The Old Variety Store building in downtown Oak Bluffs adjacent to the Flying Horses carousel is slated for teardown, after the town issued a demolition permit last month and the select board approved a sidewalk closure at the site Tuesday.
An eccentric, historic structure that dates to the 19th century, the turreted shop at the top of Oak Bluffs avenue has been home to everything from a peanut stand to the Boston Herald building before it was purchased by Joseph Moujabber in 2017.
After years of discussion, plans to demolish and reconstruct the downtown fixture are finally taking shape.
“It’s the beginning of his project to tear the building down and make something new,” said Oak Bluffs highway superintendent Riche Combra, speaking in favor of the sidewalk closure. Mr. Moujabber was not present at the meeting.
The town approved a demolition permit for the site late last month which will expire on May 30, 2023 if work does not commence, Oak Bluffs building commissioner Matt Rossi told the Gazette in an email this week.
Mr. Moujabber’s efforts to develop the site have been years in the making, Cottage City historic district commission meetings show. Plans to demolish the dilapidated building were initially approved in March 2019, but were not acted upon. Further changes were approved by the commission this February, documents show.
Preliminary plans shared with the Gazette for the new building on the site show a structure similar to the existing variety store, adding a second floor apartment near the neighboring Flying Horses building. The building’s current, triangular footprint will remain intact.
A metal, chicken-wire fence has been erected around the perimeter of the building, although demolition has not begun as of Wednesday, Dec. 14.
The new first floor will have a large, open space that is about 1,200 square feet, with double doors on Oak Bluffs avenue. The second floor, situated above the part of the building closest to the Flying Horses, will be 589 square feet, with a bathroom, bedroom, living room and kitchen, according to the plans.
The select board Tuesday offered little comment regarding the plan, but unanimously approved the sidewalk closure with the caveat that the sidewalk must reopen by April 1.
Also Tuesday, the select board concluded a months-long debate on shellfishing regulations set to begin in the new year.
The board initially approved a reduction on the limit of scallops a fisherman can collect per day, but later decided to keep the existing limit of of one bushel of scallops for recreational fishing and three bushels of scallops for commercial fishing following comment from some of the town’s shellfishermen.
As an alternate measure last month, shellfish constable Donovan McElligatt suggested that the town raise the temperature limit for shellfishing in town. By current regulation, no shellfishing by way of dragging is allowed in water temperatures below 28 degrees.
On Tuesday, the select board approved an increase of that limit to 30 degrees. Initially proposed to include all manner of shellfishing, comment from local commercial shellfishermen helped to sway the select board to apply the restriction only to dragging.
Commercial shellfisherman Kyle Peters said that on days where it’s too cold to drag under current regulation, fishermen will take to using nets and poles to pick scallops one by one so as not to lose an entire day of fishing.
“The temperature is very important because it only should affect dragging scallops,” Mr. Peters said.
Finally Tuesday, the select board approved a slate of appointments to local and regional government. Bill Cleary was appointed to the Eversource working group, Joe Sollitto was reappointed to the port council and Brian Smith was reappointed to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
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