Amid conciliatory expressions and with the developer's representative waving a white hat in the air, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted without dissent last night to approve a plan that is expected to close the final chapter in a bitter four-year battle over the development of the southern woodlands in Oak Bluffs.
"This has been a really trying time for the commission and for all those in the community that have been on both sides of the issue. I hope this is now time to put it behind us and heal the wounds," declared commission member Andrew Woodruff.
The demolition and reconstruction of the old Army Barracks building
on Circuit avenue in Oak Bluffs was never referred to the Martha's
Vineyard Commission as a development of regional impact (DRI), even
though it met the standard for referral and review by the commission.
In a letter dated Feb. 22, commission DRI coordinator Paul H. Foley
said the structure should have been referred to the MVC under two
sections of its DRI checklist that pertain to historic buildings.
Weighing the pressing need for affordable housing over its other planning principles, the Martha's Vineyard Commission early this morning approved with heavy conditions an unusual 11-unit subdivision in the rural outposts of Edgartown.
"This is really a referendum on us as a community. If we can't find a way to provide homes for our working-class residents, then we fail," said commissioner Chris Murphy of Chilmark. "The results of this project are damn good. I think the applicant should be proud, and we should be proud."
Ensuring that Kennedy family members will remain stewards of their rare Aquinnah estate into the next generation, the Martha's Vineyard Commission last week approved a subdivision plan for the 366-acre property between Moshup Trail and Squibnocket Pond.
The current Martha's Vineyard Hospital building no longer offers adequate capacity and is in its final stages of usefulness, hospital officials told members of the Martha's Vineyard Commission last night.
The remarks came during a marathon five-hour session that kicked off the formal public hearing process for the proposed $42 million hospital renovation and expansion project, which the commission is reviewing as a development of regional impact (DRI).
The greatest thing about the Vineyard for the Rev. Alden Besse is
not the natural beauty - as much as he appreciates it - but
the intimacy of the Island community.
As a longtime minister at Grace Episcopal Church in Vineyard Haven,
and someone who is involved in numerous nonprofit organizations, he
believes that people on the Vineyard have always taken care of one
another.
The Martha's Vineyard Commission on Monday voted without dissent to designate an energy district critical of planning concern in the town of Aquinnah, the first such district of its kind on the Island.
The town and the commission will now begin the process of drafting special townwide regulations for Aquinnah to promote alternative energy in new construction and establish guidelines for the placement of wind turbines, solar panels and geothermal systems.
The town of Aquinnah, known for being progressive in planning, this week moved a step closer to adopting a townwide energy conservation district.
Town selectmen on Wednesday submitted a nomination to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to designate Aquinnah as an energy district of critical planning concern (DCPC). The nomination was filed by Camille Rose, chairman of the selectmen.
After a brief public hearing and a whirlwind deliberation session, the Martha's Vineyard Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a community center for the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) on Black Brook Road.
The community center is in fact already partially built. The tribe first broke ground on the center in the spring of 2004; the building remains half-finished.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission last week unanimously approved plans to convert the old industrial building next to the Oak Bluffs library on Pacific avenue, formerly used as a trash hauling depot, into a place of worship for the Igreja Evangalica Assemblia de Deus church, whose congregation is predominantly Brazilian immigrants.
Although Island construction has been sluggish recently, the business of Brazilian churches has been robust. The newly approved church in Oak Bluffs is one of four Brazilian churches to be built here in recent years.
