The new owner of one of the more iconic Vineyard properties is facing thousands of dollars in fines after building what local officials say is an unpermitted rock wall and clear-cutting coastal vegetation.
The Tisbury conservation commission has issued more than $15,000 in fines against Island investor David Malm for work at Chip Chop, a Vineyard Haven property on Chappaquonsett Road. The fines are the culmination of what the town has said are months of inaction from the property owner to address violations, to the tune of $300 a day.
According to correspondence between Tisbury conservation agent Jane Varkonda, the town noticed the infractions in October of last year when inspecting the resurfacing of a tennis court on the 30-acre property. An email from Varkonda to Malm in April notes that on inspection, a “large portion” of native vegetation including trees and shrubs were cut to the ground, a violation because the work was done on a barrier beach in a coastal dune. The town also noted that pre-existing wood timber steps in a dune were replaced with stone without permitting.
After another follow up inspection in April, Varkonda noted that work vans and other vehicles were parked in the disturbed areas. The agent also lists a number of steps the owner should take to remedy the unpermitted work — including re-vegitating, removing the rock wall, and re-stablizing the area — with the deadline for the owner to have a plan submitted to the town by the end of May.
In June, Varkonda sent another letter to Malm, noting that the deadline had passed and that the town had not received a restoration plan. The commission, she noted, voted to issue a $300-per-day fine until the plan was submitted. With 18 days having passed since the end-of-May deadline, the commission voted to issue a $5,400 fine.
Varkonda issued a subsequent notice at the end of July, noting that Malm still had not submitted a plan and that the tab had grown another $10,200 — another 34 days at $300 a day.
In a statement to the Times, sent from attorney Rob McCarron on behalf of Malm, the Chip Chop owner said he was surprised by the fines.
“Since being notified of the Conservation Commission’s concerns, we have been working diligently to provide a landscape plan, plant lists, restricting contractor parking and engaging with Commission staff to resolve all remaining issues,” the statement read, noting that they had paused work. “Given our on-going efforts to resolve all matters, we were surprised by the notice of fines. Regardless, we look forward to resolving all of their remaining concerns and exceeding their expectations for environmental stewardship for the property.”
Malm purchased Chip Chop — formerly owned by former ABC News Anchor, Diane Sawyer — $23.9 million in 2023.
$300 per day is nothing to a billionaire who bought the property for nearly $24 million. Hope the town finds a way to put some teeth in its regulations.
Malm is not a billionaire. Hes successful but not THAT successful. Dont give him that much credit
This does not surprise me in the least. As a person who worked in this house for 10 years before it was sold, it is dishearting to see the total disrespect for the island and the land this property sits on.
This is disturbing and disgraceful. Was there no Order of Conditions from Vineyard Haven Con Com? If not doesn’t Ms. Varkonda have authority to issue a cease and desist order to the contractors doing the work until one is established? If there was one, what licensed contractor would defy it?
Perhaps some follow up reporting is in order.
Maybe the Oak Bluffs maxim: It’s easier to ask for forgiveness than a permit is coming into play here. The current owner of Chip Chop has the resources to pay the fines and so will go ahead, apparently, and do what he wants to do, with or without approval.
I thought Chilmark had dibs on that maxim of the ultra wealthy. It’s been going on for as long as McMansions have been a thing. More than 20 years ago I lived next door to this kind of outrageous flaunting of rules which sent on for years—building in environmentally protected wetlands, cuttin’ down protected trees, un-permitted outdoor fire hazards, and trespassing on closed-to-the-public land bank property commandeered for personal use. Talk about chutzpah, they even made a path for themselves on the land bank property— When my neighbors were finally fined, it was chump change for them, as is this $300 per day. History tends to repeat itself. “Money wins” is the moral of this story. At the time, I made as big a stink about it as some folks are now making over the island’s little problem with antisemitism.
Mr. Malm does not care about the island. He only cares about his wallet.
The things he has done doesn’t damage the island one bit. Sensitivity to minor issues on private land is laughable. Someone please tell us specifically what replacing timber with stone will harm and a bit of cutting of wild grass will damage.? No erosion to sea wall, no sewage, no nothing. Instead we are outraged at something that doesn’t affect any of us.
You haven’t heard of siltation, dune erosion, coastal bank degradation? Native vegetation holds the dune in place, protects from tidal and storm surge damage, provides habitat, keeps run off from silting up shellfish beds. Because of all that, the state of Massachusetts has laws and the town of Tisbury has regs. If you don’t like them, go to Town Meeting and convince your fellow citizens to change them. Otherwise, obey the law and respect what the voters of Tisbury have decided.
Ms Brooks. Nothing in the article speaks to ”how much”. Nothing indicates this is a significant cutting. Are you suggesting the dunes will collapse based upon what you read? This is much ado about nothing. How about checking on the cocaine wash ashore and drug busts and cars and boats left all over the island illegally by those not wanting them any longer. MV is a dump when one drives around yet we go hysterical on precious vegetation. Yes the owner broke some regulations but it is no worse than the health authorities closing down a kitchen occasionally. The island will survive just fine.
I’m confused. Are you suggesting that Ms Brooks is wrong for wanting islanders to follow the law?
Mary, regulations are not the same as laws; while both are binding, laws are broad statutes passed by a legislature, whereas regulations are detailed rules created by government agencies.Some regulations were not kept and he is paying fines. You break a law by crossing a pedestrian crossing on a red light but no reason to get knickers twisted over it. Same with shrubs.
Well said Andrew
The clearing of “native vegetation including trees and shrubs” on a barrier beach leads directly to the weakening of the soil. Weak soil on a barrier beach washes and blows away during storms. This beach is a natural defense against flooding and storm surge for the entirety of the Tashmoo shoreline.
Mr. Malm could actually contribute positively to Lake Tashmoo and boaters by dredging his large build-up of sand on the Vineyard Sound. It stretches across his beach to the tip of the northwest jetty by the inlet. Removing many cubic yards of sand would allow the jetty to function efficiently as a buffer; the Lake Tashmoo access would not need dredging so frequently and the inlet would be far more navigable.
Malm wants to keep people out, not assist access