The Martha’s Vineyard Commission voted 10-6 to approve the regional high school athletic field project at a dramatic meeting Thursday night, capping a long-running and often acrimonious debate over synthetic turf fields.
Oak Bluffs will no longer fund the town’s controversial legal battle over plans for a new turf field at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School, leaving the future of the ongoing litigation in limbo.
Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School principal Sara Dingledy has called for the regional high school committee to consider the mounting toll of its turf field litigation on the school community.
During its meeting Thursday evening, the Oak Bluffs finance committee agreed to send a letter to the planning board encouraging it not to use town funds to pursue the appeal.
The high school has submitted an application to remove portions of its athletic facility in Oak Bluffs, taking a step forward in its plans to upgrade its fields while still engaged in a legal battle with the Oak Bluffs planning board.
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School committee has vowed to continue its legal fight with the Oak Bluffs planning board, but paying for the court battle could be complicated.
The legal battle over a turf field at the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School will continue after the Oak Bluffs planning board voted Tuesday to appeal a recent state Land Court decision that allowed the field to bypass local zoning review.
