The Oak Bluffs planning board will hold a public hearing on March 12 on the proposed plan for the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School’s athletic complex, they decided at a meeting last week. The hearing begins at 5 p.m. at the Oak Bluffs fire station.

Concerns with building the new complex were centered around making the fields economically friendly as well as the safest possible for Vineyard high school athletes.

As of Feb. 18, the Oak Bluffs planning board website features 88 letters in support of the new fields and 31 opposed. The letters are from members of the general public and students.

At the meeting, several members of the public voiced their frustration with how the letters are displayed, including that some letters in favor of the project written by members of the same family are lumped together as one PDF file rather than individual links to each family member’s letter. Also, students’ letters are placed in a separate category from adult letters.

During public comment, Brian Packish, chairman of the Oak Bluffs selectmen, said the project needs to be referred to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.

“The entire high school property is a DRI. Once a DRI, always a DRI,” Mr. Packish said. “There is no question whether you have a DRI on your hands or not. It’s very clearly outlined in the rules and the regulations. Therefore, this is an automatic referral to the MV.”