Sheriff’s Meadow seeking new center

West Tisbury officials looked over plans for office space and staff housing at 78 Campbell Road.

Updated, August 30

The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is looking for town approval to build office space and staff housing at 78 Campbell Road.

Foundation officials were in front of the planning board this week. The zoning board will need to approve a special permit for the project, and will hold a hearing on the project on Sept. 7.

The intended use of the structures would provide space for the conservation group, as officials say they have outgrown their existing location in Tisbury.

Called “the Maintenance Barn” by the selling party, the Kenney family, the structure on the Campbell Road property will become a center for Sheriff’s Meadow’s conservation efforts and amenities.

The property, according to the request from foundation president Adam Moore, is 7.5 acres with a 4,860-square-foot structure containing a two-bedroom apartment, an office, a workshop, and storage space; there’s also a nearly 2,000-square-foot garage, containing three large bays, on the property.

The foundation plans to use the property as a base for other properties and trails it maintains, all of which are open to the public and free of charge. The 7.5 acres on the property contain unused Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank trail easements that, if maintained, would connect to a network of existing and proposed trails.

Moore said that the foundation has outgrown its existing office space at the Wakeman Center on David Avenue, off Lambert’s Cove Road.

The Campbell’s Road proposal includes possibly expanding the Title 5 septic system and the addition of a denitrifying system, as well as the addition of a front porch. Garage renovations include repair of the roof insulation, and potentially adding heat to a portion of the building.

The space would support the daily work of seven employees, three who are regularly in the office, two who are regularly in the field, and two who alternate between the field and the office. It would also provide space for board and committee meetings.

The Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation is dedicated to the conservation of land for endangered species, notably the brook lamprey, which lives in the bordering Tiasquam River.

The board was amenable to the proposal, with current chair Leah Smith particularly expressing her favor.

“I have a personal interest in conservation,” said Smith, “I think it’s good.” The chair said that Sheriff Meadow’s will need approval from the West Tisbury zoning board of appeals.

“This seems pretty straightforward ZBA,” Smith commented, only suggesting that they add some restrictions on what times equipment trucks are allowed to operate, to reduce noise in the neighborhood in morning and evening hours.