Editors, Vineyard Gazette;

East Chop has already been burdened with a number of issues that are before the town. We have seen parking in our parks, Uber drivers living in cars along East Chop Drive, and large parties at residences on Massachusetts avenue. Each of these issues affects the neighbors who live here, pay taxes and care deeply about our community.

These are not isolated problems. They are part of a larger concern about how much additional activity our neighborhood and our town can reasonably absorb. That is why the proposed hotel at the former Ocean View site concerns me so deeply. The Ocean View was a neighborhood restaurant that fit within the character of the area. A large hotel would bring substantially more people, vehicles, parking demands, traffic and wastewater into an area that is already struggling with these issues.

Oak Bluffs needs to look at the cumulative impact of development and activity on our neighborhoods. We cannot continue adding intensity without addressing the infrastructure and quality-of-life issues we already face.

We don’t need another large hotel in this location. We need to protect the neighborhoods that make Oak Bluffs special and make sure growth is appropriate for the community that must live with it.

Laurie Ducharme

Oak Bluffs