Already under pressure for the lengthy pace of its development reviews, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission has come under heightened scrutiny in Island towns over its budget for next year. Staff salary increases and soaring legal expenses have led to a 10 per cent increase in the commission’s budget, with some town assessments going up more than 14 per cent.

And as they prepare their own annual town budgets for the coming year, four of the six Vineyard towns are registering strong concerns about spending at the commission.

It was a unanimous vote by the Martha's Vineyard Commission to create a manual to preserve the Island roadscapes.

In a strongly-worded letter, the committee cited “lack of clear management, focus and prioritization,” as reasons for not recommending the $1.45 million budget. The town has requested an immediate meeting with the MVC executive director.

Maybe the long winter is causing short tempers, but it seems like the mere mention of Stop & Shop these days is met by a spew of fury.

The architect who developed the Tisbury Marketplace in Vineyard Haven wants to demolish a former laundromat on Uncas avenue and build a bowling alley. Neighbors are opposed. A commission hearing opens Thursday at 7 p.m.

A $1.45 million budget approved by the commission last week for the coming fiscal year is an increase of nearly 10 per cent over last year.

A Martha's Vineyard Commission review of the grocery expansion plans in Vineyard Haven will go to a seventh public hearing in February. Sticking points remain amid growing frustration over a drawn-out process.

Visual impact, neighborhood concerns and questions about future use were all factors in the 4-3 commission vote against a large church expansion project on the Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road in Oak Bluffs. Four commissioners excused themselves from the proceeding.

A new plan to turn 54 acres in Katama into a nine-lot residential subdivision saw favorable review by the Martha's Vineyard Commission last week, while stubborn sticking points remained for a pending church expansion in Oak Bluffs.

Spokesmen for the power company NStar told the Martha’s Vineyard Commission Thursday that they believe the commission has no jurisdiction over a project to install new, oversized utility poles around the Island. The poles have raised the hackles of Islanders and public officials who say they are ruinous to roadside aesthetics and out of character for the Vineyard.