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.
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.
As secluded white sand beaches become a commodity more precious than oil, the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank this week announced significant expansions at two of its most stunning beachfront properties.
Moshup Beach in Aquinnah will grow by half again as much, and Wilfrid's Pond Preserve in Vineyard Haven will more than double in size.
"The land bank prizes beaches among its very many priorities, and expanding what already is conservation is a good accomplishment for everybody," said land bank executive director James Lengyel yesterday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In a clear sign of a cooling real estate market here, revenues at the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank fell in 2007 for the second straight calendar year. The total number of real estate transactions also was down last year, for the third year in a row.
The land bank collected $10.9 million in revenues in 2007, compared with $11.6 million in 2006, a drop of seven per cent.
And the land bank recorded 1,403 real estate transactions in 2007, a drop of five per cent from the previous year, when 1,474 transactions were recorded.
A rolling meadow that has been used for sheep grazing off State Road in Tisbury will be protected thanks to the purchase of a conservation restriction by the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank.
The land bank commission announced on Tuesday that it has signed a contract to buy a restriction on seven acres owned by Kristen Kingsbury Henshaw. The purchase price is $301,000. The field is located about .2 miles from the land bank’s Tisbury Meadow Preserve.
