Members of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission heard last week about a comprehensive new effort to lessen the number of cars on Island roads and make sure that those roads maintain their rural character.
In order to solve the Island’s traffic troubles and preserve its country feel, the MVC must embrace a plan and aggressively seek federal funds for two goals, they were told: establishing a system for reducing the number of cars on Island roads and rewriting government standards for road construction, at least as they apply to the Island.
A final draft of a county initiative to move beyond summer gridlock calls on Island officials to replace talk with action and develop a regional, coordinated plan to target growth and traffic problems on the Island.
Susan Wasserman, a planning consultant and the facilitator of the in-depth study of the Island’s transportation problems, presented the results of Transportation 2000: Moving Beyond Gridlock to the county commissioners this Wednesday along with project assistant Juleann VanBelle. A final draft of the report goes to the printer today.
Xerxes Agassi returned to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission with a new mixed-use development proposal for the former Educomp building at 4 State Road in Vineyard Haven.
In 1972, the Vineyard was largely undeveloped, a quiet place with a scattering of mostly modest summer homes. The natural landscape was unspoiled with broad, open vistas to the sea. There was no zoning except for small areas in the town centers.
The creation of the Martha's Vineyard Commission harks back to meetings around kitchen tables in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the first comprehensive zoning maps were drafted for the Island.
Vineyard Wind’s plans to build an observation tower next to the Tisbury Marine Terminal on Beach Road have been swapped out in favor of helping to fund a new public park and beach area.
Unlike most Featherstone shows, which bring together the diverse viewpoints of visual artists, MVC@50 aims a focused lens at the commission’s half-century of planning authority over developments affecting the Vineyard as a whole.
The commission’s vote Thursday night clears the way for the school to seek a building permit from the town of Tisbury, although commissioners imposed several conditions on their approval.
A subcommittee of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission got its first look Monday at property owner Charles Hajjar’s plans to rebuild the Ocean View Restaurant in Oak Bluffs with 10 apartments upstairs.
The regional high school committee Monday voted to withdraw its applications for the project with the Martha's Vineyard Commission and give its building committee a blank slate as officials consider a overhaul for the entire campus.
