Herring Creek Farm, the storied and richly diverse Great Plains farm
in the rural coastal perimeters of Edgartown, is now set to be sold for
a record price to an eclectic group that includes two nonprofit
conservation organizations and two private buyers.
A 32-lot luxury home subdivision plan for the Herring Creek Farm in
Edgartown cleared the final hurdle for approval this week, but if a
complicated private agreement for the sale of the farm is completed in
the months ahead, the subdivision may never be developed.
The leading spokesman for the Herring Creek Farm Trust told the Edgartown planning board this week that the sale of the farm to a private buyer now hinges on the board's approval of a luxury home subdivision plan for the farm.
The Herring Creek Farm Trust has filed a new lawsuit against the Martha's Vineyard Commission, appealing a recent decision by the commission to eliminate a private beach association from a development plan for the farm. The 32-lot luxury home development plan for the farm was approved by the commission in November. The approval was accompanied by some 22 conditions. One condition eliminated a 250-member private beach association from the plan.
In a landmark decision which marks a sweeping victory for the Vineyard and deals a crippling defeat to the Herring Creek Farm Trust, the chief justice of the Massachusetts Land Court upheld three-acre zoning in the town of Edgartown yesterday. The decision is believed to be the most important legal opinion for the Vineyard since the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled in favor of the Martha's Vineyard Commission on the Island Properties case nearly two decades ago.
