To the Editor:
The essay by Mr. Coogan, “The benefits of a new Stop & Shop,” published in the Times on the 19th of this month says that in recognition of rising water, “Stop & Shop is smartly utilizing the space beneath the building created to comply with the proposed floodplain elevation to provide 42 parking spaces beneath the structure.”
Referring to objections that have been made to the height of the proposed building, he concludes, “There is a reality here. All buildings in the Water Street location will, at some point in our future, be raised approximately eight feet so that they don’t wind up in the harbor.” He clearly does not mean a storey added to the top.
The area is filled land, formerly an alluvial plain with a tidal creek running through 5 Corners past Chicken Alley along what is now Lagoon Pond Road. Not to “wind up in the harbor,” a pertinent question is how best to stabilize what is at ground/water level. Hoisting all the buildings up on pilings is one kind of preparation for high water. Do we have other choices? Will traffic from the ferry drive to higher ground along a wharf like that in Oak Bluffs? Frank discussion, please.
Bruce Nevin
Edgartown
