An appeal questioning whether the Trustees of Reservations have the proper permitting to allow oversand vehicles in areas of Cape Poge managed by the conservation nonprofit has once again stirred up discord in Edgartown.
While the Edgartown Select Board holds no decisionmaking power over this matter, it held a listening session on July 20 during its regular meeting. The appeal is expected to be taken up by the town’s zoning board of appeals on August 5.
“The select people have no decision to make,” Smadbeck said. “We’re here to listen.”
The discourse was sparked by an appeal filed on June 24 to the Edgartown zoning board of appeals by William Gazaille, who lives in the Cape Poge area on Chappaquiddick. In the appeal, Gazaille called for the enforcement of the zoning board’s 2024 decision to require a special permit for the Trustees of Reservations, also referred to as TTOR, to allow recreational use of its Cape Poge properties.
In 2024, the zoning board of appeals made a decision that required the Trustees to file for a new special permit from the Edgartown planning board to allow oversand vehicles onto its properties. This issue came from a permit that was approved in 1990, according to town records, but the actual document was nowhere to be found. The Trustees would also challenge the zoning board in July 2024 in Massachusetts Land Court over the permit issues.
Management of the Trustees’ properties also appeared separately settled by an April superseding order of conditions from the state Department of Environmental Protection, which set parameters like the number of cars allowed on the beaches of Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge and Leland Beach. But the tug of war between beach access advocates and some Cape Poge property owners was reignited by the appeal.
While the Trustees did receive permits from the planning board in May regarding the construction of structures, like a seasonal ladder, and recreation on Cape Poge, Gazaille questioned whether the Trustees held the authority to allow oversand vehicles, and the “growing scale of TTOR commercial operations” in residential zones. He also requested a cease and desist against the Trustees.
This isn’t the first time that the Trustees’ permit was questioned. In 2024, a Cape Poge property owner named Victor Colantonio filed a cease and desist against the Trustees over what he called an intensification of use on the properties, including beachgoers driving in oversand vehicles. Colantonio argued that the increased use of the Trustees’ properties required an amended or new special permit.
Mary Dettloff, the Trustees’ public relations director, told The Times that the organization has “all of the state and local approvals required” to allow continued public enjoyment of its Cape Poge lands.
“We are confident that we are in full compliance with all state and local requirements governing Cape Poge, and that these requirements and the Trustees’ stewardship are more than adequate to protect this special place now and for future generations,” Dettloff said.
But disagreement brewed among Islanders. Martha’s Vineyard Beachgoers Access Group (MV BAG), a local organization that advocates for the preservation of public beach access, decried Gazaille’s appeal, fearing it could set back progress made in keeping beaches publicly accessible. In this case, it was the area north of the town jetty to Cape Poge Lighthouse.
“What many in the community find frustrating is not that another appeal has been filed, but that the process never seems to end,” Peter Sliwkowski, president of MV BAG, wrote in a July 13 statement. “At some point, it is also reasonable to ask: When does a decision become final?”
Town officials have received over 120 letters on this matter. The vast majority expressed support for the Trustees, but some called for a balance between enforcement and recreational access.
Compared with the overwhelming support for the Trustees shown in the letters, the board meeting on Monday had split representation from people who backed the zoning board’s decision to require a special permit.
Cape Poge property owners, like attorney Rachel Self, argued all of the review should be completed before further activities are allowed by the Trustees.
“This case therefore goes much further than Cape Poge,” Self said. “It’s about whether local government will be allowed to perform responsibilities assigned to it by Massachusetts law.”
Those who support the Trustees argued that there had already been numerous reviews that have taken place, from the town level to Massachusetts Land Court. “You’re just recycling administrative cycles,” Sliwkowski said.
Darci Schofield, the Trustees’ islands superintendent, highlighted the value of Cape Poge as an important ecosystem protected by the organization, but also a contributor to the Island’s tourism economy by attracting visitors.
“Decisions regarding Cape Poge should be guided by facts, science, regulatory determinations and the public interest, not the relentless pursuit of a small group of individuals’ rancor against the trustees,” Schofield said.
But Schofield said she was happy to see Cape Poge residents at the meeting, inviting them to negotiate the issues privately rather than using public town resources.
