Do Islanders like it, not know about it or just not care?
A nearly-nonexistent turnout at the Martha’s Vineyard Commission Thursday night for a public hearing on a new 12,200-square-foot solar canopy over the parking lot at Cronig’s Market in Vineyard Haven had some commissioners scratching their heads.
“There certainly doesn’t seem to be an outcry of public concern about this project, but I’m curious whether people are really paying a lot of attention,” said commissioner Linda Sibley.
An unusual possible conflict of interest could delay a Martha’s Vineyard Commission vote this week on a plan to build a solar canopy over the parking lot at Cronig’s Market in Vineyard Haven.
The applicant for the development project is the community-based energy cooperative Vineyard Power. Of the 15 voting members of the MVC, 11 are members of the cooperative. On Monday land use planning committee chairman Doug Sederholm announced that the commission must wait for an opinion from the state ethics commission before voting on the project.
It was an unusual week in front of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission for the developers of a $1.1 million, 210-killowatt solar canopy project over the parking lots at Cronig’s Market in Vineyard Haven. Last Thursday commissioners wondered aloud why there wasn’t more opposition to the project, then on Monday the commission announced that it faced a possible conflict of interest and would likely delay a vote on the project.
Summer shoppers seeking shade may be able to do so this summer while powering up. Vineyard Power hopes to install a 12,200 square foot array of solar panels over the Vineyard Haven Cronig’s parking lot. The array, which will supply a quarter of the store’s energy needs, is made up of three “solar canopies,” which will also feature six electric car charging stations.