A $10 million-plus annual operating budget, a laundry list of
override requests that adds up to more than $800,000 and a town hall
expansion project with a $3.7 million price tag - next week when
the voters of West Tisbury gather to conduct the annual business of the
town, the prevailing winds are expected to be out of the pocketbook.
Planning Commission Hearing Is Closed, While the Developer Continues
to Press Case on Multiple Fronts
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The gavel came down one more time late last week and a public
hearing was closed on a plan to build 320 homes in the last unbroken
stretch of oak and pine forest in Oak Bluffs.
Connecticut Developer Refiles Massive Housing Proposal for Woodlands
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The developers of the Down Island Golf Club slipped back onto the
scene this week, quietly reviving a dormant plan for a massive
affordable housing project in the southern woodlands section of Oak
Bluffs.
An attorney who represents Connecticut developer Corey Kupersmith
wrote a letter to the Martha's Vineyard Commission late last week,
asking to have the housing plan put back on an active track.
A shed and a pier in the tiny town of Aquinnah were the fulcrum for court arguments this week that will ultimately test the question of whether the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) waived sovereign immunity when it signed a land claims settlement agreement in 1983.
The settlement agreement later led to federal recognition for the tribe.
$50 Million Is a New Estimate; Leaders Plan Public Meeting for This
Saturday to Unveil Update on Their Thinking
By JULIA WELLS
Leaders at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital are moving forward
with an ambitious plan to replace the badly decayed 30-year-old hospital
on Linton Lane in Oak Bluffs - but they got a hard reality check
recently when they saw the price tag attached to the new plan.
Charging Bigotry, Applicant Attacks Commissioner Role
By JULIA WELLS
In a tense exchange that left members of the Martha's Vineyard
Commission stunned, the developer of the Down Island Golf Club took off
the gloves last night, repeatedly calling a senior member of the
commission a bigot.
Stalled Negotiations in New Bedford Endanger SSA's Schamonchi
Service
By JULIA WELLS
Stalled lease negotiations between New Bedford city officials and
the owner of the Billy Woods Wharf in New Bedford may force a delay in
the start date for spring service on the passenger ferry Schamonchi
- or worse, a shutdown in the service altogether - Steamship
Authority managers said yesterday.
In an unqualified show of confidence for one of its own members who has been under relentless attack by the developers of the Down Island Golf Club, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted without dissent last night that commission member Linda Sibley is free from bias and prejudice.
"I don't believe there is anybody on this board that does more homework and takes her job more seriously than Linda. For her to be accused of being a bigot is laughable," said commission member Richard Toole.
Land Court Upholds Power of MVC To Review 40B Housing Projects
Developer of Golf Club Will Appeal
By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer
For the second time in less than two years, yesterday a
Massachusetts Land Court judge ruled 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.
A 17-year-old New Bedford man spent the holiday weekend in the
Edgartown house of correction after he was found by the Oak Bluffs
police with a stolen, loaded sawed-off shotgun in his backpack and an
open bottle of cognac in his hand.
Justin Barry was arrested and charged with a long list of weapons
and alcohol violations. Arraignment was set for yesterday morning in
Edgartown district court.
The incident took place behind Jim's Package Store in Oak
Bluffs just after 9:30 p.m. on July 4.
