The West Tisbury Land Bank advisory board unanimously approved a combined management plan for Christiantown Woods Preserve and Arrowhead Farm after holding a public hearing on Tuesday.
The 128-page management plan was unanimously approved during a joint meeting between the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission and the advisory board earlier this month. Similar to the joint meeting, Land Bank ecologist Julie Russell gave a presentation on the plan during the hearing, covering the planned developments, the ecosystem of the area, and other topics.
Michael Braumin, an abutter to the property, asked several questions of Russell. For example, whether cars allowed on the trails (no, but pedestrians, cyclists, and horses are), and whether pet leashing is enforced (only signage and posting on the Land Bank website).
Braumin also asked about liability, since a part of the road is on his property. According to Land Bank Executive Director James Lengyel, a Massachusetts law states if a landowner permits usage of his property and “neither charges the person for the privilege of using that property for recreational purposes and does not set a trap to harm that person, then there’s no liability.” Additionally, Braumin would be covered by the organization’s insurance since it is “still a Land Bank way.”
Overall, those who spoke during the hearing commended the property and plan. “I just wanted to really shout out a thank-you to the Douglas family for doing this sale and doing this really forward-thinking protection effort,” Prudy Burt, whose grandfather owned the farm around World War II, said. “He always said it was the best soil on the Vineyard. I’m glad to see farming is in its future.”
“I think this is a great, great plan,” Richard Toole, who enjoys cycling through the area, said.
David Foster said the documents were thorough, providing both ecological and historical information. However, he asked if the Land Bank would be managing the streams in the area leading to Mill Brook.
Russell said protecting the stream is a “concern and goal” of the Land Bank, such as providing shading to mitigate rapid evaporation, but there are some challenges, like invasive plant species in a nearby shrub swamp.
“It would be obviously ideal if we could own all of the land that the stream is on and fix it, but we’ll do what we can with the part that’s on the farm, and maybe that’ll inspire neighbors and abutters to try to help. I mean, every bit will help the Mill Brook,” Russell said.
After closing the hearing, the board discussed what they heard. Board member and West Tisbury conservation commission member Peter Rodegast asked whether there were plans for the “neighboring trail connections.” Lengyel said this property abuts land owned by the Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation, and he expects they will work with the Land Bank to collaborate in making trail connections.
Lengyel brought up that Braumin asked whether a buffer along Christiantown Road and the property on Christiantown South could be made, to which land superintendent Harrison Kisiel said it was possible, even if starting small. “I definitely don’t mind doing something to really show a demarcation of that right of way in between those two properties,” Kisiel said.
Before the vote, board member Andrew Woodruff said for the public record, “We already discussed this, so our board has been through this, and we have a pretty good idea on what we’re voting on. Just wanted to put this out there.”
The board unanimously approved the plan, with an amendment to include the mentioned buffer.
“There was some thought that the Land Bank staff should examine the larger question, on a policy basis, as to whether a campground is an appropriate use of public conservation land on the Vineyard,” Land Bank executive director James Lengyel said.
Thank God someone with brains is thinking about this. Thanks, James for leading the charge on this. At an even more extreme end of the spectrum, this land isn’t owned by “the town” it belongs to the Indigenous people who we took the rest of the island from. Enough said.