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.
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 Martha's Vineyard Commission last night affirmed its decision to reject the Down Island Golf Club plan, but not before a minor fracas around an unexpected eleventh-hour pitch from the Oak Bluffs selectmen to have the commission delay the final written version of the denial.
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.
Emotions ran high throughout the final night of public testimony regarding a Chapter 40B affordable housing development that, if approved, would place 20 homes on 4.9 acres of land near Tisbury's center.
When Tisbury and Edgartown voted to withdraw from the Martha's Vineyard Commission in the late 1970s, what followed was a procedural and political tangle that went on for years.
In Tisbury, the fight was over the second slip for the Steamship Authority. In Edgartown, it was about the rules for the coastal district of critical planning concern.
By the time both towns rejoined the commission in 1984, the tumult had died down, deep political divisions had faded and few people remembered what the fight had been all about in the first place.
Torn down the middle for the third time in three years, the expressions eloquent and heartfelt on both sides of the street, a strained and weary Martha's Vineyard Commission voted 9-8 to reject the Down Island Golf Club plan for the southern woodlands late on Wednesday night.
"The applicant has come back with changes to the plan and the word is that he has addressed all of our concerns. But he hasn't ever addressed my main concern and that's my concern about the character and identity of Martha's Vineyard," declared commission member James Athearn.
