Letters to the Editor
Published: June 11, 2009
Defends the MVC
To the Editor:
Following is the text of a letter I've sent to the Edgartown selectmen:
As your appointed representative to the Martha's Vineyard Commission, it is my duty to respond the statements made by Arthur Smadbeck [the Edgartown selectman] as reported by the Vineyard Gazette on Friday, June 5. My experience with the commission over the last eight and a half years has given me a perspective that I feel is important to share with you now.
I'd like to start with a few comments about the commission's budget. Despite suggestions to the contrary, the commission never rebuffed any effort to find out about or provide input to the MVC budget. Since the commission was one of the first Island entities to adopt a budget, we did our best in early winter to determine what the six towns were going to do about salary increases, to attempt to match the standard. In the end, the MVC came out below the average increase in the six towns, schools, and county. Although the difficult financial situation didn't let us reduce the town assessments as we had earlier hoped, the MVC budget for Fiscal 2010 is $120,000 less than last year, and the assessments were flat with the previous year.
Concerning Edgartown's share relative to other Island towns, the Commonwealth set the formula for dividing the MVC assessment, based on each town's share of the Island's equalized valuation. Everyone on the Vineyard pays about $4.40 per $100,000 assessed value, so someone who owns a house assessed at $500,000 pays $22 a year, no matter where they live. This is an eminently fair and modest amount.
We are happy to work with each town's finance committee on the preparation of the budget and will be setting out a process for the coming year that will give everyone more time to provide input. But ultimately, it is the 18 elected and appointed commissioners who are accountable for making sure that the money is well spent. To that end, the commission will be hearing regular reports from each staff member, so that we can be fully apprised of the value of their positions. Next December, I intend to be even more vigilant and critical in reviewing the MVC budget.
More important is to understand why the commission is needed now and in the future as much as ever.
The comment that, "The land, it's all in conservation or it's already developed," is not correct. With present zoning and available land, 2,871 more single-family dwellings could be built in Edgartown alone. If guesthouses are added, there could be a total of 6,096 new living units spread out over the town. Island-wide, there could be 18,208 more dwelling units. Though we are seeing fewer large subdivisions than in previous decades, there are still many large parcels of unprotected land. Over the last few years several hundred houses have been built, even without large subdivisions. One can easily see this is not sustainable development and that existing controls would not prevent over-development.
In addition, there are new challenges that need the attention of the MVC. Recently enacted or proposed legislation, such as the Oceans Act, the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act, and the Land Use Partnership Act, would erode towns' authority to regulate development. However, the existence of our regional regulatory authority, the MVC, offers a way to keep control on the Island.
The reason the MVC was created was because the Commonwealth realized that town zoning alone cannot give the community the kind of protection it needs to preserve this Island's unique environment and character. The 54-lot subdivision proposed for Herring Creek Farm in 1990 would have met town zoning; the existence of the MVC was important in helping the town of Edgartown achieve a much better solution.
In looking at the commission's planning function, we cannot only look at the immediate activities within the borders of our town. It has been my observation that town boards are focused on the matters directly before them and have little time or inclination for long-range planning. Also, we Edgartown citizens are part of the whole of Martha's Vineyard and we care about the whole Island, including the other towns where our friends, family, and customers live, and where we shop, fish, hunt, visit, hike, and work.
Groundwater from other towns flows into Edgartown, and indications from the estuaries studies are that we have already built more septic systems than the Great Ponds can stand. The commission has worked with Edgartown and other Island towns and pond associations over many years to carry out water quality studies and plan the most cost-effective ways to protect public health and clean up our ponds. We all benefit from efforts to deal with Island traffic and transportation problems. We need the MVC's trained staff and citizen planners to focus on these important issues that don't come before the town boards week by week.
The unique legislation that created the commission states that its purpose is to preserve and conserve for future generations "the unique natural, historical, ecological, scientific and cultural values of Martha's Vineyard which contribute to public enjoyment, inspiration, and scientific study, by protecting these values from development and uses which would impair them, and by promoting the enhancement of sound local economies." The day-to-day administration of town government and our outdated zoning do not address these important values, which are being eroded on a daily basis by market forces. The Island Plan maps show that the Island environment has changed radically in the last 30 years and will change radically again in the next 30, perhaps making this into a suburban community indistinguishable from others throughout the Commonwealth.
Edgartown and the rest of the Island have been blessed with a vibrant economy. In order for this prosperity to continue for future generations, we can't use up all our resources in this generation, as we have been doing with land, fish, and groundwater quality. Call it "sustainability" or just "Yankee common sense," it means balancing consumption with renewal of the resource being consumed.
In order for the people of Martha's Vineyard to get the future they say they want, we will have to take full advantage of the special powers of the MVC to give towns the legal authority and planning expertise to preserve the qualities of our Island lives that we value so highly.
