The Martha’s Vineyard Commission has an important role to play when it comes to planning and protection of the Vineyard environment, a majority of people polled by the Vineyard Gazette Harris Interactive survey said.
The commission was singled out for special questioning in the survey which polled more than 500 seasonal and permanent residents on issues ranging from quality of life to cell phone service.
Amid growing negative public sentiment over a telephone pole replacement project on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road, the Tisbury selectmen have referred the project to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for possible review.
Meeting in emergency session last Friday, the selectmen voted to refer the NStar project to the MVC as a development of regional impact (DRI). The height and size of the poles is at issue.
The move to refer the matter to the commission was recommended by town administrator John (Jay) Grande after consulting with town clerk Marion Mudge.
Plans to add a large expansion to an Oak Bluffs church continued to face scrutiny at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission late last week, as commissioners and neighbors questioned the impact on the neighborhood and the environment.
The Alliance Community Church (formerly Nova Vida) has applied to build a 9,000-square-foot addition to its Ryan’s Way building in order to build a 150-seat church.
A public hearing on a major expansion plan for the Stop & Shop store on the Vineyard Haven waterfront has been postponed, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission said this week.
The hearing, the first formal public review of the expansion plan, was set for June 6.
MVC development of regional impact (DRI) coordinator Paul Foley said this week that he was notified by the attorney for Stop & Shop that changes were being made to the plans, but that the applicant would not be ready in time for June 6.
Following a late-night discussion that grew cranky at times,
the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted narrowly last week to
designate a district of critical planning concern for the
shorelines of two shellfish-rich ponds in Chilmark.
The vote was 9-6 to approve the Menemsha and Nashaquitsa
Ponds DCPC.
Jennie Greene, the appointed member of the commission from
Chilmark, fought bitterly to block the DCPC.
"I think this is a slam-dunk that a couple of people put
together.
This time around, the gloves are coming off. That is the word that's been quietly circulated for the last several months by spokesmen for the Down Island Golf Club, as they prepared a new plan to build a private luxury golf club in the southern woodlands section of Oak Bluffs.
Acting on a joint request from attorneys for the Martha's
Vineyard Commission and the Down Island Golf Club, a superior court
judge sent the golf club plan back to the commission this week for fresh
review.
"This matter is remanded to the Martha's Vineyard
Commission for further proceedings, including a public hearing to
consider plaintiff's amended application," declared the Hon.
Richard C. Connan, an associate justice of the superior court who sits
in Barnstable.
A formidable Islandwide transportation planning project and a slew
of fresh development proposals are expected to keep the newly configured
Martha's Vineyard Commission busy in the months ahead.
The debate may have divided residents of Chappaquiddick, but the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted unanimously last night to designate the little island at the eastern end of Edgartown as a district of critical planning concern (DCPC).
The proposed Down Island Golf Club in Oak Bluffs is now officially
back in the pipeline at the Martha's Vineyard Commission with
plans filed last week and an initial hearing scheduled for June 11.
