The lack of any substantive local zoning in Tisbury’s commercial district made dealing with a proposal like Stop & Shop’s expansion and remodeling difficult at best for the town.
The lack of any substantive local zoning in Tisbury’s commercial district made dealing with a proposal like Stop & Shop’s expansion and remodeling difficult at best for the town.
As a result of our zoning deficiencies in the commercial district, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission is left as virtually the only permitting board able to approve and condition or disapprove large projects in that area. At one point in the Stop & Shop proposal the town was basically being left out of the mitigation discussions between the applicant and the MVC. This is not a tenable position for the town to be in.
The answer to this conundrum is to develop a zoning bylaw that allows for a special permitting process through the planning board. It could be as simple as stating a new project, or expansion of an existing facility over, say 2,000 square feet, needs a special permit from the planning board. The intent would not be to burden smaller construction projects, but to give the town its own ability to permit and mitigate the larger ones in the commercial district. It would also give the town the ability to give the MVC clearer guidance as to the town’s wishes before they act on a project. The selectmen have recently asked the planning board to look into developing some new zoning parameters for the commercial district.
Tristan Israel
Vineyard Haven
The writer is a Tisbury selectman.
Comments
No, No, No.
peterpeter Martha's VineyardNo, No, No.
The simple answer is more regulation / zoning down on the waterfront would further confuse and restrict people with the ability to build there. The answer is less regulation and you should be asking the planning board for a full overhaul of the layered zoning that currently exists on your waterfront. It is a 2 to three year expensive ordeal for a property owner to build with the current path one must take for any construction or permitting down on the water front. There are few people that are willing to put forth the money and hutty up and wait the 2 years necessary to maneuver through the red tape the MVC and the town currently makes them. The town, you Mr. Israel, should be courting these people to clean up your waterfront and asking them for plans and ideas and work with the planning board to streamline the process and reduce the zoning hassles you have created with that antiquated DCPC.
The stop and shop had more input from the planning board, historical commission, affordable housing guru's and chilmark residents than you might have had but your board is not a permitting board.
What is not tenable is for
Benoit Baldwin West TisburyWhat is not tenable is for the island's only year-round supply port of entry to be held hostage to the whims of your banana republic fiefdom.
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