Last week the Martha’s Vineyard Commission closed a public hearing on a proposed warehouse at the edge of the light industrial district in West Tisbury after Big Sky Tents owner Jim Eddy made his final offers, and abutters had one last chance to air grievances.
A letter submitted to the commission signed by 22 abutting property owners and residents of Pine Hill Road and Dr. Fisher Road argued that the proposed 9,600-square-foot tent storage facility at the boundary of the light industrial and residential district would “dwarf the surrounding structures in the area and dominate the landscape.”
“I think the thing’s totally out of scale and it’s going to ruin the atmosphere of Pine Hill and Dr. Fisher Road,” said Porter Thompson of Pine Hill Road at the well-attended meeting last Thursday night. He was joined by many of his neighbors.
Big Sky engineer Reid Silva said eaves and a cupola, along with other aesthetic features, had been incorporated into the design of the building to help it blend in with its rural surroundings.
Abutters also worried aloud about the noise created by the facility and about operating hours creeping into, and interrupting quiet summer evenings. Mr. Eddy, who currently operates his party tent rental business out of what he describes as cramped headquarters in the airport business park, insisted that the building would be used only for storage and would operate between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
“This same property was here a year ago,” said commission member Chris Murphy. “It was here as a parking lot and there was a hue and cry about how it was an abuse of land and it would be a terrible neighbor and it was withdrawn. Now it’s back as a seemingly less intense use.”
The project now heads for a review by the commission land use planning committee at 5:45 p.m. on Sept. 27 in the commission office, where the committee will make possible recommendations to the full commission. The commission will vote on the project at a future meeting; no date has been set yet.
Last Thursday the commission also closed a public hearing on a proposed new pizza and sandwich delivery shop at 45 Beach Road. The shop would share a building with Century 21; the commission determined the potential impact on Beach Road traffic to be negligible. The commission was scheduled to vote on the project at its meeting last night.
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