Stop and Shop representatives presented conceptual plans for an 11,320-square-foot expansion of the Edgartown store on Upper Main Street to members of the Edgartown planning board at a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 20.
The current building is 23,136 square feet. Plans include 46 additional parking spaces, and a new parking lot entrance across the street from Pinehurst Road.
Stop and Shop has not yet formally applied. The project will also trigger review by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission as a development of regional impact (DRI).
The conceptual plan does not necessarily reflect exactly what Stop and Shop will submit in an application, said planning board assistant Georgiana Greenough, but instead provides an idea of the direction the grocery store chain would like to move in. Assuming the review process proceeds smoothly, the timeline calls for construction to begin as soon as fall of 2016.
The conceptual parking plan shows significant additional parking on the left side of thebuilding. Two rows of parking would replace the diagonal rows that exist now, with one row directly abutting the front of the building. The plan also shows an additional entrance to the building, on the left side of the structure.
The Edgartown National Bank branch office would be moved further to the left to allow for the Stop and Shop campus expansion.
Stop and Shop has not presented any plans for changes that would be made inside the building. Ms. Greenough emphasized that the expansion proposal plans are in the earliest stage.
In May of last year, Stop and Shop withdrew a proposal before the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to update its Vineyard Haven store, following fierce opposition by opponents who said the building design was too large.
The chain proposed to consolidate three abutting properties and remove the existing buildings, including its existing store, in order to construct a new two-story, 30,500-square-foot market with parking for 41 vehicles in an enclosed area on the ground level under the market.
Following a year of review before permitting boards and official, Stop and Shop gave up but said it would return with a new proposal in the future.
