Signs will go up around Squibnocket Pond reminding residents that the use of pesticides is a violation of town zoning bylaws.
The select board agreed this week to add the signs at the request of the board of health.
“We are once again getting reports from the area that substances are being used on properties in the [Squibnocket] district which are in fact prohibited under the bylaw,” board of health chairman Katie Carroll said in a letter to the board.
Squibnocket Pond lies in a district of critical planning concern (DCPC), a special overlay planning district adopted through the Martha’s Vineyard Commission and incorporated into the town zoning bylaws.
The district prohibits the use of chemical fertilizers, septic cleaners, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides. The town board of health has the latitude to determine other substances which are not allowed. The bylaw was challenged in court in 2014 and upheld.
At their meeting Tuesday the select board authorized the board of health to post signs in the area explicitly referencing the bylaw. The board of health will need to return to the board with informtion about where it plans to put the signs, selectman James Malkin said.
“We understand that such signs are themselves subject to zoning requirements, and look forward to working with you on this project,” Ms. Carroll said in the letter.
In other business Tuesday, the board nailed down the parameters for a proposed affordable housing project on town-owned land at Peaked Hill Pastures. The plan is to build 10 rental units on roughly three acres of the 16-acre property. There would also be two pre-built houses and two homesite houses on an additional three acres.
Voters will decide on the concept at the annual town meeting in April.
“This plan keeps substantial open land for future use by the town,” planning board member Richard Osnoss said.
The concept plan comes after much discussion among the select board, planning board and the public. In November the planning board submitted a proposal for roughly 20 units on six acres, which the select board found to be too dense while expressing a desire for homesite housing.
Mr. Malkin thanked the planning board for coming up with a plan which brings together a variety of people’s ideas.
“There’s a very wide range of opinion on this all over, and I appreciate the work that you’ve done and the fact that you’ve driven toward pretty much a consensus of your committee as well,” Mr. Malkin said.
The board also heard an update on the Islandwide Climate Action Plan from MVC climate change planner Liz Durkee, including events planned for climate week in May.
Selectmen agreed to place a nonbinding question on the town election ballot to curb future plans to dump waste from the closed Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant into Cape Cod Bay. All six Island towns are being asked to put the ballot question in front of voters.
