One Big Home, director Thomas Bena’s first feature-length film, which took more than a decade to shoot and edit, makes its Island debut Wednesday as part of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival summer series.
A Chilmark zoning bylaw regulating house size is now official after the town received approval from the state attorney general’s office this week.
Kelli Gunagan, assistant attorney general and bylaw coordinator, informed the town in a July 9 letter that the state approved the zoning amendments passed at the annual town meeting in April.
“Based upon our review of the text of [the bylaw], the relevant case law, and all the materials submitted to our office, we conclude that Section 6.11 is not clearly inconsistent with [Massachusetts general law],” Ms.
Following nearly a year and a half of wide-ranging and sometimes emotional debate about the impact of large houses on the rural character of Chilmark, voters overwhelmingly approved a new bylaw to limit house size at their annual town meeting this week.
How to preserve the rural character of Chilmark while planning for the future: the question is expected to take center stage when voters consider a proposed bylaw to regulate house size at their annual town meeting Monday night.
After a few years of annual town meetings that were quiet and largely routine, the Chilmark warrant is packed with weighty issues this year, including an $8.1 million operating budget, up nearly five per cent over last year, largely due to increased education costs.
All the houses in Chilmark total three million square feet. Very large houses (more than 6,000 square feet) make up about one per cent of that number.
As Chilmark prepares to vote in 10 days on a first-of-its-kind bylaw that would regulate house size, this was one of the facts that came out during a final public comment session hosted by the town planning board Thursday night.
The bylaw, which has been the subject of widespread discussion in Chilmark and around the Island, comes up for a vote at the annual town meeting April 22.
Members of the building community came out in force Thursday night with concerns about the Martha Vineyard Commission’s proposed changes to the DRI checklist, the list that dictates what projects are referred to the regional body. Most of the concerns centered around whether the commission would regulate large houses as developments of regional impact.
As heated debate continues to swirl in Chilmark and beyond over how and whether to regulate very large houses, town planning board leaders said this week they were ready to send a draft bylaw to town counsel for review.
At a crowded public hearing Wednesday, the Chilmark zoning board of appeals heard the first public arguments in a heated dispute between neighbors over a large-house compound that is nearing completion on Nashaquitsa Pond.
It’s a question that vexes local planning agencies and inflames passions from homeowners builders, and residents on both sides of the issue.
When it comes to houses, how big is too big?
This issue has special resonance on the Vineyard, where land is limited and residents have a history of fiercely protecting — and debating — the Island’s character.
