Commission Rejects Hotel Plan for Second Time in One Year

By IAN FEIN

Citing the need to contain increased commercial use in an eclectic
residential neighborhood at the fringe of the Oak Bluffs business
district, the Martha's Vineyard Commission voted last week to deny
a proposed expansion to a small inn and tennis center on New York
avenue.

The 9-0 vote marked the second time in 12 months for the commission
to turn down Jack E. Robinson's plan to expand his Martha's
Vineyard Hotel & Racquet Club.

The expansion was the only development of regional impact (DRI) the
commission denied in 2004 and so far is the commission's only
denial in 2005.

"Although the bed and breakfast there now certainly fits in
with the neighborhood, and was spoken of as a good neighbor, the
expansion . . . . becomes a commercial activity outside of what I think
is beneficial," said commission member Christina Brown of
Edgartown just before the vote last Thursday night. "What you have
there now is a lively addition to the summer activities of Oak Bluffs,
and I think it's entirely appropriate. It's the expansion of
it that I am concerned about," she added.

Last year Mr. Robinson proposed a 19-room expansion to the 11
bedrooms currently on the property. Following a divided 7-3 vote to deny
the project almost exactly one year ago, several commission members
suggested that Mr. Robinson return with a scaled-back version.

Mr. Robinson, 79, a longtime Oak Bluffs resident and the former head
of the Boston chapter of the NAACP, this year proposed adding 10
bedrooms to the property. But apparently he did not scale the project
back far enough.

"Although it is a substantially scaled-down proposal from the
one we saw a year ago, it's still almost doubling in size the
operation and rentable units," said commission member Douglas
Sederholm of Chilmark. "And I think that's too much for the
character of the neighborhood."

Commission members said on Thursday that the proposed expansion
would be out of scale with the other businesses on New York avenue.
Along with private homes, the neighborhood includes a church, real
estate company, gas station, a tarot card reader, a bait shop, a
bookstore and other inns.

"It's a mixed-residential neighborhood with small
businesses in small buildings that used to be houses," said Mrs.
Brown. "But an expanded 15-room hotel exceeds what is, I think,
the expected or ordinarily associated effect on a residential
neighborhood."

A number of commission members said last week that the architectural
plans submitted for the project violated building codes as proposed.
They said they could not determine the building's visual impact to
the streetscape without seeing better plans.

"I've never looked at a plan like this at the commission
before that was so unworkable and said ‘Okay, we'll approve
this and let them draw plans that will work and bring them back
in,' " said commission member John Best of Tisbury.
"This idea isn't so bad, but it's not going to look
like this. So how can I think about it?"

Mr. Sederholm agreed with Mr. Best about the quality of the plans,
but had his own take on the aesthetics of the design.

"I think these plans are woefully inadequate, and as presented
to us the building can't be built," Mr. Sederholm said.
"And I got to tell you, it's hard to say what this will
really look like from what we've been presented. But from what I
can see . . . I think it's really ugly, and I don't think
it's going to add to the character of the neighborhood."

Mr. Sederholm also noted that Mr. Robinson had not complied with
prior conditions about parking and lighting that the commission imposed
on the tennis center when it was first approved as a development of
regional impact (DRI) in 1991.

Prior to 1991, Mr. Robinson operated the club without town permits
for almost four years. It was the subject of more than one lawsuit.

Mr. Robinson last Thursday expressed frustration with the
commission's review.

"With this kind of an operation, with this kind of an attitude
from the commission, it would be absolutely impossible for me to
complete this process," Mr. Robinson said. "I have revised
the plan at least eight times at your suggestion. I have done everything
that you asked, including things I never should have done - such
as given you the names and addresses of the members of my tennis
club," he added.

"And even now as you reject this, as it is your responsibility
to reject me at your pleasure, you still do not tell me exactly what I
can and cannot do," Mr. Robinson said. "It's
relatively obvious that I'm dealing with a force that cannot be
couched in an objective manner."