MVC Votes No on Gas Station

Martha's Vineyard Commission Rejects Plan for New Station on
State Road Corridor, Eight Votes to Three

By JULIA WELLS
Gazette Senior Writer

After a discussion that went well beyond the subject of gasoline
prices on the Vineyard, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted 8-3
last night to reject a plan for a new gas station off State Road in
Vineyard Haven.

Members of the commission who voted against the Tisbury Fuel
Services project spoke out at length about the need for better planning
along the busy State Road corridor, and also about the need for a much
broader planning effort aimed at understanding the complicated fuel
distribution system and how it functions through the Steamship Authority
and other transportation modes.

"I think it is a good goal, to lower fuel costs on the Island,
but this all may be premature. I think what this project lacks is a real
serious market study, and I think there needs to be a study of the town
of Tisbury and how all of this impacts the Steamship Authority, Ralph
Packer and others," said commission member Andrew Woodruff.

"I think everyone appreciates that they are trying to do
something about prices, but the more successful it is, the more trucks
there will be," said commission member Linda Sibley.

"I think to say, so we lower the prices and then everybody
starts trucking fuel in - well, that doesn't work. I think
State Road is in terrible shape, I think we just hired a new director
whose specialty is planning and I think we need to look at the planning
of this district, for the town of Tisbury, and for West Tisbury, which
is not all that different. I think we have to call a spade a spade.
We're not in a good place with this," said commission member
Kate Warner.

The comments came just before the vote to deny the Tisbury Fuel
Services plan for a three-pump gas station on High Point Lane in
Vineyard Haven, adjacent to the old Coca-Cola plant.

The project was under review by the commission as a development of
regional impact (DRI).

This marks the second gas station project to be turned down by the
commission this year. In September the commission voted unanimously to
reject another plan for a fuel station off High Point Lane, questioning
the need and also questioning the impact on the smaller mom and pop
stations up-Island.

After the vote on the first gas station project, the developers for
Tisbury Fuel Services requested a delay in the vote on their project so
they could prepare a report on the economic impacts of a new station on
other stations.

The report was released last week and the public hearing was
reopened, but there was considerable dispute about the numbers in the
report. In the end the hearing highlighted many of the complicated
issues surrounding the sale and distribution of gasoline on the
Vineyard, where two of the wholesale suppliers (Ralph Packer and Drake
Petroleum) are also retailers in competition with the service stations
they supply.

Mr. Packer, the sole wholesaler who owns a storage facility and who
ships gasoline to the Vineyard by barge, appealed to the commission to
support an effort to get gasoline tank trucks off the ferries, saying
they pose a threat to his business.

A proposal by the developers to offer a discount on gas to Island
residents was later changed to a plan for one discount card to be sold
for $10 to Island residents and for $50 to everyone else. Other benefits
offered by the developers included contributions to the regional housing
authority and the Tisbury fire department and an offer to open the gas
station rest rooms to the public.

A number of Island residents testified in favor of the project,
while existing gas station owners testified against it.

"We understand the need to come down in prices -
it's so obvious there is a cartel and a limited market,"
said project developer Sean Conley at the hearing last week.

"I am not a rich man and I'm not ripping anybody off. We
are getting punished the most and we are probably the most
honest," countered Patrick Jenkinson, whose family owns Up-Island
Automotive in West Tisbury.

During the deliberations last night, most members of the commission
lauded the concept of lowering prices, but many said they were
unconvinced that the Tisbury Fuel Services project would accomplish this
objective.

"I would be shocked if it really brought prices down -
this is a gimmick that is going to bring them some business," said
Mrs. Sibley.

The three members of the commission who spoke in favor of the plan
said lower gas prices are important to the people of the Island.

"You can go to the A&P to buy food on sale and you can go
to Cronig's or the Reliable Market to buy food on sale. But where
can you go on this Island to buy gas on sale?" said commission
member Roger Wey.

"If we sent a ballot out on the Island that asked people, do
you want to pay 20 cents a gallon less for gas, I think we would get an
overwhelming yes," said commission member Alan Schweikert.

"Of course anybody will want to pay less, but what is the
long-term effect?" countered commission member James Athearn.
"What kind of fuel system do we have, and what is the cost of
losing a storage facility like Packer's wharf? I am speculating
that there is a dangerous future, it could be a line of dominoes,"
he added.

At one point the discussion strayed to the relative value of saving
a few dollars a week on gasoline. Mr. Athearn said after much thought
and analysis on his own part, he had concluded that it is less about the
amount of money and more about the perception.

"I think it is more of an irritation - we look at gas
and say, why is it so high? I think it's more of a conspicuous
thing than a substantive thing," Mr. Athearn said.

Mrs. Sibley called it the wrong priority.

"The price of gas - it's the last thing we should
be worried about bringing down on this Island. We should be concerned
about food, and we should be desperately concerned about the cost of
land and housing. But gas is not a renewable resource," she said.

Some tried to probe the more complicated themes.

"I have a personal concern about this commission getting into
economic engineering," said Marcia Cini, who spoke in favor of the
project.

Mr. Athearn argued the other side.

"Private enterprise - it's not one of the ten
commandments," he said, adding: "Things work a little
differently on Martha's Vineyard and one example is how the
Jenkinsons do business, by choosing not to have a convenience store
because that is what they have down the street at Alley's."

At the outset of the meeting last night commission member Richard
Toole spoke in favor of the project, but after listening to the
discussion he said he changed his mind because he had been convinced
that a serious planning effort was the right call instead.

"We have some great discussions here - no doubt about
it," Mr. Toole said.

Mr. Conley had another view.

"You've condemned the Vineyard to high prices
forever," he declared just after the vote.

In the roll call vote, James Athearn, John Best, Christina Brown,
Tristan Israel, Linda Sibley, Richard Toole, Kate Warner and Andrew
Woodruff voted yes on a motion to deny the project. Marcia Cini, Alan
Schweikert and Roger Wey voted no.