Chappaquiddick's Space Fund, Land Bank Buy Island Trail Link

Chappaquiddick's Space Fund, Land Bank Buy Island Trail Link

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

With the national economy stuck in neutral and nonprofit groups
scrambling to compete for a shrinking pool of donor dollars, a quiet
movement on the tiny island of Chappaquiddick is gaining momentum among
landowners to buy open space in their own backyards.

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West Tisbury Assessors Lose Tax Challenge
Alexis Tonti

West Tisbury Assessors Lose Tax Challenge

By ALEXIS TONTI

The Massachusetts Court of Appeals this week overturned a decision
by the state Appellate Tax Board and ruled that the Martha's
Vineyard Land Bank is exempt from all taxation, upholding the power
vested in the conservation agency by its enabling legislation.

The case is an appeal of a decision first made by the West Tisbury
board of assessors that ordered the land bank to pay about $700 in taxes
on property bought in fiscal year 2002.

The ruling was issued Wednesday.

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Night at the Cliffs: Homestead Is Ready to Shine for Aquinnah

The ghosts are quiet these days - if you believe in such things - but at the Vanderhoop homestead the screen door still bangs and the old wood sash windows rattle with the specter of a new future.

Purchased last year by the town of Aquinnah and the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank in a joint acquisition, the historic homestead is now set for its first fund-raising event.

The event will kick off a $300,000 restoration project aimed at converting the homestead to a museum and cultural center.

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Land Bank Bids for a Woodland Preserve

Land Bank Bids for a Woodlands Preserve

Deal Would Protect 190 Acres; Developer to Build 26 Houses

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

A long, bruising battle over the fate of the southern woodlands in
Oak Bluffs took a stunning turn this week when the Martha's
Vineyard Land Bank announced that it has signed an agreement to buy 190
acres from developer Corey Kupersmith, including the old Webb's
Camping Area.

The purchase price is $18.6 million.

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Land Bank's Chappaquiddick 'Prize' Will Bring Island Trail to Pond's Edge

Land Bank's Chappaquiddick ‘Prize' Will Bring
Island Trail to Pond's Edge

By JULIA WELLS

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank announced this week that it
will buy the Wasey property on Chappaquiddick, a grassy, windblown
four-acre crest that embraces the unspoiled inner shore of Cape Pogue
Pond.

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Pond Stays Closed for Further Study
Ian Fein

Pond Stays Closed for Further Study

State Environmental Affairs Secretary Rejects Land Bank Management
Plan at Lambert's Cove Road Kettle Pond

BOSTON - Citing concerns about potential impacts to water
quality and protected species, the Massachusetts Secretary of
Environmental Affairs last month denied the Martha's Vineyard Land
Bank management plan for its proposed Ice House Pond Preserve.

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Land Bank Concludes Historic Purchase of 190 Acres of Southern Woodlands
Chris Burrell

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank will seal its largest-ever deal today, handing over $18.6 million to Connecticut developer Corey Kupersmith and officially taking ownership of 190 acres of the southern woodlands in Oak Bluffs.

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land Bank Acquires Aquinnah Oceanfront, Scenic Chilmark Field
Ian Fein

Land Bank Acquires Aquinnah Oceanfront, Scenic Chilmark Field

By IAN FEIN

The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank this week added another 400
feet of Aquinnah white sand beach to its oceanfront holdings, and also
acquired a scenic field on South Road in Chilmark. Both up-Island
properties are roughly eight acres. The purchase prices were $2.25
million and $875,000, respectively.

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Land Bank Acquisition Expands Moshup Beach

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank has added another 400 feet to its growing stretch of Atlantic Ocean beach off Moshup Trail in Aquinnah.

The land bank announced this week that it has bought a 4.1-acre lot on the ocean side of Moshup Trail from Sandra and Tatnall Hillman. The purchase price was $400,000. The property abuts the land bank’s Moshup Beach, which now will include some 2,000 feet of shorefront. With the acquisition, the land bank beach will now end a few feet from Philbin Beach, a town resident beach.

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Land Bank Comment Session Draws One

The Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission held an open session on Monday seeking public comment on its properties and management plans. The meeting was held at the Vineyard Transit Authority second floor office at the airport business park.

One person attended: Bill Straw of Vineyard Haven, who suggested the land bank move up on its priority list the acquisition of properties that help in the movement of people along the side of roads, for example bicycle paths.

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