Property owner David Malm has been racking up $300 daily fines from the Tisbury conservation commission since the end of May for failing to provide a plan to restore environmental damage from unauthorized construction and illegal clearing at his 20-acre estate on Chappaquonsett Road.

The fines stem from the commission’s discovery last fall of multiple violations at the waterfront property known as Chip Chop, which Mr. Malm purchased from Diane Sawyer in 2023 for nearly $24 million.

A mile-long strip of land between Lake Tashmoo and Vineyard Sound, Chip Chop is subject to state and local laws protecting barrier beaches and coastal dunes. 

Tisbury conservation agent Jane Varkonda wrote to Mr. Malm and his company Goldeneye, LLC on April 30, outlining the violations.

Stone steps were also installed without permission, according to the commission.

Ray Ewing

Stone steps were also installed without permission, according to the commission.

Ray Ewing

In early October, contractors were building an unpermitted stone wall along the driveway and continued after Ms. Varkonda issued a stop-work order.

Conservation commissioners who were inspecting resurfacing work at the estate’s tennis court later in October found that a large area of native vegetation on the north side of the property, including shrubs and trees, had been cleared to the ground. Wooden steps on the dunes were replaced with stone steps, again without permission, according to the town.

“This was immediately identified as a violation, because the work occurred on a barrier beach and in coastal dunes,” Ms. Varkonda wrote.

As of April, however, the cleared area was not restored and was being used for parking, she wrote.

Mr. Malm is the managing director of the Waltham-based private equity firm Webster Equity Partners. He is known on the Vineyard for amassing a large number of high-end homes, either personally or through Goldeneye, the real estate investment company that he owns.

In Tisbury, the town’s conservation commission voted unanimously in early May to find Mr. Malm and Goldeneye in violation, giving the owner until the end of the month to submit a plan for restoring the property.

In mid-June, with no plan received, the commission voted to begin assessing the $300 daily fines going back to the May 30 deadline.

Ms. Varkonda notified Mr. Malm on July 22 that the fines had reached $15,600, with subsequent assessments to come every two weeks at the continuing rate of $300 a day.

Reached by the Gazette last week, Ms. Varkonda said she had not heard directly from Mr. Malm but expected to be in touch with his representation this week.

Attorney Robert McCarron on Monday forwarded the Gazette a message from Mr. Malm that work on the property was suspended, as requested by Ms. Varkonda, and that a restoration plan is well under way. 

“Since being notified of the Conservation Commission’s concerns, we have been working diligently to provide a landscape plan[and] plant lists, restricting contractor parking and engaging with Commission staff to resolve all remaining issues,” Mr. Malm wrote. 

“Given our ongoing efforts to resolve all matters, we were surprised by the notice of fines. Regardless, we look forward to resolving all of their remaining concerns and exceeding their expectations for environmental stewardship for the property,” his message concluded.