A planned solar array on land owned by the Oak Bluffs water district remains in the slow lane as developers prepare to return to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission later this month.

The town water district wants to clear 10.4 acres of ancient forest for a large solar array on land it owns abutting the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest. The project is expected to save the district $800,000 over 20 years through reduced electricity costs.

But it has drawn strong opposition from Vineyard ecologists who say the detriments of removing ancient woodland far outweigh the benefits of harnessing the power of the sun to produce electricity.

A public hearing opened last February and has since been postponed twice by the water district.

The continued hearing reopens at the Olde Stone Building in Oak Bluffs on Oct. 20.

Also, a public hearing on the proposed demolition of a historic commercial building in Oak Bluffs to make way for a mixed-use development will resume Oct. 20. The 8,570-square-foot building on Circuit avenue houses Phillips Hardware, a well-known longstanding business in the center of town. Owners Donna Leon and Susan Phillips want to put up a three-story building about twice the size of the original with commercial space and apartments.

A public hearing on the project opened in September.

Both the solar array and Phillips Hardware plans are under review as developments of regional impact (DRIs).

At their meeting last Thursday, the commission voted to allow off-season boat storage in a 6,000-square-foot parking lot behind the Island Cove Adventures mini-golf course on State Road in Vineyard Haven. In a letter to the commission in September, Raymond and Mary Gosselin of Island Cove Adventures said they expect to store between five and 10 boats up to 35 feet long on the property. The boats would be prepared offsite and stay in the parking lot from mid-October to mid-May. Commissioners reviewed the proposal as a modification to an earlier DRI application and agreed that it did not require a public hearing.

Looking ahead, the MVC expects to see plans for the Stop & Shop expansion of its Edgartown store late in the year. Commission executive director Adam Turner said he expects an application in December; commissioners urged delaying a public hearing until the new year, in light of the November election, when nine people will be elected to the 21-member commission. Stop & Shop unveiled preliminary plans for the expansion in October 2015.

And the commission has not yet received a DRI application from MV@Play, a community group that wants to build a sports facility at the regional high school that would include artificial turf. The plan has ignited fierce, ongoing debate over the merits of grass versus artificial turf. The Chilmark and West Tisbury selectmen referred the project to the MVC for review, using the discretionary referral process, but MV@Play later voluntarily agreed to a full review by the commission.

The commission’s next meeting is Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.