For many of us Islanders, it is hard to spend our hard-earned money for professional services such as insurance, tax preparation, or septic engineers, but in the long run, it is money well spent and may well save us money, make us money, or protect us from disaster. The $22 that the MVC costs for a typical household is probably the very best investment we can make in our future prosperity and happiness.
James Athearn
Edgartown
Work with the MVC
To the Editor:
How quickly people forget! When Edgartown withdrew from the Martha's Vineyard Commission in the early 1980s, the floodgates opened. Development was rampant. Houses and subdivisions sprouted everywhere. There was no way to slow it down and even some of the senior citizens who liked the idea of the town "going on its own" said to me afterwards, that if they had known what would happen, they would not have voted to get out of the Commission.
Today the issue of membership in the Commission has come down to dollars. These are hard times for the towns, but the value of the Commission's planning is worth its weight in gold. Surely Edgartown can work with the Commission to resolve their differences, instead of voting out as they did 25 years ago.
Many undeveloped acres still exist in Edgartown, and developers are eagerly waiting for the town to be out of the Commission so that they can take advantage of a lack of thoughtful restrictions on these lands. Edgartown is a beautiful town and we need the help of the Martha's Vineyard Commission to keep it so in the future.
On June 18, we should vote to pay the Commission bill and ask the selectmen to work with the MVC to revise the cost to Edgartown, if it is indeed unfairly assessed.
Edith W. Potter
Edgartown
Ed. Note: Edith Potter was an Edgartown selectman for many years.
Got any Bon Ami, mon ami?
To the Editor:
In my West Tisbury sign shop I employ a very old-fashioned and induplicable item. Bon Ami soap cakes, which are used to prepare high gloss surfaces for paint. The secret ingredient in Bon Ami is feldspar, an extremely mild abrasive. There are two cakes of Bon Ami left on my supplies shelf, so it's time to try to find a place to order more. LL Bean used to have it, but no longer. I hope that Bon Ami cake has not gone to the same sad place of oblivion as have the real Orange Crush or Postum.
I was on the ferry when I remembered that the SSA has put wireless on their ferries. Aha! So, I tried to find, through Google, Bon Ami. No luck. The Steamship Authority (Big Brother?) internet censor refuses to allow any searches for the word "ami." Friend, I kid you not.
I am so very thankful to the Steamship Authority for protecting me from my misguided inquisitiveness. Especially for keeping me from the evils of the word "ami."
Yes, oh my goodness gracious, bless them for protecting us all from the hideous evils that lurk out there in the Internet.
Tom Hodgson
West Tisbury
Enough with the junk, already
To the Editor:
We wish to thank you for the article you published March 5 that helped draw public attention to our neighborhood struggle pertaining to the junkyard at the corner of Hollybear Lane and the Vineyard Haven-Edgartown Road. We'd like to add to what Mr. Myrick covered in the article for sake of accuracy and a bigger picture of this situation.
First, there was a confusion in the article as to what had been cleaned up. The progress referred to in the article had been made not in Chris Chambers's lot, but in Ron Chambers's lot on Chambers Way. Chris Chambers's lot had remained much the same (a few things were moved around and some old boats removed), and this was witnessed by all who drove by on the main road. Since the meeting with the selectmen March 2nd, the contents of the yard have improved slightly, but we still endure the presence of such eye-sores as the approximately 22-foot-long derelict trailer, with a cash register on a table in front of it, every time we drive by. According to Article V, 5.5 of zoning bylaws, this trailer is illegal, and yet it is allowed to remain resting quite prominently by the side of the road. At the selectmen's meeting it was stated that this was not a trailer.
Second, in our presentation to the selectmen we included letters from seasonal real estate agents, Ann Floyd and Caroline Taylor of Edgartown, stating that not only did the presence of the junkyard depreciate each of our properties by $100,00+, but that they, as agents, did not represent rentals or sales down our street due to the "down and out" look at the beginning of the road. Our street is not "down and out," but the ramshackle debacle at Hollybear Lane's entrance taints the whole neighborhood financially, never mind aesthetically. A junkyard affects everyone on that street. Many of us have worked our whole lives for our homes. We ask you, how would you like it if this happened at the beginning of your road? While we were at the Edgartown selectmen's meeting in March, the gentleman that preceded our group wished to cut down a dying tree in front of his home on Simpson's Lane. He had to submit professional drawings, and provide impressive plantings to replace one tree. And we can't get rid of a junkyard, no matter how hard we try. Evidently one man's ceiling is another man's floor in zoning enforcement. This mess has become an Island landmark. Hollybear Lane is known as "The street where the junkyard is."
