A s a longtime Edgartown resident, I was surprised to hear news reports that I might be paying more than my share to support the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
As a member and present chairman of the MVC, I was more surprised to hear some people saying that things the MVC does for the Vineyard aren’t necessary for Edgartown.
Wearing both hats, I sat down and made a list of the ways my town has benefited over the years from the MVC’s work. What follows is part of it.
Protecting the Edgartown Great Pond and Sengekontacket:
Where Island businesses and Island residents meet in West Tisbury, friction has followed.
On Thursday night a public hearing continued at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on Big Sky Tents to determine whether their proposed facility in the West Tisbury light-industrial district is an appropriate use of a property that abuts a residential zone and makes use of an ancient way.
There’s been a great deal of focus lately on the local effects of the rush by federal and state authorities to build big wind farms near the Vineyard to ameliorate climate change, but very little focus on the local effects of climate change itself.
Except in Oak Bluffs, where there is quiet work underway to prepare for the worst, including sea level rise that is expected to erase beachfront property as it is now known, and the potentially ruinous effects of extreme storms caused by climate change. And it’s all backed by a state grant.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission last Thursday unanimously approved a proposal to renovate and expand Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown, which was under review as a development of regional impact (DRI).
The plan was reviewed by the commission’s land use planning committee last Monday and approved by the full commission last Thursday after 30 minutes of deliberation.
The plan now goes before the Edgartown planning board for review at the local level.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission last week unanimously approved plans to convert the old industrial building next to the Oak Bluffs library on Pacific avenue, formerly used as a trash hauling depot, into a place of worship for the Igreja Evangalica Assemblia de Deus church, whose congregation is predominantly Brazilian immigrants.
Although Island construction has been sluggish recently, the business of Brazilian churches has been robust. The newly approved church in Oak Bluffs is one of four Brazilian churches to be built here in recent years.
Despite continued pressure from some Edgartown officials, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission on Thursday stood firmly behind its previous decision to hold a public hearing on a request from the developers of the Field Club in Katama to pay $1.8 million to the town instead of designating three lots on their property for affordable housing.
After an hour of emotionally charged debate, the commission voted 10-3 to hold the hearing.