Developers Sketch Outline of Proposals for Woodlands Area
By JULIA WELLS
Anxious to regain the upper hand following a defeat in the
Massachusetts Land Court last week, the developers who want to convert
the southern woodlands in Oak Bluffs to a private luxury golf course
- and now also luxury housing - scrambled to put out the
word that they have a new deal on the table.
MVC Power of Review on Housing Projects Upheld in Key Ruling by
State Land Court
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
In a groundbreaking decision that affects every town on the
Vineyard, the chief justice of the Massachusetts Land Court ruled last
week that the Martha's Vineyard Commission has full power of
review over low and moderate income housing projects under Chapter 40B,
a section of state law commonly known as the anti-snob zoning statute.
The chief justice of the Massachusetts Land Court heard arguments
this week in a groundbreaking case that will ultimately decide whether
the Martha's Vineyard Commission has the power to review low and
moderate-income housing projects under Chapter 40B, a section of state
law commonly known as the anti-snob zoning statute.
A Massachusetts Land Court judge last week dismissed the central claim in a complicated property rights case that centers on an attempt by a group of developers to open up access to a vast area of landlocked lots off Moshup Trail in Aquinnah.
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.
