Tisbury approves new taxi company

A new taxi company will be delivering passengers in Tisbury after a sometimes testy public review process with the town. 

In a 2-1 vote on Wednesday, March 13, the Tisbury select board approved awarding a license to Island Shark Taxi, a permit previously held by AAA Taxi until its owner, Ira Yaffe, died in 2017. 

It was the third time the select board had met regarding the licensure issue. 

Over the three meetings, other taxi company owners were firmly against the awarding of the license, citing concerns about oversaturating the market; others thought that the town treated other businesses attempting to acquire the license unfairly. Martha’s Vineyard Taxi owner Peter Bradford even hired an attorney to argue against the application being awarded to Shark Taxi. 

Town counsel David Doneski told the board Wednesday that they should make a determination based on the merits of the application. “There’s no present limits in the board’s regulations on the number of taxi licenses that may be issued,” he said. 

While board members John Cahill and Christina Colarusso both supported having the new business in town, chair Roy Cutrer was not convinced about its necessity, pointing out that the existing taxis already serve the “public need.” Town officials have also expressed concern over whether an increased number of taxi drivers would compete for space at the Steamship Authority’s Vineyard Haven Terminal area, a hot spot to pick up customers. 

Tisbury town administrator John Grande pointed out that the address for the business, on Bishops Cove Way, listed in the application, is located in a residential zone; he cautioned against allowing the company to store taxis there when not in use. Eric Hammarlund, attorney representing Island Shark Taxi, confirmed the applicants will store the taxis in a nonresidential area, but had not undergone the process yet, because usually a lease was not signed until the permit was received. 

“They would, however, verify that with the town prior to beginning any operations,” Hammarlund said. 

After further discussion, the board voted to reward the license under the stipulation the applicants find a committed parking space. 

Tisbury officials also expressed a need to review the town’s taxi regulations to avoid issues that arose during Island Shark Taxi’s process. Some of the potential topics raised were making sure taxis had adequate parking spaces, how to avoid having too many companies in Tisbury, and updating parts of the town’s taxi regulations members believed were outdated.

In other news, the board voted unanimously to close the annual town meeting warrant, although the special town meeting warrant will remain open until April 12.