A Martha's Vineyard Commission review of the grocery expansion plans in Vineyard Haven will go to a seventh public hearing in February. Sticking points remain amid growing frustration over a drawn-out process.
Amid lingering concerns about building size and parking — and growing impatience over a drawn-out process — the Martha’s Vineyard Commission continued a public hearing Thursday on the expansion plan for the Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop store.
The meeting at the Tisbury senior center marked the sixth public hearing before the commission on the grocery chain’s plan to replace its Water street store with a two-story building including a 30,447-square-foot supermarket and a 41-space parking garage. The overall building would be 48,964 square feet.
A major unresolved issue centers on plans for the town parking lot next to Stop & Shop. A Tisbury town committee has been formed to address the issue but a meeting planned for this week was cancelled due to snow. Construction and landscape plans for the supermarket hinge on what the town does with the lot.
Stop & Shop attorney Geoghan Coogan: "Once and for all there is no other site."
Stop & Shop attorney Geoghan Coogan: "Once and for all there is no other site."
Commission executive director Mark London said final offers provided by Stop & Shop would not be addressed Thursday because they were tied to the parking lot, and the public hearing would be continued.
The building is about 15 per cent smaller than the original plan and architectural details have been changed to make it fit better with its surroundings. “I appreciate the work you’ve done on the architecture,” said commission chairman Fred Hancock. “I think you are to be commended . . . it does show that you are willing to work with us in getting away from the big box look and something that does at least look more like the neighborhood.”
Parking and traffic impacts from the expanded store are all still concerns.
Another sticking point is a historic house at 15 Cromwell Lane which is said to date to the early 1800s. Stop & Shop purchased the house next to the existing store and plans to use the land for the expansion. In its final offers, Stop & Shop said it will relocate the house off-site or demolish it, noting there has been limited interest in moving the structure.
Mr. Hancock said demolishing a building more than 100 years old requires commission approval on its own.
“I’ve got to say personally the idea that you would ask to demolish that building would be very heavily detrimental in my appraising this project,” he said.
Commission member Clarence A. (Trip) Barnes 3rd.
Commission member Clarence A. (Trip) Barnes 3rd.
“I think what we’re saying is we don’t want that house demolished,” said commissioner Linda Sibley.
Geoghan Coogan, a Tisbury attorney who is representing Stop & Shop, said the intention is to relocate the house but there appear to be few viable locations in town. “If I can move it to West Tisbury, and maybe that’s what I’ll propose, it might be easier,” he said.
As in past hearings, discussion circled back to location. Some who spoke including members of town boards, continued to say the store was too large for the location, while others argued in favor of keeping the supermarket in a downtown location.
Commissioner Ned Orleans pressed for other options. “What is it about this particular location down at Water street that is so important to Stop & Shop that you’re willing to go through the kind of torture that you’re going through now?” he asked.
“I think that’s a good question, because I honestly ask myself that,” said Deborah Farr, director of real estate for Stop & Shop’s parent company, Ahold. She said the existing store is an eyesore and there were no other options. “It’s a large investment but it’s one that we’re committed to,” she said, and the benefits would be more for the community than Stop & Shop. “It’s a good thing and to us it’s worth it to be able to do that.”
Mr. Orleans questioned Stop & Shop spokesmen closely about the possibility of an alternate location in the State Road business district, away from downtown.
MVC executive director Mark London.
MVC executive director Mark London.
He said it all added up to much confusion. “There are so many angles to this whole project . . . nobody knows what’s really going on in the whole business of Tisbury government, even the Tisbury representative to the commission doesn’t know, that’s me,” Mr. Orleans said. “It seems to me we’ve been playing games, I’m tired of playing games. I would hope that my colleagues are tired of playing games. Why are we continuing to play these games instead of taking some other action?”
Mr. Coogan characterized the alternative location as a red herring. “Once and for all, there is no other site,” Mr. Coogan said. He said Stop & Shop did look at an alternate location, “and talked for 15 minutes and said it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work and it’s not happening so it should get out of everybody’s mind.”
He continued: “We’ve spent countless hours on this site and this project. We wouldn’t be wasting our time if we were looking at another site.” He said if the commission votes to deny the plan, Stop & Shop will go back to the drawing board.
Members of the public spoke on both sides of the issue.
“I’m here totally and completely only to support Stop & Shop,” Vineyard Haven resident Lorraine Clark said. “It’s going to brighten up that whole area.” Others noted that Stop & Shop provides jobs for residents, especially high school students.
“I’d like to see a grocery store stay there,” Vineyard Haven resident Nat Benjamin said. “It’s a good location, people coming in can walk across . . . but I think the issue really is the size of this thing, and I think it’s just so far out of scale with our community.”
The commission continued the public hearing to Feb. 20.
A recent decision to amend MVC bylaws now allows commissioners who miss a public hearing to still participate in a DRI review. The new process went into practice Thursday. Commissioner Joan Malkin rejoined the Stop & Shop public hearing despite having missed one meeting. She watched a video of the proceedings she missed, Mr. London said.
Comments
Remove the most basic vital
Sara Piazza EdgartownRemove the most basic vital service from downtown VH and you may as well call the undertaker.
Good God. How much torture
BillyB OBGood God. How much torture can the MVC put Stop & Shop through? Enough already!
It's an endless loop. When
Neil Off IslandIt's an endless loop. When they get through the entire list, they simply go back to the top and start all over. My prediction is when Stop & Shop gives up on the Vineyard, the MVC will try to make Ahold line up a replacement supermarket chain.
