Seven Martha's Vineyard boating operations have won 2020 Boater's Choice Awards from Cambridge-based marinas.com.
Loosening restrictions on land while tightening them on the water sparked considerable discussion at the Tisbury board of selectman meeting on Tuesday.
Sixteen proposed harbor regulations restricting when, where and how boats operate in Vineyard Haven harbor were debated during the public hearing.
A regulation stating “all commercial ferries shall operate within hours compliant to noise regulations” drew pointed comments from selectman Tristan Israel on the Steamship Authority’s adherence to harbor restrictions.
Three Island towns awake this morning under the umbrella of permit moratoriums following last night’s meeting of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
The commission opened its regular meeting by approving a nomination for a district of critical planning concern in the Vineyard Haven harbor. The vote was unanimous and followed a public hearing which was held prior to the opening of the commission meeting. Only one member of the public was heard in the hearing.
In an effort to regain control of their waterfront, Tisbury selectmen voted Tuesday evening to nominate Vineyard Haven harbor as a district of critical planning concern. The nomination will be considered by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
Tisbury officials this week wrestled with whether the town should establish a district of critical planning concern (DCPC) for Vineyard Haven harbor, an area that currently has a detailed zoning plan for the shore but no controls for the water.
At a meeting Tuesday night session with the town planning board, members of the board of selectmen explained their rationale for considering a DCPC -- a Martha’s Vineyard Commission overlay planning district -- as a mechanism for regulating activities on the harbor.
The Tisbury board of selectmen took the first step this week toward regulating activity in Vineyard Haven harbor by placing a proposal on the table to nominate the waterway as a District of Critical Planning Concern (DCPC).
If the plan moves forward, much of the harbor could be designated by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission as a resource to be protected, beginning a process of establishing development guidelines for the area.
Carmel Gamble glared at the chain-link fence surrounding the beachfront lot next door to her Vineyard Haven cottage. “This is not the Vineyard Haven I knew,” said Miss Gamble, a veterinary technician and self-described “clown on sabbatical” who returned to Martha’s Vineyard two years ago after five years in Hawaii. “But this ugly steel chain-link fence, I mean, what we love about the Vineyard is that it’s beautiful. That’s why people come here,” she said.
