To the Editor:
My inquiring mind and environmentalism have combined once again. Why is the Oak Bluffs planning board attempting to steamroll through zoning changes in an important district of critical planning concern (DCPC)? The MVC website clearly delineates the Edgartown–Vineyard Haven from Oak Bluffs to Tisbury a DCPC. Why, oh why, would one want to make room for more mining, more building, more commercialization, and more large-scale landscape operations in that area? I asked that question, and was told by the planning board chair I should just trust in future elected officials to protect the waters. Since when am I supposed to trust unknown future possibilities? Our waters are threatened; the time to act as environmental stewards is now. Sadly, we are learning that delaying those protections is harmful. Often those effects are not visible until it’s too late.
We must stop these zoning change proposals. The process has been rushed. Public input is being ignored. Promised informational meetings were not advertised, and fewer in number than promised. A major stakeholder in the changes, who isn’t an O.B. resident, was appointed to a subcommittee. And the meeting minutes for the subcommittee were never taken or shared. The list goes on. I ask the MVC, the Oak Bluffs Select Board members, the conservation and health departments to speak out against this proposal. We are an Island, and as such are bound together by the surrounding waters. Why, oh why, would we allow our environment to be endangered?
Susan Desmarais
Oak Bluffs