The parking in Tisbury is terrible, but traffic is worse. The police, fire and emergency services are first rate. The town should invest in lots for affordable housing and could begin by developing the southwest wedge off Holmes Hole Road. And although Tisbury harbor generates needed revenue, it is above all a vital resource that must be kept environmentally healthy.

This is the consensus of the Tisbury residents who responded to the master plan opinion survey, distributed by the town planning board this winter. The eight-page survey asked people to weigh in on everything from the quality of the town drinking water to the viability of the atmosphere for business.

The survey results will serve as a foundation for the planning board to craft a town master plan.

“It’s important to have a quantifiable way of looking at these issues,” said board chairman Tony Peak. “Discussions can be easier and far more valuable when there are numbers you can use.”

The survey was sent to all town residents - about 1,800 households - with the annual census this winter and to a randomly selected 20 per cent of nonresident property owners. It was returned by 44 per cent of recipients. The planning board prepared the survey with the help of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

In addition to rating public services and indicating areas of critical concern, the survey asked detailed questions about development and affordable housing; transportation, and the harbor and harbor front district. There was also space for people to augment their responses with written essays.

A master plan paves the way for the town to receive grants and funding from the state, which looks favorably on communities that have done the work of planning and can show how a project fits into a town’s vision for its future.

Massachusetts statute requires that a master plan address nine areas: goals and policies, land use, housing, economic development, natural and cultural resources, open space and recreation, services and facilities, circulation (transportation) and implementation.

“Most of the responses seemed to jibe with what everyone said anecdotally was true,” said Mr. Peak. “Interestingly, there were instances where the majority of respondents did not seem in line with recent political events at town meeting.”

He cited as an example the affordable housing bylaw which was approved at special town meeting in March. The bylaw includes an amnesty provision allowing town residents with illegal accessory units to legalize them.

But of the many options listed by the survey for creating affordable housing, that choice generated the least support.

“Very often you don’t get more than 250 people at a town meeting,” Mr. Peak said. “So to have a survey come back from 700 or 800 people is a far more substantial sampling of the population.”

The survey notes that Tisbury is working toward the state-suggested goal of 10 per cent affordable housing and that the town is currently at 3.48 per cent. When asked about the best approaches to increase the number of affordable units, the gradual town purchase of lots garnered the most support. Respondents also advocated making town-owned property available to first-time homeowners at a discounted rate and building rental apartments on the town-owned 100-acre wedge off Holmes Hole Road.

Respondents split on their assessment of Tisbury’s growth rate. Forty-four per cent consider the current development of 38 houses a year acceptable. (At that rate, the town will reach buildout in 10 to 12 years.) Those who found it unacceptable also split when they considered solutions, with the majority favoring a building cap - another measure previously defeated on town hall floor, in 2000.

Other popular suggestions for slowing growth were the town purchase of lost for open space and changing zoning bylaws.

Traffic and transportation topped everyone’s list of concerns, with a combined 93 per cent deeming the topic critical or important. When it came to solutions, however, response was lukewarm. Traffic lights at either Five Corners or the intersection of State Road and Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road was anathema, and even fewer people favored widening either the State Road or Beach Road corridors.

For residents, ferry costs and services was an equally important issue, followed by housing costs and availability, which 90 per cent of residents listed as critical or important. Also high on the list of resident concerns was the cost and availability of essential goods and services.

Nonresidents listed population growth (90 per cent), open space preservation, historic preservation and zoning enforcement (all at 89 per cent) as most pressing after traffic.

With regard to the harbor, the primary concern is its environmental health, which 96 per cent of residents and 98 percent of nonresidents labeled critical or important. Town residents also worry about the cost to Tisbury of controlling Steamship Authority traffic, which reflects overall traffic concerns.

“From here we will go forward with general discussions that are aimed at producing a draft master plan,” said Mr. Peak. He encouraged continued community input as the board begins to look at the most critical issues in greater detail.