The planning board’s withdrawal now lifts one of the major obstacles for the high school, which has been talking about overhauling its athletic facilities since 2016.
The Oak Bluffs planning board this week said it will drop its appeal in the long-running legal case over plans for a turf field at the regional high school.
The board’s attorney Michael Goldsmith notified the state Land Court of the change of heart in a court filing Friday. The board had planned to challenge judge Kevin Smith’s November decision that annulled the board’s rejection of the turf application, but the appeal lost steam after the Oak Bluffs select board voted this month to halt further municipal spending on the case.
“[T]he board advises the Court that the board will not be pursuing its appeal,” Mr. Goldsmith wrote to the court Friday.
The planning board’s withdrawal now lifts one of the major obstacles for the high school, which has been talking about overhauling its athletic facilities since 2016.
The planning board rejected the school’s plans for the field in 2022 out of concern that the artificial turf could harm the area’s drinking water. The school challenged the denial and emerged victorious when judge Smith annulled the planning board’s denial.
The planning board voted in December to appeal judge Smith’s decision, arguing against his interpretation of the so-called “Dover Amendment” that allows the field application to bypass most town zoning regulations.
The planning board had not yet filed any arguments with the state appeals court in the case, and had little to no money to continue after the select board tightened the town’s purse strings on Jan. 11.
While the planning board was interested in breaking new legal ground in the appeal, the select board didn’t have the same appetite.
“There was little room in overturning the case law,” select board member Thomas Hallahan told the Gazette at the time. “We’re not in favor of spending the time and the funds on doing that.”
The school committee’s attorneys were also asserting that the planning board didn’t have the right to appeal the land court’s decision, filing a motion to strike the appeal earlier this month.
The school argued the planning board had no jurisdiction and only the town could appeal the decision.
“The Court did not reverse or modify the Planning Board’s decision,” the school attorneys wrote on Jan. 12. “It wiped it out as a legal nullity.”
While the planning board maintained it had standing in the case, the point was moot because of its decision to end its pursuit of an appeal.
In an interview with the Gazette Saturday, planning board chair Ewell Hopkins said he didn’t see a responsible way forward given the select board’s decision to withhold funds.
“I don’t see how you go to court with a house divided,” he said.
Arguments over the school’s plans for a field have been contentious and spilled over into town meeting season last year. The three up-Island towns all voted against the school budget in protest of the school committee’s lawsuit against the planning board.
Mr. Hopkins said the debate transcends artificial turf versus grass. Instead, he was arguing for the town to have a say in zoning when it comes to protecting the environment.
“We have not been fighting the merits of our decision,” he said. “We’ve been fighting for the authority to have an opinion.”
The school committee will have to go through some more red tape before getting final approvals for the athletic facility construction, which also includes a new track.
The Martha’s Vineyard Commission will see the application again and the Oak Bluffs building department is reviewing an application for preliminary site work. The town’s board of health has also considered a moratorium on artificial playing surfaces, though it hasn’t taken any action.
Comments
To the OB Board of Health…
Susan Desmarais Oak BluffsTo the OB Board of Health….please protect the health of islanders by protecting our water source. Pass a moratorium soon.
Litigation on this island is
Kevin OBLitigation on this island is out of control.
Let the island vote on
Ken Edg.Let the island vote on plastic fields and be done with it.
Thank God!!! What a waste of
Peter OBThank God!!! What a waste of time and money!!
Alas -- this sets a very Bad
Ginny Jones WTAlas -- this sets a very Bad precedent. The Dover Amendments, as currently interpreted, sets a very bad course ahead for zoning and for historical and natural resources, as well as community and environmentally focused planning. This is such short term thinking that I can not believe that such delusional thinking actually exists in 2024, We are shooting ourselves in the foot.
Meanwhile the building (over 60 years old and skimpily maintained) needs MILLIONS in repairs and, or replacement at a heart stopping total. Education should be top priority and not sports -- at least not the sports which have dominated this egregious debate. Island kids could participate AND excel in island sports and maritime courses...
