Report Calls for Changes to Strengthen Future Role of Island
Planning Agency

By JULIA WELLS

Overhaul the review process for developments of regional impact.
Encourage districts of critical planning concern. Forge better working
relationships with the Island towns. Improve staff work. Improve public
relations. Planning, planning, planning.

These are the central themes in a comprehensive report card on the
Martha's Vineyard Commission released this week by commission
executive director Mark London.

Entitled Looking at the Commission, the 44-page report is an unusual
self-evaluation of the Vineyard's unique regional planning agency
that is the result of extensive interviews with an array of Island
residents and public officials. A former longtime planner with the city
of Montreal, Mr. London was hired to step into the top post at the
commission last October. He spent his first five months on the job
largely listening and speaking quietly with a wide range of people.

The report released this week is the result of his work.

"The commissioners gave me free rein to carry out this process
as I saw fit, to write a full analysis of the commission, warts and all,
and to make the recommendations that I felt appropriate," Mr.
London writes in an executive summary that accompanies the the report.

In clear language unfettered by bureaucratic jargon, the report
examines virtually every aspect of the MVC, from its regulatory side to
its planning mission. At the outset Mr. London underscores the important
role the commission has played on the Vineyard in the last 27 years.

"The Island towns and the MVC have done a lot of positive,
creative things to ensure generally high quality, compatible development
and to provide good amenities. Since 1974 the commission has played a
key role in limiting the number of lots in subdivisions, in preserving
open space, in planning bike paths, in protecting scenic vistas and
special places, in preventing unacceptable development and in obtaining
contributions for affordable housing," Mr. London writes.

In the introduction to the report, Mr. London remarks on growth and
change:

"The forces challenging the Vineyard have intensified; they
include the pressure for growth and the pressure to change. The pressure
to grow comes from the fact that the population of the United States
continues to grow but the size of the Vineyard does not, so land is an
increasingly precious commodity. The pressure for change comes from new
lifestyles that many fear could lead to the
‘suburbanization' of the Vineyard."

The complete report is available for reading in public libraries and
free copies may be obtained by contacting the commission office. The
report also has been posted on the Vineyard Gazette website at
www.mvgazette.com.

Mr. London's report comes at a time of political turmoil over
the role of the commission in some corners of the Vineyard. A petition
to withdraw from the commission will come before voters in Oak Bluffs at
a special election on May 13, and a small group of disgruntled
developers is trying to breathe life into a petition in the town of
Tisbury to withdraw from the MVC. Much of the funding for the commission
comes from town assessments, and these assessments are expected to come
under extra scrutiny this year against a backdrop of state budget cuts
and tighter reins on town spending.

The report also comes just a few days after two Cape and Islands
legislators called for the appointment of a task force to conduct an
independent review of the commission.

The report includes 38 specific recommendations and 131 possible
actions to achieve them. Mr. London notes that some of the
recommendations are already in place, 28 could be put into effect over
the next few months, another 75 could be done over the next two years
and 19 are more long-term.

A large section of the report is devoted to developments of regional
impact (DRIs). Mr. London lays out a detailed set of recommendations for
streamlining the DRI process to make it more efficient and also more
understandable for applicants and the public. Among other things, he
recommends that the commission consider reviewing fewer DRI projects but
making the reviews more comprehensive. "The net for referring
projects to the MVC is too fine and requires referral of too many
projects that don't have a significant regional impact,"
Mr. London wrote. "This is partly because there is no
differentiation between built-up and rural areas: For example, a 2000
square foot project in a town center might be of little consequence, but
the same project could have a very significant impact in a rural
area," he wrote.

Calling the present DRI system "a hit-or-miss process,"
Mr. London suggests a series of changes.

But he also makes it clear that any changes in the DRI process are
not intended to detract from the ultimate authority of the 21-member
commission to vote for or against a development project. "The MVC
must make clear that meeting standards does not, per se warrant approval
and that, after a weighing of benefits and detriments, the MVC could
still deny a project that meets standards or approve one that
doesn't meet all criteria," the report says.

The report takes a hard look at the work of commission
subcommittees, especially the land use planning subcommittee, and
recommends changes to make the work of the committees more effective.
Many of the suggested changes are in fact practices that were in place a
decade ago or more, but have gradually changed.

The report also covers many subjects beyond DRIs. It includes strong
words of praise for districts of critical planning concern (DCPCs),
calling them "among the most effective tools of the MVC" and
noting that there are 24 DCPCs on the Vineyard and only six on all of
Cape Cod.

Other recommendations include:

* Refocusing the efforts of the commission on planning,
including updating the Island plan. "The plan should not just be a
theoretical vision of an ideal future. It should confront the real
problems associated with growth and focus on practical solutions. . . .
The plan could in many respects have two modes, one for the three months
of the year when the Vineyard is an almost urban place, and one for the
rest of the year when it is rural," the report suggests.

* Forging partnerships with each of the Island towns.
"The only way that the commission can effectively contribute to
good growth management and a sustainable economy on the Island is to
work closely with the towns to do comprehensive, proactive planning in
the best interests of the people and the land," Mr. London writes.

* Monitoring commission finances and finding new sources for
funding, including outside private contributions.

* Improving the work of staff by developing a more balanced
team, doing better outreach with the towns and the public and eventually
hiring staff with more expertise in economic planning, legal and zoning
issues.

* Refurbishing and modernizing the patched-together physical
plant that houses the commission office in the Olde Stone Building in
Oak Bluffs, including updating the computer system and creating clean
space for document storage.

* Doing more collaboration with other regional planning
commissions, especially the Cape Cod Commission and the Nantucket
Planning and Economic Development Commission.

In brief remarks about the report this week, Mr. London deflected
any pride of authorship.

"In a way it's not my report, it's a report of all
the people I talked to. It's partly my comments, but it's
very much a pulling together of what a lot of people said to me. And
what I found was that the critics and the supporters were not very far
apart in the things that they said," he said.

Mark London's summary of his report.

To read Mark London's report, Looking at the Commission, click here

Adobe Acrobat required