Lookout Tavern Expansion Plan Triggers Commission Referral

By IAN FEIN

The Oak Bluffs building inspector last week referred the proposed
demolition and expansion of the Lookout Tavern on Sea View avenue
extension to the Martha's Vineyard Commission as a potential
development of regional impact (DRI).

The commission will decide in the weeks ahead whether to hold a
public hearing and review the project as a DRI.

The referral comes more than one month after the restaurant owners
filed for a special permit from the town zoning board of appeals to tear
down and expand the preexisting nonconforming structure, which first
opened in 1999. The zoning board twice held public hearings on the
project, continuing it both times. Zoning board administrator Adam
Wilson said this week that he was unaware the project could qualify as a
DRI.

The zoning board review of the project had been scheduled to
continue last night, but was put on hold until the commission concludes
its review. The Cottage City historical commission last week approved
the Lookout project in its present form, though it may have to go back
for another look depending on the MVC or zoning board decisions.

According to the building permit and zoning board applications, the
owners of the Lookout Tavern want to increase its occupancy from 90
people to 130. The new building would keep roughly the same footprint,
with a small extension in the back constituting about a 25 per cent
increase in total space. The proposed building height would increase
from roughly 22 feet to 28 feet.

Building inspector Jerry Wiener referred the project to the
commission after selectman Kerry Scott brought to his attention that it
triggered the commission's DRI checklist as a proposed expansion
of a restaurant outside of the town's main business district. The
checklist trigger required that the town refer the project to the MVC,
although it leaves open the possibility that the commission might choose
not to identify the project as a DRI.

Ms. Scott and Mr. Wiener said yesterday that the project could have
been referred to the commission sooner, but that they believe the
process worked appropriately. They both said they are glad that the
project is going before the commission for a preliminary review.

The Lookout Tavern is on one of about 10 parcels in the North Bluff
neighborhood identified by the town of Oak Bluffs as a B-2 zoning
district. The designation is intended to create a buffer between the
regular B-1 business district and surrounding R-1 residential zone.

Mr. Wiener said that the B-2 designation for the project makes it a
delicate town decision, which will be alleviated by a MVC review.

"I kind of like that everything is coming out on the
table," said Mr. Wiener, who took over the reins in Oak Bluffs
last summer after the resignation of former inspector Richard Mavro.
"I wanted to give it a life of its own. The commission is regional
by nature - which means more input, more people. It is a tool that
helps the process along."

The North Bluff neighborhood is no stranger to controversy. The most
notable zoning dispute involved the Joseph G. Moujabber property, where
a three-story garage was built in open violation of town zoning bylaws.
Under pressure from all sides, Mr. Mavro finally issued a demolition
order for the garage last December. The town is moving ahead to enforce
the demolition, although the dispute is still tangled in legal
proceedings.

The Lookout Tavern sits around the corner from the Moujabber garage.

Belleruth Naparstek, president of the North Bluff Neighborhood
Homeowner's Association, which formed to lead the charge against
the Moujabber garage, said this week that she too was pleased the
Lookout project would go to the commission.

"That's probably where it belongs," Mrs. Naparstek
said from her home in Ohio. "The commission, more than any other
regulatory body, is charged with seeing to the holistic health of the
entire community - and that's what is critically important
here. We have to really watch out. If we're going to protect this
community, we have to look at things in context and not just as
individual projects."

Ms. Scott said she thinks the commission should take up the project
as a DRI.

"Sea View avenue is certainly a regional resource because
it's right there at the entrance to Oak Bluffs," she said.
"We recognize that this is a neighborhood under siege. At town
meeting last year, we voted to add the North Bluff neighborhood to the
[Cottage City] historic district, which shows this is a section of Oak
Bluffs that matters not just to people who live there - but to the
entire town."

Project architect William C. Sullivan yesterday chose not to comment
on the referral to the commission, deferring questions to the owners of
the restaurant. The owners through Mr. Sullivan did not return a request
for comment.

Mr. Sullivan also serves as a member of the Oak Bluffs zoning board
of appeals, which raises the question of whether he is in violation of
the state conflict of interest law.

According to the state ethics commission, the conflict of interest
law prohibits town board members from representing a third party in a
matter pending before their own board, even if they abstain from
participation. Mr. Sullivan did not participate as a zoning board member
in the Lookout public hearings, though as project architect he did
represent the tavern owners.

Mr. Sullivan said yesterday that the Lookout was not the first
project he brought before the zoning board, and that the board in the
past had expressed it did not feel he had a conflict in such matters. He
acknowledged, however, that neither he, nor the zoning board to his
knowledge, sought advice from or filed a public disclosure with the
state ethics commission.