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Thank You for this statement
Beka VhThank You for this statement Ginny, youre words reflect the sentiments some many MV community member . To replace plastic for grass is as shame especially in a protected water zone .
Sports since Ancient Greece
Carlos Degotta Vineyard HavenSports since Ancient Greece has and is considered a full part of a proper education, not an add on or frivolous option. Best not make grand statements if your knowledge base can’t cover the subject.
Eisenhower and then JFK put
Islander TooEisenhower and then JFK put the spotlight on fitness of American youth in the 1960s and mandated that public schools have had extensive gym programs for all students.@@@
However, regular "gym" and sports did not entail the expenditure of huge amounts of money on competitive sports requiring expensive infrastructure.@@@
Many education experts have noted that the emphasis on competitive league sports has tended to weaken the general fitness programs that are designed to improve fitness of all students.
I couldn't agree more Ginny
Chris McCue Potts TisburyI couldn't agree more Ginny Jones! Well said. Protection of drinking water resources had been one of the rare exceptions to the Dover Amendment (or so I thought). So many of these school project decisions are made for the wrong reasons.
Resolution must be found.
George Stein OBResolution must be found. This is so pathetic. The replacement of the Dukes County correctional facility is the only more bizarre legacy. Flooding at Five Corners being acceptable for so many generations is right up there too.
Also the Stop N Shop in
Tim VhAlso the Stop N Shop in Vineyard Haven.
Meanwhile the students suffer
Tony PlymouthMeanwhile the students suffer every year because of this drawn out case. They won’t remember anything but the lack of a good permanent answer to their sport fields. What a shame that people who make the decisions don’t have to use the fields!
Drive by the Regional and
TRIP BARNES VHDrive by the Regional and look at the field that has made Vineyard men out of boys-wins-losses -blood sweat and tears most of all-memories Say hello to John Morris my brother in law-his spirit is sitting on top of the score board waiting for the next team to cheer on to victory= ENOUGH SAID
I'm so sorry to read about
Jennifer New JerseyI'm so sorry to read about this. We are fighting an almost identical fight in our town in New Jersey right now. Towns across the country are doing the same. Please do your research on the vendor they choose for the artificial turf. THERE IS NO PFAS-FREE ARTIFICIAL TURF. (And it CANNOT be recycled.) If they tell you it is PFAS-free, have it independently tested. You likely already know, but if not, read up on what happened in Portsmouth, NH, where the company FieldTurf assured them it was PFAS-free, they installed it, and then tests revealed it had PFAS. (It's now in litigation.) You can be certain PFAS will end up in your water. And now the CDC is recommending these "forever chemicals" be routinely tested in our blood, just like lead. Your school district is being negligent, both on human health and for climate resiliency in your community. How can any town unfurl a carpet of microplastics and forever chemicals literally right where children play and think they have "won"? Do they know this field will be 10-30 degrees hotter in the sun, which can literally burn athletes and increase heat stroke when temps are high? On so many levels, artificial turf is a loss for every member of your community, your groundwater, and your shared environment. Shame on your school district, the very entity that is supposed to be dedicated to the well-being of its students. Natural grass fields are still possible, for the betterment of all. How can a country have been so duped by a product of the petrochemical industry? Keep fighting. Nothing about this okay.
So the MVC approved the field
Islander61 Oak BluffsSo the MVC approved the field, the planning board approved the field, the coaches who use the field want the fields, the kids who play on them want the field. The science that we paid $50k says it won't harm the aquifer. And not one shred of evidence has been provided that say the field will harm the aquifer, why hasn't this been passed? This is not the TV Show "Fear Factor", pass the field now, no moratoriums, no more boards acting out of line, no more delays.
I grew up in southie and most
Charlie Callahan(REAL NAME) So Boston/EdgartownI grew up in southie and most of our fields didn't even have grass and we had some great atletes who went on to play for the sox,the pats and prosoccer, myself not one of them, ArAr Kids don't need fancy fields to be good athletes,they just need the desire. It's the snobby parents that want a fancy field and whoever it is that will pocket millions if it gets done.Give the kids a grass field like it's been for 100 years.
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