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.
Top state environmental officials stepped squarely into the fray
around the Down Island Golf Club this week, ordering developers Brian
Lafferty and Corey Kupersmith to immediately halt all tree cutting in
the southern woodlands section of Oak Bluffs.
Tree-Cutting Questions Pull Southern Woodlands Back Before
Commission
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
Connecticut developer Corey Kupersmith came back onto the radar
screen this week in a fresh collision with the town of Oak Bluffs and
the Martha's Vineyard Commission - this time over a
tree-cutting project that may or may not be in violation of state and
local laws.
Southern Woodlands Hearing Is Set, but Developers Seem Primed to
Fight
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
On the eve of a public hearing - now set for next week -
to review a massive housing project in the southern woodlands section of
Oak Bluffs, the developers of the Down Island Golf Club appear to be
charting a fresh collision course with the Martha's Vineyard
Commission.
Commissioners Open Review of Southern Woodlands Plan
By JULIA WELLS
Battles lines were drawn last night when a Bolton developer who
wants to build a massive housing project in the Southern Woodlands gave
the Martha's Vineyard Commission its first glimpse of the project.
In fact a glimpse was all that was available, as developer Brian
Lafferty unveiled only the barest outlines of his plan to build 320
homes on 288 acres in Oak Bluffs.
Land Bank Aid for Woodlands
Land Bank Initiative Offers to Pay 80 Per Cent of Conservation Cost
for Southern Woodlands if Oak Bluffs Takes Land
By MANDY LOCKE
The Martha's Vineyard Land Bank gave a promise in the form of
dollar signs to the town of Oak Bluffs Wednesday morning -
agreeing to contribute 80 per cent of the cost if the town takes by
eminent domain some 276 acres of the southern woodlands.
