The health of the historic resort community is not in doubt. But a streetscape master plan project begun in January wants to identify parts of the downtown that can be improved. And planners want more public opinion.
An Oak Bluffs business owner’s months-long battle with the town to generate income on his property may be nearing resolution.
At meetings spanning the spring and summer, Bill Coggins asked selectmen to support various plans for a Circuit avenue lot he purchased in April. The board discouraged him from pursuing options that included food trucks and retail cars, saying they would compete with brick and mortar businesses and violate a town bylaw that prohibits the exhibition of wares on the street.
It’s not unusual to see a group of people traveling the streets of Oak Bluffs together, to see them stop in the middle of a Circuit avenue sidewalk and gaze up at a historic building, or stand next to the Tabernacle and take in the quiet calm of the Camp Ground.
But the group touring the resort community Monday morning were not tourists.
A months-long dispute between the Oak Bluffs selectmen and a Circuit avenue businessman came to a head this week when the owner of an unbuilt lot at 16 Circuit avenue saw fresh opposition to his latest proposal for a business venture.
