The dozen or so founders of the West Tisbury Farmers’ Market were pioneers in their day, back-to-the-landers with an idealistic vision for the future. They read agrarian pacifists Scott and Helen Nearing, frequented the Vineyard’s first natural food store in the Dr. Fischer house in Edgartown, cleared their own land, built their own houses, grew their own food in the sandy Island soils where sheep had once grazed. And they had extra vegetables to sell.

Forty-one years later, the future has arrived; the farmers’ market is well into its second generation and thriving, thanks in part to a small agriculture renaissance that has happily coincided with the national locavore movement.

And while the market has grown more sophisticated, with thirty-nine vendors jockeying for position and more waiting in the wings, it is also experiencing growing pains and possibly at risk for becoming a victim of its own popularity. On Saturday mornings this past summer as market-goers fill their baskets with colorful fresh produce and feasted on the famous egg rolls, traffic jams around the West Tisbury village were cause for mild alarm among those who were stuck in a slow-moving line of cars that stretched halfway to the airport on the West Tisbury Road. Had the town reached a tipping point? The question hung in the exhaust fumes.

Against that backdrop, market vendors recently reopened discussion about whether the market should relocate from the Grange Hall to the Agricultural Hall off Panhandle Road, down the road and well out of the village. Opinion is understandably divided and even heated. For the vendors concerned about their livelihood, change equals risk and there is no guarantee that moving the market will improve the experience. There are variables to consider; while the Saturday market is overcrowded, the Wednesday market is not and there is worry that moving to the Ag Hall could spell the end of the smaller Wednesday event.

While the vendors’ views are important, the discussion and decision-making process should not be limited to them. If the popularity of the market is indeed the cause of up-Island traffic congestion on summer weekends, that is an issue that affects the larger community.

Last week the West Tisbury selectmen waded gently into the issue, saying they thought moving the market is worth considering. They’re right, but we’d like to see them take a broader view of summer traffic flow in the village as well. Old West Tisbury has suddenly become a vibrant center, with the success of the delightful 7a Foods, the draw of the new West Tisbury library and the addition of popular family events at the First Congregational Church. Welcome as these are, they have had the unintended consequence of clogging a main gateway to up-Island.

The Martha’s Vineyard Commission has the planning resources to analyze the causes and suggest possible remediation for traffic issues, and the selectmen would be wise to ask for the commission’s assistance. The Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society should also be involved — the wonderful winter farmers’ market that got under way last weekend is already held at the Ag Hall, and there could be a marketing advantage to having markets in one place all year round.

The farmers’ market is a much-loved institution that has earned its stripes as a showcase for the very best that small farms on the Island have to offer. The discussion of whether to move it should be taken in the larger context of how West Tisbury — and the Island — can best preserve the small town charm that made it popular in the first place.