The Martha’s Vineyard Commission closed a public hearing on a proposed takeout window at the Barn and Bowl Bistro in Oak Bluffs Thursday night after peppering bowling alley owners with questions about traffic and congestion at the site.

Along with a 10-lane bowling alley, the building has a bar, restaurant, and — according to testimony from representatives — a steady, year-round take-out food business. In order to ease congestion from take-out customers, owners want to install a small takeout window in the kitchen addition, located next to the facility parking lot.

The window is a minor modification to a kitchen addition approved last winter.

At the public hearing Thursday, businessman Sam Dunn, one of the original developers of the property, said the restaurant has averaged between 10 and 12 takeout orders a day throughout 2019.

“We do a small amount of takeout business,” Mr. Dunn said. “But it is extremely awkward because everybody who calls up to make a take-out order or does it online, has to park their car somewhere in the neighborhood, walk into the building, interrupt somebody who is engaged in a service, and pick up the item.”

“We just want to have a way to improve the efficiency of our operation. That’s really what it is about,” Mr. Dunn said.

Commissioners and members of the public had further questions about the growth of the business, raising concerns about existing congestion, trash pickup and noise in the neighborhood.

“I want to know how you’re going to address the currently existing parking problem?” commissioner Gail Barmakian asked. “I’ve had problems going down the two-way street when you have an event.”

Neighbors Amy Billings and Maura McGroarty, who both said they appreciated the success of the bowling alley, also said they felt the takeout window would increase traffic on Uncas and Hiawatha avenues. Ms. McGroarty added that she was concerned about further development in the area, and felt the success of the business had led to “unintended consequences.”

“It’s a very small area,” Ms. McGroarty said. “And you have traffic coming in all directions. I think it’s an issue.”

Mr. Dunn replied that the bowling alley was one of the few Oak Bluffs businesses that had its own parking, and he disputed the parking issues Ms. Barmakian and the neighbors described. He also said he understood how abutters might be bothered by overall noise and congestion from a business in their neighborhood, but felt that the addition of the takeout window was a small change that would actually decrease congestion because customers would be able to pull into the parking lot and quickly retrieve their food.

Asked by commissioners about whether the bowling alley would advertise the takeout window, have a separate menu, or allow customers to order from the takeout window, Mr. Dunn said no to all three. It would simply be an easier way for customers to pick up food, he said no.

“The window itself is nothing,” Mr. Dunn said. “We don’t want this to be Back Door Donuts.”

After about an hour of discussion, commissioners closed the public hearing and left the written record open so Mr. Dunn could specify in writing the purpose and use of the window.

In other business, commissioner Ben Robinson gave a brief presentation on the work of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission’s climate action task force — a subcommittee consisting of Mr. Robinson, commissioners Joan Malkin and Kathy Newman, as well as nearly a dozen other public officials and climate-conscious Vineyarders.

Throughout the year, the task force has hosted multiple events, including a talk with former secretary of state John Kerry moderated by state representative Dylan Fernandes, as well as climate awareness panels and discussions in almost every Island town. The task force has also drafted a climate crisis resolution that Mr. Robinson hopes to put forward after next week’s presentation before the commission by Woods Hole climate scientist Philip Duffy.

The draft resolution would support nonbinding resolutions drafted by every town energy committee to eliminate the Island’s reliance on fossil fuels by 2040. It also resolves that the commission develop a framework to factor climate change into its DRI and regional planning review processes, as well as draft a master energy plan and master adaptation plan for facing climate change.

The presentation by Mr. Duffy will take place at the Katharine Cornell Theater in Vineyard Haven at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 12.

“What this is, is a serious moment for us as a body,” Mr. Robinson said. “If we are going to take this step, we need to do it with action in mind.”