A plan to allow the developers of the upscale Field Club in Katama to pay $1.8 million to the Edgartown affordable housing committee instead of designating three lots on their property for the housing, as required by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, hit a snag this past week.
Although the plan has the backing of the town affordable housing committee, the commission at its regular meeting on Thursday decided the plan needed further discussion, voting 6-4 to schedule a public hearing on the matter.
The West Tisbury zoning board of appeals on Wednesday unanimously agreed to allow well-known restaurateurs Mary and Jackson Kenworth to expand the footprint of the former Deon’s restaurant on State Road, approving plans for a new 2,170-square-foot year-round restaurant.
The board earlier this month cited a town bylaw which restricts commercial use in a residential zone to 2,000 square feet and expressed concern about the viability of the plan submitted by the Kenworths, who own and operate the popular Slice of Life Café in Oak Bluffs.
For a long time people viewed the dearth of affordable housing on the Vineyard as a daunting and seemingly insurmountable problem. Even those who work in the field of affordable housing — which now has become its own industry on the Vineyard — will readily admit there are no easy solutions to the problem.
After an emotional response from the community, leaders at the Martha’s Vineyard Boys & Girls Club this week defended their recent decision to abruptly fire two longtime employees of the Edgartown Second Hand Store and dismiss the store’s staff of volunteers.
In keeping with the theme, a conflict between police and demonstrators over a planned protest against the war in Iraq at the Vineyard Haven post office was resolved peacefully on Wednesday.
The Rev. Alden Besse and Sarah Nevin, co-chairmen of the Vineyard Peace Council, planned the display as part of a national campaign against the war titled Eyes Wide Open. The display features combat boots and professionally made banners that list the number of men and women who have been injured or killed in Iraq.
West Tisbury selectmen on Wednesday swiftly voted to remove several No Parking signs recently placed across the road from the Lambert’s Cove beach parking lot after complaints came in from people who had paid $50 for a resident beach sticker and were worried they would have nowhere to park.