Third, we have gone round and round in maddening circles as to whether Chris Chambers's lot is or is not a junkyard, is or is not a business. This is a proverbial shell game. It seems to us that something very simple is being over-looked. In the zoning bylaw it simply states that these kinds of messes must be screened, {Article XI 11.6a}. In that the property is lower than the main road, it is impossible to screen, therefore Mr. Chambers should not be allowed to accumulate junk there, business or not. This is the gateway to Edgartown. Where is our pride?
Finally, as a neighborhood seeking fairness, and so very very weary of battling a never-ending war against junk in the past, from the 175-car junkyard next to us on the Hall property (many of us are on wells) to Pat Kelly's 45-car junkyard next to Edgartown Auto, as well as his flagrant violation of exceeding a 14-car maximum variance for his garage that went on for years, and now Chris Chambers's lot, we have come to the realization that we cannot be the only neighborhood struggling with this issue. There seems to be some kind of loophole legislation going on when it comes to junkyards and residential zoning enforcement. Perhaps if various neighborhoods joined together to address our mutual frustrations as a larger whole, we might be able to move forward with real results. We invite neighborhoods to come forward now and speak out. Nothing changes until we do!
Susan Barnette, Tracey DeMars, Margot Datz Blair, Ron and Jan Wray, John and Cynthia Farrington, John and Kathy Benoit
Edgartown
Know who you give to
To the Editor:
We have all come across an organization that we have been wary about, and this was the case on Friday, June 5, when I visited our local Wal-Mart in Falmouth at lunchtime with Director of Veterans Services Jay W. Hill. We were greeted by two men dressed in battle dress uniforms who would appear to be military men to the untrained eye.
After further conversation I learned that their mission is to help homeless veterans with food, rent and/or mortgage payments, etc. Mind you, they are based out of Rhode Island and call themselves the "New England Chapter."
I placed a call to the Massachusetts Secretary of State who informed me I should call the Rhode Island Secretary of State. I found out they are a registered nonprofit organization but their mission of service has nothing to do with veterans, their website is conveniently under construction, and their phone number only has two options. One option puts the caller in touch with a relative of the gentleman I met outside of Wal-Mart, and the other with some other individual - very sketchy stuff.
These individuals called themselves a "veterans support group" or VSO for short, and neither of the men soliciting money were veterans. We called the police and the men were ordered to quit soliciting donations for now, based on that technicality.
I urge everyone to be careful. I was talking to the two men for only about 10 minutes, and while I was standing there, handfuls of money were being donated. I hope informing the public about this incident will serve as a warning and a reminder to donate only to organizations that they know are legitimate.
Crystal M. Flagg
Town of Falmouth
Assistant Veterans Services
Many questions, few answers
To the Editor:
Can you hear me now? Yes, loud and clear.
Cell phone towers 48 feet high in 19 different visible locations all over West Tisbury is a bad idea.
The proposed cell towers are sited to be constructed on scenic vistas all over West Tisbury. Places like Scotchman's Bridge Lane, the Whiting fields, Fred Fishers Farm, Indian Hill Road, North Road and several locations on Lambert's Cove Road. Many of these towers are to be built on land that conservation groups, families and town officials alike have fought and worked hard to conserve.
At the recent town meeting with the American Tower company many concerned voters asked questions that were not answered. The unanswered questions which are of particular interest and concern to me were:
1. At what point in the process does the town lose the right to dictate appropriate node locations, number of nodes and the size of each node? The representative from American Tower made it very clear that the proposed locations could change if the carriers request a different location.
2. Is it true that, once locations get permitted, larger towers can be built to increase coverage? For instance, on Scotchman's Bridge Lane (which has open space and a seemingly good spot for a cell tower) could AT&T request and build a 100- or 200-foot tower?
3. Exactly how much clear cutting will be done in each location? Will stone walls, cedars and large oaks be removed in favor of the cell towers? The American Tower representative made it clear that the towers could not be placed out of sight because trees would interfere with the signals; however, he was vague about how much clearing would go on around each of the 19 towers. He was clear that each tower gives off a signal that is only a quarter of a mile.
Last week a friend and I drove around to each of the proposed locations and had coverage in all of these locations and in most cases we had great coverage. I have Blackberry and my Internet service worked fine too. I have AT&T and my friend has Verizon.
As a voter in West Tisbury, I ask the West Tisbury board of selectmen to withdraw from the DAS plan.
Kaysea Cole Hart
West Tisbury
High energy, good spirits
To the Editor:
I would like to thank all of the people who attended (WE) Women Empowered's Women of the Year Brunch on Saturday, May 30. It was a warm and breezy day and Mediterranean restaurant was covered with pink and while balloons, pink stones and petals welcoming our guests and our honorees.