If that area is the "gateway"
John Alley West TisburyIf that area is the "gateway" to the Vineyard for many visitors never mind the local population. One would think that the MVC has run this issue into the ground instead of working with Stop and Shop. It is not a shinning moment for the MVC!
If you presented The MVC with
Finzz TisburyIf you presented The MVC with a pile of gold bars they would make you re-stack the bars a dozen times then ask you to change the shape of the bars only to tell you they're really not sure if they like the color of the bars and oh, by the way, we're going to need you to re-stack these,....
M.V.C needs more money for
J. Baker MaineM.V.C needs more money for legal fees ??? Guess how much wasted time has been spent on this.
To ask for money from the stop and shop for this and that in getting a permit,in my opinion
is called Bribery/Racketeering. I think a Governor in R.I used to do the same thing,till he was fired! Lived on island 40 years and sad to see this go on.
Would the Gazette, or someone
Caroline New YorkWould the Gazette, or someone else in the know, care to inform me the salaries paid to each of the ten staff at MVC?
My recollection living on the Vineyard at the time the commission was formed, was that it was a volatile issue and not everyone was so keen on this group's goals. My brain cells aren't quite what they used to be, so if others of you were there at the time, I'd love a refresher in what you remember versus what the MVC touts on their own website.
Here they are Caroline
Bob EdgartownHere they are Caroline
A.H./Economic Devel. $ 57,967
Admin. Assistant $ 48,726
Administrator $ 69,832
Coastal Planner $ 72,280
DRI Planner $ 66,236
Executive Director $ 128,224 one of the highest paid public person on Island and in charge of 9 people.
GIS Coordinator $ 73,956
Senior Planner $ 87,830
Transportation Planner $ 67,688
Water Resource Planner $ 65,456
plus extras of course ie: health, vacation, sick, personal days etc...
I will bet that over half the
B. Baker MaineI will bet that over half the people complaining about the Stop&Shop redoing that building don't even shop there. I know that a lot of the people on the MVC don't shop there, they probably shop at Cronigs. This is totally ridiculous. Steve Bernier has never gone through this bologne. That is why I left the Island because of all the bull that goes on in Tisbury alone. I wish the Stop & Shop good luck, the people that manage the store and work there are great people and don't deserve to be going through this long wait to have a beautiful store.
Does not anyone recall that
Research Vineyard HavenDoes not anyone recall that Ed Redstone proposed a supermarket on State Road and at that time Cronig's was wary of the competition, and that the M.V. Commission did a study and found that it would create too much traffic. The deal was never done, the land has never been developed. The Artworker's Guild at one time had a very successful run.
O.K., as the post name
wash- a -shore Vineyard HavenO.K., as the post name implies I am admittedly new to the scene. I am not quite clear why many of the previous posts are busy bashing the MVC. I have not been indoctrinated into any one philosophy, effected by perceived bureaucracy, or been instructed as to how it's done around here. I am sure the MVC is not perfect, however certainly it must have the long-term vitality and preservation of "OUR Vineyard" close to heart. Am I to believe that one of the few corporate entities that made it in out here has those same core agendas? Are we to believe we would find those same MVC values at the top of the chart in their board rooms and discussions surrounding this issue? It is easy math and they obviously see a void in the supply for demand which they hope to capitalize upon. Stop and Shop is a corporation with it's bottom line at heart. This store represents one of their greatest returns upon investment per square foot and they are looking to double down on that; the inverse being every sq/ft of corporate owned Vineyard produces the lowest percent of return per sq/ft for our community. I say Stop and Shop should do like the rest of us all; be grateful for what you have and make the best of it. The last thing this island needs is corporations with bigger footprints, stronger footholds, and fuller pockets.
"every sq/ft of corporate
Ken Esq Edgartown, MA"every sq/ft of corporate owned Vineyard produces the lowest percent of return per sq/ft for our community"
That's simply not true. You should also know that just about every "major" business on Martha's Vineyard is a corporation or similar business entity.
Stop & Shop is a very important business. The people who live on the Island need affordable food, housing and medical care. Stop & Shop, with the possible exception of Reliable, is the only provider of groceries that most middle class and lower families can afford. The alternative is for those families to either move more of their shopping dollars off Island or move.
The problem with the MVC is there is no set process, no standards, few limitations on their power to delay a request. They also seem to delve into the very dangerous area of limiting competition for other businesses.
The other problem is that the MVC and others will vehemently attack a business or person trying to improve a property while the countless abandoned buildings, garbage-strewn vacant lots and homes that resemble junkyards are allowed to grow worse each day without action or comment. Each major town on the Island now has significant buildings in its downtown area vacant and in substantial disrepair yet nothing is done.
As one that has stood up and
Dana VHAs one that has stood up and spoken out about the S&S at each meeting of the MVC. I am appalled that more people are not there or searching for information before such a mega store is approved or denied.
Yes it would be nice to have a new, cleaner grocery store at the present site.It would be nice if that area was cleaner and improved. No one disagrees. The point is that the elephant in the room is too big.
Recently off island I searched for stores that were smaller and in scale to its surroundings. Trader Joes kept popping up, Co-op groceries and the like. All the prices were lower or comparable to S&S and the stores were smaller and in town centers or close by.
There are 17,000 nine month residents on MV. There are 5 stores that feed that many people successfully. Lots of people go off island to food shop as well. So does the store need to be 40 thousand+ sq ft does it have to monopolize the TOWN parking lot and how greedy does Ahold need to be to fit its huge store into a tiny village.
Here people are leaving their comments but not participating in town concerned meetings, We all have a voice good or bad, get involved! This store WILL change the perception of Tisbury forever.
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