Revised Yellow House Plan Attracts Lone Bid
A sole applicant is in the running in Edgartown’s second search for someone to lease and renovate the Yellow House.
Sara Brown
After heated comments from community members about potential regulation of “community character” — and lots of debate within the commission itself — the Martha’s Vineyard Commission last week approved changes to its checklist of criteria for developments of regional impact.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission Thursday approved changes to a 22-year-old decision regarding a Chappaquiddick subdivision, removing an obstacle to possible relocation of the Schifter house.
In 1990, the MVC approved O. Stevens Leland Jr. and Timothy Leland’s application to divide a 27-acre parcel of land adjacent to Poucha Pond into a four-lot subdivision.
One lot was deeded to O. Stevens Leland, who built a house there in 2001.
With a hearing scheduled in U.S. district court Monday in a complicated lawsuit over casino rights, the town of Aquinnah Tuesday filed a motion to intervene in the case to protect the town’s position that the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) does not have the right to build a gaming facility on the Island.
Plans are underway to relocate a large house on Wasque Point that is threatened by a rapidly eroding shoreline.
The bluff on Richard and Jennifer Schifter’s Chappaquiddick property has been eroding at a rate that coastal geologists call alarming and unprecedented. Despite emergency measures to stanch the damage, the ocean is coming ever closer to the Schifters’ 8,800-square-foot house.
An Oak Bluffs man was arrested last week on child pornography charges, and another pleaded guilty to child pornography charges from the spring. Joshua L. Rogers, 25, of Oak Bluffs, was arraigned Dec. 6 in Edgartown district court on charges of possessing child pornography and distributing material of a child in a sexual act. Bail was set at $25,000, with no unsupervised contact with children under age 16 a further condition of release.
With the cold, dark days of winter on the way, Edgartown just lost one source of solace: Espresso Love, one of the few year-round places in town to get a latte and a muffin, closed for the winter Monday.
Owner T.J. McManus said that the restaurant, which serves food, and seasonally wine and beer along with the titular espresso, will close until the spring for needed repairs and renovations. The floors need to be replaced and the roof needs to be fixed, he said, and improvements are slated for the counters and the kitchen.