This spring marks the 20th anniversary of the unprecedented nomination of the entire town of Aquinnah as a district of critical planning concern (DCPC).
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission has voted to accept without change an innovative set of regulations developed by the people of Aquinnah to protect their town from the effects of runaway growth.
“This is about preserving a modesty of scale and a lifestyle,” declared Marcia Cini, member of the commission from Tisbury.
Making history and setting a new standard for community planning on the Vineyard, the people of Aquinnah voted this week to adopt a sweeping set of regulations for a townwide district of critical planning concern (DCPC).
“We’re leading the way. There has been a lot of talk about doing an Islandwide DCPC, and I hope this is going to be a first step for that,” said James Vercruysse, an Aquinnah resident who is a member of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
In a ruling that could carry special importance for the town of Aquinnah — as well as for other Vineyard towns that want to adopt impact fees — the Massachusetts Appeals Court this week struck down a school impact fee in the town of Franklin.
The court found that the impact fee, charged to developers, is an improper tax.
“This is so totally contrary to tax philosophy as to require it to be stricken down,” declared Mel Greenberg, an associate justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, who wrote the decision.
Marking an extraordinary moment in the recent swirl of discussion about growth on the Vineyard, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission accepted a request late last night from the tiny town of Aquinnah to nominate the entire town as a district of critical planning concern (DCPC).
At the westernmost tip of the Island just four years ago, the residents of Aquinnah knew the potential for total buildout loomed just ahead in an era of unbridled development.
Over the last decade, the community of 200 year-round residents watched development stretch the seams of the town's 4,056 acres, and they knew that the intensity and nature of new house construction threatened to devastate the rural character of Aquinnah.
The Aquinnah planning board will seek criminal charges against two
seasonal residents and a local landscape company who topped a large
swath of trees off Lobsterville Road without permission this summer.
A Middlesex Superior Court judge last week upheld the validity of a unique townwide planning and zoning district in Aquinnah.
The decision, which was entered on Friday by the Hon. Julian T. Houston, found in favor of the town and the Martha's Vineyard Commission against a developer who is seeking to open access to and subdivide parcels of vacant land off Moshup Trail. The developer, James J. Decoulos, has filed more than 10 different legal challenges against the town, a number of which are still ongoing.
Marking a key win for the town of Aquinnah in its long-running legal battle with James J. Decoulos and Maria Kitris, who want to open up Moshup Trail for development, the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled yesterday on two separate fronts, finding:
• Mr. Decoulos has not won the right to subdivide two lots he owns off Moshup trail.
• The Aquinnah townwide district of critical planning concern is valid.
