Selectmen Gripe About Dinghies at Owen Park Beach

Tisbury select board member James Rogers has taken aim at the proliferation of dinghies on the beach at Owen Park.

Tisbury select board member James Rogers has taken aim at the proliferation of dinghies on the beach at Owen Park.

“There’s very little town beach [and it’s] so full of dinghies no one can sit there, no one can use the beach,” Mr. Rogers said at the board’s meeting Tuesday afternoon.

“It just looks awful,” he said. “All these upside-down dinghies sitting there, and the kayak stand … blocks the view to West Chop.”

The dinghies are used by boaters who lease the 167 town moorings and additional private moorings behind the breakwater, harbor master John Crocker said.

“If you’re going to have all those moorings, you have to allow people to get to their boats, and the way that it’s mostly done is with dinghies,” Mr. Crocker said, noting that the launch service only operates in July and August.

“It is a problem, and I don’t know of a simple solution,” he said.

Board member Jeff Kristal echoed Mr. Rogers’s complaint, calling the small vessels a “blight” on the beach.

“The lefthand side is just all dinghies, and it kind of takes away from the public aspect,” he said.

Mr. Rogers told Mr. Crocker he wanted to see the situation resolved before another year goes by. “I think we need to look at the whole area,” Mr. Rogers said.

Tuesday’s town business also included the approval of a hawker’s and peddler’s license for Brook Katzen’s taco truck, El Gato Grande, located at the rear of the miniature golf course and grill on State Road that Mr. Katzen purchased earlier this year.

Board members are still hammering out the details of a townwide policy on food trucks like Mr. Katzen’s and Amy Johnson’s non-motorized Amy’s Kitchen on Beach Road, both of which are operating under hawker’s and peddler’s licenses in the absence of more specific regulations.

Also Tuesday, a request from AT&T to add a signal-amplifying antenna to a utility pole on Church street was withdrawn by the company. Abutters opposed the plan at the select board meeting July 14.

The board continued its annual appointments to town committees and positions and the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank. A complete list is posted in the meeting agenda.

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 08/02/2020 - 22:30

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Jeremiah Gill Vineyard Haven

Seriously?? I often go to the beach at Owen Park - I mean I actually go there, I don't just look around and rush to an opinion. I walk, swim, or sit on the beach. There is plenty of room. The dinghies are pulled way up above high tide to avoid storm surges. Let's face it, our tides are only a couple of feet, the water rarely comes near the dinghies. Maine tides are 10 feet. Fundy tides are 50 feet. I consider the dinghies and kayaks to be attractive, fitting in nicely with the working waterfront.
" no one can sit there, no one can use the beach”. A silly statement, I always see people using the beach there, not just me. Perhaps Mr. Rogers is simply not a salt water type of person, to me his opinions seem sadly misformed. I sincerely hope common sense will prevail.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 08/03/2020 - 13:16

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Voter Tisbury

Tisbury has a very long history of being absolutely terrible trouble shooters regardless of the issues!

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