My family on both sides has used that path for generations. I really don’t understand the controversy. It exists and has for centuries. The lot next to mine and the ones across the street have pieces of the path running through them and I know several of the owners have always known the path was there. They left it alone but made sure not to block it. Anyone worried about safety or privacy issues should walk the Sheriff’s Meadw Trail and the Land Bank Trail that runs between Clevelandtown Road and the Edgartown cemetery. You rarely encounter another human on either and you pass by plenty of houses.
Please talk with your neighbors and see firsthand how intrusive the development of this path would be to them. I think you’d be surprised to see how close the path comes to your neighbors’ houses. If you have walked Sheriff’s Meadow and other trails, it will be clear to you that this path is a whole different invasion of privacy. We are talking feet away from outdoor showers, decks, private living spaces, and through the middle of cleared (not very big) yards. Perhaps the town can learn from this moving forward before approving buildings rather than waiting decades later to tell homeowners that they are also going to approve the development of a walking path just feet away from where buildings were approved. Edgartown Estates has suggested placing markers to identify the path and honor its historical significance, while posting that the land is now private property. No one is denying that this path existed, rather it has not been used for decades.
Keep these paths! A decision that will set precedent…perhaps, make it less wide and mulched as a compromise.Public space is being eroded everyday and once it’s gone it’s gone.
The quote attributed to me misspelled the word scenic.
Also, the primary point the HOA was making was that there is a difference between preserving the history of this ancient way and creating a public walkway through residents backyards.
Hi James,
Thanks for letting us know. That has been corrected.
The town should designate the path as a special way so will be protected in its natural state. If it has been there since 1675, it deserves to remain.
I think the name Edgartown Estates is causing people to think that Edgartown’s elitists are trying to block anyone from accessing their exclusive multimillion dollar estates on land that they ignored the rules of. That’s just not the case. None of the homes along the path are estates, with each property in Edgartown Estates being at most half an acre. The homes are mainly set along the backside of the properties, close to where the proposed development of this path would be, and many are modest homes that were built in the 70s and 80s. No one is denying the existence of the path, rather we are opposing the development of it into something it never was. Sheriff’s Meadow and other nearby Land Bank paths are not 5-6 foot wide, clear cut, gravel paths through people’s yards. Had the town or Land Bank had such great concerns about this path, they should have been addressed before homes were allowed to be built. It simply isn’t right to come 50+ years later and say, “actually, we want to start using this.” Perhaps the town and Land Bank can learn from this and properly maintain and mark remaining ancient ways and paths before approving any further housing development on this island. The proximity of this path to the homes in this neighborhood is the main concern of anyone opposing this. It should have been noted that the town meeting was full, with only one supporter of the path.
Actually, contrary to some opinion here, it is legal and right to “come 50+ years later” to develop and/or use a pre-existing right of way. This is a lesson for realtors and potential homebuyers to actually research existing rights-of-way on any portion of a private property — whether in use or potentially in use. Government entities, utilities, adjacent landowners, etc. may have pre-existing rights whether the homeowners want to know it or not. Due diligence, people!