A land court judge has scheduled a joint conference in the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School turf field lawsuit, which could clarify next steps in the case.
The hearing is scheduled for Nov. 3. A judge will review whether to send the high school turf field project application back to the Oak Bluffs planning board for analysis.
This comes after an Oct. 5 joint filing by the Vineyard school district and Oak Bluffs planning board, asking for the conference and to avoid a trial.
In that filing, the board asked that the application be remanded to them for analysis, which would be conducted with the ruling limitations of Judge Kevin Smith in mind. The board’s reason for the request was they they have not considered whether the high school could locate athletic fields somewhere on campus outside the dimensional limitations of water resource laws.
The high school’s legal filing proposed a final judgment that the planning board reverse and vacate its denial of the turf field application, and stated that the project does not require a special permit.
If Judge Smith decides unilaterally against the requests of either party, the parties will have the right to appeal that decision. The possibility of another appeal can be avoided if both parties agree to waive their right to appeal.
“We agree that no triable issues remain, and no additional discovery is needed,” said high school committee chair Kathryn Schertzer at the time of the joint filing. “However, we disagree on the final disposition of the case. We anticipate a status conference, and await the court’s instructions.”
