The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last week upheld the town of Aquinnah and the Martha’s Vineyard Commission in a key leg of a complicated and long-running property rights case that will ultimately decide whether a large swath of rare coastal heathland along Moshup Trail remains forever wild or is opened up to private development.
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.
The first time Carlos Montoya came to the Vineyard, he took a ride
up-Island and turned onto Moshup Trail - the unmistakable
three-mile length of road that hugs the western edge of the Island.
"Oh my god," Mr. Montoya said this month, recalling his
impression from that 1970 visit. "It was unbelievable."
Now a 10-year resident of Moshup Trail, he characterizes it as the
single most important stretch of land in Aquinnah. "It is simply
one of the most magical places," Mr. Montoya said.
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.
A longstanding land use battle off Moshup Trail in Aquinnah
resurfaced on another front this week, when the town conservation
commission took up the application of a landowner who wants to build in
and around a wetland.
An eight-year legal battle over property rights in Aquinnah resurfaced last week when the Massachusetts Court of Appeals reversed a 2001 state land court decision that had the potential to block the development of more than 100 acres of rare coastal heathland off Moshup Trail.
The complicated case centers on whether a group of private landowners and developers should be granted access to a vast area of landlocked lots between Moshup Trail and State Road.
