Confusion Surrounds Cottage Demolition
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission is retroactively reviewing the demolition of a historic Oak Bluffs cottage that was torn down prior to referral, causing confusion.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission decided this week to move forward with a public hearing on the proposed demolition of the Denniston House in Oak Bluffs regardless of the timetable for other town committees.
A small and largely unknown group of Oak Bluffs neighbors are circulating a petition calling for the abolishment of the Cottage City Historic District, claiming that the historic district commission routinely violates homeowners’ property rights and is driving down property values.
Oak Bluffs voters this week narrowly defeated a proposal to include the North Bluff section of town in the Cottage City Historic District.
It's not heartless developers or steel wrecking balls that scare a group of historic preservationists in Oak Bluffs, but a combination of other fac