Issues Need Resolving

I am co-chairman of the Tisbury planning board and a member of the municipal parking lot committee but this is a submission of my own. Any errors or misstatements are my responsibility.

I would like to support the proposed expansion of the Stop & Shop store on Water street, but there are a few outstanding issues that I think need to be resolved before the Marthas Vineyard Commission gives its approval. These focus on three broad categories: Plans for the building, plans for the municipal parking lot and traffic, transit and circulation.

Size of Building

Many have advocated for a smaller building, one that would fit more easily into the surrounding context. This is still an unresolved issue, repeated at every public hearing, for which there has been very little give on the part of Stop & Shop.

The primary issue of size, in my view, centers less on the square footage of the floor area (plus or minus 30,000 square feet) and more on the fact that the building is maxed out to the limits of the property in every dimension width, depth and height leaving little or no room to modify its shape or provide adequate space for safe pedestrian walkways and amenities such as trees, benches, cart corrals, signage, bike racks and other street furniture.

Relatively small changes to the frontages along Norton and Cromwell, which are now pushed to the limit, could make a big difference. For example, shortening the length of the building by just 10 feet (from 240 to 230 feet) would allow for a 10-foot widening of Cromwell Lane, a significant improvement creating a safer pedestrian way and space for landscaping. This would reduce the parking garage by no more than three cars and the overall square footage of the building by about 1,000 square feet. Since Cromwell Lane is the link to the Islands shared use path system, this would be an important Islandwide improvement that the MVC should require.

Building Design

Apart from the unresolved issue of building size, the latest design has been greatly improved. While still bulky, it now looks more like an ensemble of three or four individual structures rather than one continuous mass, and the detailing more closely matches the character of downtown Vineyard Haven. The Water street sidewalk has been widened, providing space for trees, landscaping and displays. A second-floor balcony enlivens the street and provides a view of the harbor.

Still, there is just a two-foot setback along Norton Lane adjacent to the parking lot, leaving little room for a wider sidewalk, foundation plantings or other amenities. The building dimensions 110 by 240 feet are closer to the size of a city block than an individual building lot. This is a scale more associated with a supermarket than a grocery store.

When the Island Plan called for the inclusion of a grocery store in a village center, it was a call for a smaller building and one less dependent on automobiles. While we all have cars and use them excessively, Vineyard Haven is a village with many residents living well within walking and biking distance of the Stop & Shop. But existing traffic congestion along Water street, exacerbated by the auto-centered character of the store, tends to drive bikes and pedestrians away. The commission needs to assure that the store provides a safe, pleasant, pedestrian access that encourages shoppers to walk and bike to the store, both for the improvement of the design of the building and as part of a strategy for reducing traffic and parking demand.

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Issues Need Resolving