The bumpy road to approval for the Bradley Square project in Oak Bluffs was extended a little last Thursday when the town zoning board of appeals voted to reopen the public hearing following a groundswell of letters to town hall and requests for further testimony.

Board chairman Kris Chvatal opened the meeting — held at the town senior center before a packed audience — by announcing that he had consulted town counsel Ronald H. Rappaport about the sheer volume of correspondence relating to the project.

“We reached a consensus that because of the volume of input, and the emotional nature of that input, we should reopen the public hearing,” Mr. Chvatal said.

Since the public hearing will be reopened, the zoning board must give notice by publishing a legal advertisement in at least one Island newspaper. Mr. Chvatal noted this on Thursday and suggested the meeting be closed and reconvened after notice is published.

Zoning board member Gail Barmakian questioned the move. She noted that several emergency medical technicians had come to the meeting to hear a discussion about an access road for emergency vehicles. She asked if the board could discuss some of the issues without opening the meeting to the public.

“Can’t we discuss some of these issues between ourselves? There is a lot we need to talk about,” she said.

But Mr. Chvatal said he was acting on the advice of the town attorney, and he said reopening the public hearing seemed to be the best move.

“I wanted to get the public back involved, so I called the [town] counsel to find out the best way to get them involved . . . I would be remiss if I decided unilaterally that the [town counsel’s opinion] doesn’t apply here,” he said.

During public hearings held earlier this summer, several residents said they worried the project would create problems with traffic and parking. Others asked whether the project — which includes affordable housing, artist work spaces and the preservation of the Island’s first African American church — could be reduced in size and scale.

The property is owned by the Island Affordable Housing Fund, which bought the old Bradley Church in June of 2007 for $905,000. The applicant is the Island Affordable Housing Trust, a sister organization to the fund.

The plan calls for the old Bradley Church to be moved and renovated to create a cultural center with a residential apartment and office. Two separate lots — one in a commercial zone and another in a residential zone — must be combined to accommodate two new residential buildings. Ten of the 11 apartments would be sold at affordable rates under state guidelines.

Some of the apartments are planned as studios where artists would live and work.

The project has seen both support and resistance over the past year. Project supporters include a small band of artisans who have formed a budding arts district along Dukes County avenue, as well as the Martha’s Vineyard Museum. Critics include abutters and neighbors who complain the project is too big for the proposed site and worry about traffic congestion and parking problem.

The public hearing will be reopened at 7 p.m. on Sept. 18 at the town senior center on Wamsutta avenue.