Edgartown selectmen unanimously voted to accept new restricted areas and signage showing where kitesurfing is prohibited in shellfishing areas in Katama Bay and Sengekontacket Pond.
At the board’s meeting Monday, selectmen met with shellfish constable Paul Bagnall, marine advisory committee member Scott Morgan, and harbormaster Charlie Blair to discuss issues with kitesurfing, a popular watersport, infringing on shellfishing areas.
The shellfish committee unanimously approved a clear zone around the Katama Bay and Sengekontacket Pond areas. Shellfishermen have right of way at all times on the water, and kiteboarders must maintain a minimum buffer zone of 150 feet from shellfishermen, operating boats, rafts, cages, upwellers, and oyster farms. The restricted area in Sengekontacket will be marked by buoys.
The shellfish committee met with the harbor advisory committee and a group of kiteboarders, who formed the Vineyard Sailing Association.
The advisory committee voted 2-1 at a recent meeting to have two kiteboarding schools so people would be trained and under supervision. “If the lessons aren’t made available, it’s going to make Charlie’s life a lot harder,” Morgan said.
Recreational kiteboarders were not in favor of kiteboarding schools, saying it would bring a wave of people to Vineyard and crowd the waters.
“Personally I think it’s better to have the school available. It is crowded out there, but they’re commonwealth waters. It’s crowded with sailing, it’s crowded with power boating, you just got to share,” Morgan said.
Michael Zadeh, a kiteboarder who helped create the Vineyard Sailing Association, was worried about “hundreds” of novice kiteboarders coming to Vineyard waters.
“These restrictions are being placed on the recreational kite community. The marine advisory board is adding pressure to the situation by issuing commercial licenses to kite schools, bringing hundreds of new kiters to our fragile areas,” Zadeh said.
The schools, the recreational kiteboarders, the advisory committee, and the shellfish committee will meet again in October to discuss impacts on the water.
In other business, Andre Bonnell, Charles Smith, and Katherine Kavanaugh asked selectmen to support them during the Vineyard Transit Authority (VTA) drivers strike.
Bonnell, a driver, said the VTA is paying “outrageous” wages for replacement drivers to cover the shifts of drivers on strike, and support from the town would go a long way.
Kavanaugh agreed. “We are asking for you to call the VTA and say we need this done,” Kavanaugh said. “We don’t think you’re the magicians that can fix everything, but we wish you were, but we do think that you’re people that, like us, care about our community and to make sure our streets are safe and want to make sure our families are taken care of.”
Selectmen thanked them, but offered no further comment.
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