Developers Bring Their Housing Plan Back to Commission
By JULIA WELLS
Alternately cracking shrill jokes and smacking the table with his
hand, a Bolton housing developer last night unveiled a new version of a
plan to build 320 homes on the southern woodlands property once planned
as the site for the Down Island Golf Club.
Brian Lafferty, who works for property owner and would-be golf club
developer Corey Kupersmith, wasted little time before throwing down the
gauntlet in front of the Martha's Vineyard Commission.
Texas Pollsters Open Oak Bluffs Campaign on MVC Withdrawal
By JULIA WELLS
Oak Bluffs voters began receiving calls this week from a Texas
polling company in what appears to be the opening salvo for a heated
political campaign prior to a special town election on possible
secession from the Martha's Vineyard Commission.
On May 13 Oak Bluffs voters will be asked to say yes or no to town
withdrawal from the MVC.
SSA Governors Approve High Speed Ferry License; Service Begins Next
Year
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
NANTUCKET - Amid a complicated tangle of legal maneuvers and
financial acrobatics, Steamship Authority governors voted yesterday to
ink a deal that will allow a private operator to begin running
high-speed passenger service between New Bedford and the Vineyard next
summer.
Two purchases announced by the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank
this week will protect a piece of fallow farmland in the town of Tisbury
and a tree-lined ridge with an old brook running through it in the town
of Aquinnah.
NANTUCKET - The people of Nantucket clashed openly with the
Steamship Authority yesterday, raising tough questions about boat line
spending and demanding that the SSA abandon a new marketing venture that
will allow J. Crew to hand out catalogues on ferries and in terminals
during the popular Nantucket Christmas Stroll.
Summit on Lagoon Weighs Dredging, Controlling Growth
By JULIA WELLS
Dredge the pond. Control growth. Upgrade septic systems. Encourage
homeowners to curb the use of high-nitrogen fertilizers on their lawns.
These were the central themes this week when an array of shellfish
officials and Vineyard residents gathered for a summit meeting of sorts
to discuss the latest water quality crisis in the Lagoon Pond.
On Eve of Public Forum, MVC Opponents Seek To Revive Old Threats
By JULIA WELLS
On the eve of a community meeting to discuss the highly-charged
question of whether Oak Bluffs should withdraw from the Martha's
Vineyard Commission, a citizens' group in favor of leaving is
stirring up fresh debate on an old subject: the threat of a massive
affordable housing project in the southern woodlands.
As Vineyard nonprofits large and small confront the realities of
competing for a shrinking pool of donor dollars, The Foundation for
Island Health (FIH) announced this week that it will eliminate the bulk
of its paid staff and convert to an organization that is run almost
entirely by volunteers.
Up-Island Selectmen Will Meet; Neighbors Support an Appeal of Ruling
That Favored Tribe on Zoning
By JULIA WELLS Gazette Senior Writer
The town of Aquinnah will join the Gay Head Taxpayers Association in
asking a superior court judge for reconsideration of his recent decision
in favor of the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).
Although the Aquinnah selectmen have agreed to join the move to
reconsider, they have not yet decided whether to take the next step and
appeal.
