Residents of a wooded Tisbury neighborhood are opposing a plan to establish a commercial boat repair facility on nearby land in the town of Oak Bluffs.

At a public hearing opened August 8 by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, five residents of William Norton Road spoke out against the Martha’s Vineyard Shipyard’s application to build a 2,490-square foot repair workshop and a 5,000-square-foot outdoor boat storage pad at 49 Holmes Hole Road.

The commission also has received more than a dozen letters and emails from residents of Tisbury and other Island towns, several of them in support of the shipyard’s plan.

The new proposed location is part of an effort to flee from increased flooding along the Tisbury waterfront, where the shipyard currently operates. The overall footprint for the proposed boat workshop would be about 23,000 square feet, according to engineer and land surveyor Reid Silva, who is representing the shipyard.

“That’s largely because of the boats and trailers. They do need to turn and maneuver,” Mr. Silva said at Thursday’s hearing, which will continue Sept. 5.

Designs for the proposed new building.

Courtesy MVC

Designs for the proposed new building.

Courtesy MVC

The property is located inside a wedge of western Oak Bluffs that juts sharply northward into southwestern Tisbury. It’s so isolated from the main body of Oak Bluffs that Tisbury’s fire department is designated the first responder for emergencies there.

Oak Bluffs voters this spring defeated a proposal to create a light industrial/mixed-use overlay district in the area, but certain industries — including boat storage and repair — may operate there by special permit from the town planning board, which referred the shipyard application to the commission as a development of regional impact. 

The area currently is home to auto and bicycle repair shops and a cabinet maker’s workshop. Tisbury’s State Road business district is just east of the town line.

On the other side of the Oak Bluffs wedge, however, lies one of Tisbury’s most rural residential neighorhoods, where William Norton Road leads west from Holmes Hole Road with woodlands on either side.

At Thursday’s hearing, Martha’s Vineyard Commission DRI coordinator Rich Saltzberg said the fire chiefs of both Oak Bluffs and Tisbury have stipulated a fire road for the boat workshop that would require significant tree removal.

As proposed, Mr. Saltzberg said, the facility should not be visible from homes on William Norton Road — but would be visible from the road itself, a prospect strongly opposed by resident Nick DeRose.

“We have a beautiful road that we’ve enjoyed for 50 years or more,” Mr. DeRose told the commission. 

“Development that would include clear cutting of our woods … will absolutely have a significant detrimental impact on our use and enjoyment of our property that has been there for 50 years,” he said.

While other William Norton Road homeowners also spoke against the shipyard proposal, Tisbury resident Jim Jones of Main Street voiced his support.

The shipyard is doing the right thing to begin moving its operations away from the waterfront, said Mr. Jones, who identified himself as a longtime customer of the family-owned business.

“We’re in a situation where the rising seas are going to threaten us all. We need to think about a managed retreat from the water, and I think this is the type of project that’s going to become more and more necessary,” he told the commission.

Further testimony on both sides is expected when the hearing continues Sept. 5.