A parking lot has emerged at the site of the old Golden Dragon restaurant. The building that only recently stood on a lot immediately adjacent to Shop & Shop’s Vineyard Haven store was determined to be unsafe by the town of Tisbury, and was placed under a “remove or make safe” order in June. Stop & Shop opted to demolish the building, and began preliminary work in July. The building was subsequently leveled in early October. The demo site was paved on Oct. 17, and a few days later, workers were securing parking blocks for parking spaces.
When asked what Stop & Shop was up to at the site, Stop and Shop spokesperson told The Times on Oct. 17, “There are no immediate plans for the site. We are exploring our options, all of which will require town approval.”
When asked about the parking, Tisbury building commissioner Ross Seavey told The Times via email that parking spaces were being made and that in the zone in question, parking by a retail business is permissible. When asked if parking at the lot required Martha’s Vineyard Commission permission, Seavey wrote, “As for the MVC, the DRI trigger for parking lots is 10 or more parking spaces. I made the contractor aware of this MVC referral trigger, and was told they would be doing less than 10 parking spaces, and it appears they constructed only eight spaces.”
Tisbury attorney Geoghan Coogan, who represents Stop & Shop, suggested the parking might be for employees.
In the big picture, Coogan wrote that moving the historic Caleb Prouty house — the front of which became visible from Water Street after the demolition of the Golden Dragon — is the next project.
“Now that the old restaurant is down and the site is clear, we are working with two private parties to relocate the Prouty House,” Coogan wrote. “We last left the MVC with approval to move the house, but need their permission as to where it goes. We couldn’t solidify that until the restaurant building was removed. So that is the current agenda item. [Stop & Shop] is now working on a development plan for the site. We hope to start that discussion with the town sometime this winter, before finalizing plans for permitting.”
I hope someone, anyone?, thought ahead to prevent excessive run off during heavy rains from compounding flooding at Five Corners and the adjacent businesses?
Flooding at Five Corners is due to climate change.
it’s about time you caught on.
Seriously ?
Paved Paradise?
As if the eyesore building that was in that spot could be described as a “paradise”?
Joking.
Why are we still black topping when we are supposed be worried about runoff? Not to mention the heat it radiates.
You are absolutely right, we must tear up all the black top on the Island and replace it with crushed sea shells.
So pretty and a joy to walk on.
No good deed ever goes unpunished. Thank you Stop & Shop
Reliable has better prices. And also the best meat on them island. The downside though, is they don’t have the space for as much inventory as Stop n Shop. You are however giving business to a fair priced islander and not a large impersonal corporation
concerning the rainwater runoff issue that has come up; the same amount of water that hit the roof now hits the parking lot. Where did all that water go ?
There was an opportunity to pave that with a porous asphalt surface, but that would have taken some insight. And, yes it is more expensive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-5S9LIyYvQ
Porous paving in an are that has freze/thaw cycles?
Tim– no problem with freeze/thaw cycles.
https://stormwater.wef.org/2012/01/porous-pavement-performance-in-cold-climates/#:~:text=Permeable%20pavement%20infiltration%20is%20not,frost%20heave%20than%20standard%20pavement.
As far as I can tell, it holds up better than conventional asphalt.
But as Jackie notes, it’s temporary. A good reason to not go through the expense.
But somewhere along the line, we, as a community have to start looking at alternatives to impervious surfaces. I don’t think we have to go ripping things up, but crushed sea shells actually would be more environmentally friendly and look better in this temporary situation. Cheaper also. With all due respect to Mr. Hess, most people wear shoes in the downtown area. I don’t know why a crushed shell lot would be any harder to walk on. Especially in the winter. I would think one is much more likely to fall on a smooth icy asphalt surface than on crushed sea shells.
It’s temporary, so that’s why. Islanders need a more efficient Stop and Shop in VH, and maybe it can happen in the future. Stop and Shop is the most affordable food market on the island, with the fairest prices and better weekly sales than anywhere else. Why so many islanders carry on against an essential business that we need more than they need us is beyond me.
Chains have lower prices.
That is why we need Walmart and McDonald’s.
The locals just rip us off.
IMO Reliable Market in OB is the most affordable food market on the island.
Has anyone looked into the legality of the paved area along side the Calib/Prouty house, through a separate property, from Cromwell Lane?. Even if the paved section is temporary, it is something that should come under review and voted on. We don’t need another ‘secret’ or ‘hidden’ travel way to or from Water St. that would add to the mess during the SSA traffic to Water street and five corners.
As the story notes, we asked the town building department and the parking lot is allowed because they didn’t go over the number of parking spots to trigger an MVC review.
How about putting in a 5 unit apartment building? Of course, this would never happen because no one would ever think of adding more dwellings to bring down the cost of housing on the island.
People with food insecurity can’t afford to be ripped off. They care as much about not shopping in chain stores as they care about maniac drivers getting special dispensations because they have “roots”. Lots of islanders don’t shop local because they can’t. And some people just didn’t like paying for a local’s ability to have his name plastered all over as a big shot donor to every island cause because he overcharged shoppers with a pretend discount.
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