At what point in our history must a grocery store become so large? The Tisbury Stop & Shop debate seems to be settling on two positions, one of which I believe is misconstrued and unfortunately working to benefit this misguided plan.
So far, the Stop & Shop expansion project seems to be flying under the radar of many people who would be concerned if they knew exactly what Stop & Shop is planning for the expansion of their Vineyard Haven store.
As I watch the many hearings to discuss how we can make Stop and Shop solve all our traffic problems, I can’t help ask, what is the cause of our traffic in Vineyard Haven and what is the solution? The answer is the Steamship Authority — the elephant in the neighborhood.
With concerns ranging from storm water management to the fate of town-owned bathrooms, public review of a proposal for a major renovation and expansion of the Tisbury Stop & Shop store continued Thursday before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
A well-attended public hearing Thursday night about the proposed expansion of the Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop supermarket focused on plans and concerns about how the expansion would impact already difficult Tisbury traffic.
Plans to double the size of the Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop, which would include the reconfiguration of a town parking lot, the elimination of a town comfort station and the relocation of a historic house, will come before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission Thursday.
A public hearing on a major expansion plan for the Stop & Shop store on the Vineyard Haven waterfront has been postponed, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission said this week.
The hearing, the first formal public review of the expansion plan, was set for June 6.
MVC development of regional impact (DRI) coordinator Paul Foley said this week that he was notified by the attorney for Stop & Shop that changes were being made to the plans, but that the applicant would not be ready in time for June 6.
Traffic impacts were a chief concern as informal public discussion around expansion plans for the Vineyard Haven Stop & Shop began before the town selectmen Tuesday night.
The project, which would double the size of the existing grocery store on Water street, will be formally reviewed by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission as a development of regional impact beginning next month. Stop & Shop spokesmen have been meeting with the commission land use planning subcommittee for a number of weeks. The first public hearing before the commission will be held June 6.
Commercial expansion, historical preservation, affordable housing and traffic patterns will all be on the docket Tuesday when the Tisbury selectmen and representatives from Stop & Shop will discuss a major expansion planned by the grocery chain at the gateway to the Island’s main port town.
The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in the Katharine Cornell Theatre.
A&P Sells Both Vineyard Supermarkets in Nine-Store Deal with
Stop & Shop
By MANDY LOCKE
After more than eight decades of selling groceries to Vineyarders,
the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) will abandon its
Island foothold - selling both the Edgartown and Vineyard Haven
stores to the Stop & Shop Supermarket Company.
The transaction - together with the sale of four others in the
state - is part of a larger move by the A&P to withdraw from
all operations in Massachusetts.
