Tree-Cutting Questions Pull Southern Woodlands Back Before
Commission
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Connecticut developer Corey Kupersmith came back onto the radar
screen this week in a fresh collision with the town of Oak Bluffs and
the Martha's Vineyard Commission - this time over a
tree-cutting project that may or may not be in violation of state and
local laws.
Once More Before the Court: Power of the Commission
By JULIA WELLS
The unique power of the Martha's Vineyard Commission to review
low and moderate income housing projects under Chapter 40B, a section of
state law commonly known as the anti-snob zoning statute, will come
under scrutiny again later this month in the Massachusetts Land Court.
Developers Bring Their Housing Plan Back to Commission
By JULIA WELLS
Alternately cracking shrill jokes and smacking the table with his
hand, a Bolton housing developer last night unveiled a new version of a
plan to build 320 homes on the southern woodlands property once planned
as the site for the Down Island Golf Club.
Brian Lafferty, who works for property owner and would-be golf club
developer Corey Kupersmith, wasted little time before throwing down the
gauntlet in front of the Martha's Vineyard Commission.
In Oak Bluffs, ‘a Lot of Work' Lies Ahead as Town Tries
to Heal Rifts from Election
Stay in Commission, Says Record Vote
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
Marking history and closing one of the most divisive chapters in the
annals of the town, a record number of Oak Bluffs voters went to the
polls this week and said no to pulling out of the Martha's
Vineyard Commission.
A Motion for Court to Reconsider Earlier Ruling Takes Lawyers to
Boston; How Powerful Is Island Commission?
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
BOSTON - An attorney who represents the Down Island Golf Club
developers tried to convince a Massachusetts Land Court judge this week
that the court's chief justice was wrong when he ruled last year
that the Martha's Vineyard Commission has full power of review
over affordable housing developments - including the power to
reject them.
In an unqualified show of confidence for one of its own members who has been under relentless attack by the developers of the Down Island Golf Club, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted without dissent last night that commission member Linda Sibley is free from bias and prejudice.
"I don't believe there is anybody on this board that does more homework and takes her job more seriously than Linda. For her to be accused of being a bigot is laughable," said commission member Richard Toole.
In the face of federal laws which leave local zoning regulations powerless, West Tisbury officials are grappling with one of the first of a likely onslaught of requests for cellular phone towers dotting the town's rural landscape.
It's a familiar fight for the West Tisbury zoning board of appeals.
Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven and West Tisbury town officials received their marching orders this month - recommendations for steps these Island towns should take to protect and enhance public water supplies in order to keep pace with future development.
Ruling that the dire need for low-cost rental housing trumps traffic
concerns, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted unanimously last
night to approve the Pennywise Path affordable housing project in
Edgartown.
The early framers were the Thomas Jeffersons of the Vineyard - visionaries and idealists ahead of their time. They looked down the road, saw trouble and took action, with an eye toward a regional solution.
The result was the Martha's Vineyard Commission, a regulatory commission considered unique in American government, both then and now.
