Appeals court reviews whether conservation commission misapplied wetlands bylaw protecting views

Patrick Donardo, representing several abutters, told the Appeals Court that the Edgartown Conservation Commission failed to enforce a town wetlands bylaw intended to protect natural and historic views to the water. Donardo said the plaintiffs — beachfront homeowners who sited their houses to take advantage of long‑standing view corridors to Katama Bay — have a protected legal interest under the bylaw and established a reasonable likelihood of injury from the proposed residential development.

Donardo emphasized that affidavits and historical evidence show the view channels have existed for decades and that the proposed landscape plan and screening would eliminate established vistas. He said the commission’s staff constrained the hearing by focusing only on views from the water to the land and not on land‑to‑water views that nearby owners enjoy. The plaintiffs asked the court to reverse the superior court’s dismissal and remand for enforcement of appropriate conditions.

Counsel for the property owners, Kevin O’Flaherty, argued the plaintiffs lack standing as private homeowners because the wetlands bylaw is directed to wetlands values and the public interest, not private view easements. He pointed to the project’s landscape legend, which the owners say contemplates only low plantings (six to seven feet maximum) and ornamental gardens, and argued the plaintiffs had not produced the kind of probative, scaled visualizations (for example, superimposed growth profiles) necessary to show a likely, concrete loss of view warranting relief.

The panel asked detailed questions about the bylaw’s scope, the record evidence of prior cutting and maintenance on the applicant’s property, and what kinds of conditions would be both necessary and administratively feasible. The court took the matter under advisement.