It was a great occasion to present our first Woman of the Year award to Cindy Doyle and a Lifetime Achievement Award to our founder, Kaye Flathers. The energy level was high, good spirits were everyone and from the calls, emails and visits on the street, all attending had a great time.
Susan Klein regaled us with her wonderful story, the food was fantastic due to Leslie and Doug Hewson's efforts, and the crowd filled the Mediterranean.
Our Special Events Committee's efforts were very evident that day. I'd like to thank each and every one of you and will do so personally next week at a celebration party at my home. Kudos to the members who were fun, creative and always got the job done! Members; Abbe Burt, Barbara Silk, Bonnie Marcus, Brenda Lehman, Elaine Miller, Elaine Pace, Francie Desmone, Joyce Rickson, Norren Baker, Paula Martin, and Tom Dresser.
This is my second event this year as the executive director of WE and I'm amazed at the outpouring of donations, volunteers, board and committee contributions that accompany these events.
Please know that your work encouraged five new clients to call on Monday and Tuesday who had heard of the event and decided to make that first step towards empowerment through our Life Skills Program.
The M.V. community is a wonderful place to run a non-profit organization. Vineyarders are generous, caring, and giving people who I thank from the bottom of my heart. I am proud to live and work on this beautiful island.
My sincere thanks to all.
Sheila Bracy
Executive Director
Silence validates
To the Editor:
Jeffrey Leistyna of West Tisbury ended a recent letter to the Times with this statement: "Be a good patriot, and do your bit to spread the message of peace, cooperation, and sharing." I wonder if he feels that this should be applied to his own town. West Tisbury denies public walk-on summer access to Lambert's Cove Beach, a town park. Where is the peace, cooperation, and sharing in that?
Since I often write about this subject in this paper I believe that this next statement in a recent At Large is directed at me. "Some letter writers and comment posters bray irritatingly and predictably over just a few subjects." I'm sure I wouldn't write as often if The Editor wouldn't make moronic statements equating the lack of public beach access to not having a Burger King on the Island. Silence is my validation. End beach apartheid.
Erik Albert
Oak Bluffs
Together we raised thousands
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Martha's Vineyard Boys & Girls Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Martha's Vineyard I would like to thank everyone that made the 15th Annual Children's Benefit Golf Tournament at Farm Neck a huge success. Together we raised over $35,000 to support the programs and services of these two special organizations.
Thank you to all the golfers who came out in support of our organizational missions. We couldn't have asked for a better day and I hope that everyone enjoyed the event as much as we enjoyed having you there.
Thank you to Farm Neck for, once again, hosting our event at your beautiful club. I'd especially like to thank Mike Zoll and Kyle Fiore in the pro shop and Mia Rebello in the cafe for all your help in the organization and facilitation of this event.
Thank you to all our sponsors of various levels. Your support and commitment to our community is greatly appreciated, and we are proud to have you as partners in providing our Island's youth with quality programs and services.
- Morton Financial - Tournament Sponsor
- The Edgartown National Bank - Major Sponsor
- Bank of Martha's Vineyard - Major Sponsor
- Vineyard Vines - Major Sponsor
- Cape Air - Major Sponsor
- Martha's Vineyard Savings Bank - Hole Sponsor
- Allied Waste Services - Hole Sponsor
- John G. Early Contractor and Builder - Hole Sponsor
- Cronig's Market - Hole Sponsor
- Martha's Vineyard Insurance - Hole Sponsor
- Cini-Miller Law Offices - Hole Sponsor
- R.M. Packer Co. - Hole Sponsor
- Joe Lewis Jefferson Foundation - Hole Sponsor
- TOSA Foundation - Hole Sponsor
- McCarron, Murphy, & Vukota - ½ Hole Sponsor
- Depot Market - ½ Hole Sponsor
- Vineyard Cash & Carry - ½ Hole Sponsor
- Tashmoo Restoration - ½ Hole Sponsor
- The TJX Foundation - ½ Hole Sponsor
- Mr. Charles Harff - Jr. Golfer Sponsor
- Burke & Lamb - Jr. Golfer Sponsor
- Island Food Products - Breakfast Sponsor
- Island Tobacco - Snack Sponsor
- The Coca-Cola Company - Snack Sponsor
- Edgartown Golf Club - Prize Sponsor
- The Island House - Prize Sponsor
- l'etoile - Prize Sponsor
- The Newes from America - Prize Sponsor
- The Wharf - Prize Sponsor
- The Grill on Main - Prize Sponsor
- The Chilmark Store - Prize Sponsor
- Jim Hackenberg - Prize Sponsor
I hope to see everyone back next year for the 16th edition of the Children's Benefit, and look forward to welcoming new participants and sponsors to the event.
Peter Lambos
Executive Director
Martha's Vineyard Boys & Girls Club
