The outdoor music festival proposed for this summer in Vineyard Haven received some skepticism from selectmen at their regular meeting Tuesday night. Chairman Tristan Israel, who is not seeking reelection in April, said he was concerned that there was not yet a clear plan for parking, alcohol prohibition and security. The event organizers are expected to visit the Island again in May.
“I would just tell my board members...that if you don’t have these specific answers to these questions at that point, you ought to pull the plug,” Mr. Israel said.
“I agree with you,” said selectmen James Rogers.
The three-day festival is the brainchild of seasonal resident and Chicago-based event promoter Adam Epstein, organizer of the annual summer Martha’s Vineyard Concert Series. In January, selectmen authorized Mr. Epstein to use Veterans Memorial Park on the weekend of August 9, but stopped short of signing a contract.
Town administrator Jay Grande said he and other town officials had been conducting biweekly phone-calls to coordinate with the festival organizers. He said in response to town concerns, the organizers had agreed to reorient the music stages to face the water rather than the nearby neighborhood.
Visiting selectmen in January, Mr. Epstein laid out a vision for the event that included a Friday night screening of Jaws with live symphony accompaniment, live music with an “American roots” sound on Saturday and Sunday, and off-site parking and shuttling.
Mr. Grande said the headliners for the event had been selected, but their names had not been released.
At the meeting, selectmen also reviewed changes to town waterways regulations during a lengthy public hearing. Waterways regulations set town rules for what kinds of vessels and moorings are allowed in the town ponds and harbor. The regulations also set speed limits and include rules for the town’s two piers.
Over the last three years, two separate committees and a paid consultant have worked together to update the regulations, which originally date to 1995 and were last updated in 2013. Selectmen did not finalize the new regulations, but continued the hearing to May 14.
The changes that garnered the most attention have to do with living aboard a marine vessel in town waters. Tisbury’s regulations currently prohibit the use of vessels as long-term housing, but proposed changes would allow permanent residence on a mobile, operable vessel with permission from the harbormaster.
“The Town of Tisbury recognizes that people living aboard their vessels on the towns [sic] waterways is an activity that is part of the marine and boating community,” the proposed regulations read in part.
Harbor management committee member Matthew Hobart told selectmen the harbormaster could make the decision on a case by case basis, and those cleared to live on their vessels would sign a waiver releasing the town from any liability.
“We didn’t want there to be people on the water in the middle of winter that the harbormaster hadn’t deemed competent to do that or wasn’t aware of,” Mr. Hobart said.
James Rogers said he would prefer more specificity and less harbormaster discretion in the regulations. “My concern is that puts the harbormaster in a bad position if he tells someone no,” he said.
Doug Reece of the Lagoon Pond Association raised concerns about the potential environmental impact of people living on their vessels.
“Lagoon Pond has already been designated by the state as an estuary at risk. The Tisbury board of health has new septic regulations to protect the groundwater. To put live-aboards in the Lagoon, where people are going to be scraping food into the water, washing their dishes, soap going into the pond, are going to further [degrade] the quality of the pond,” Mr. Reece said.
Under the proposed changes, houseboats are not allowed (unless they predate the regulations), and floating businesses must be water dependent and approved by the harbor management committee.
Selectmen said they would discuss some of the regulations with leaders in Oak Bluffs to seek alignment between the two towns. Jet skis, for example, are prohibited in Oak Bluffs and allowed under certain conditions in Tisbury, making Lagoon Pond, which borders both towns, a confusing regulatory limbo.
Written comment on the regulations is due May 10. The hearing will continue May 14.
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