To the Editor:
Thank you for the article by Ewell Hopkins and the article about Mr. Hopkins and the letter and full-page ad opposing the planning board’s proposed zoning changes. We all owe Ewell Hopkins a vote of thanks for his service to Oak Bluffs and to all of Martha’s Vineyard. Ewell’s attention to the big picture, whether protecting our water supply or trying to give residents a way to deal with the exploding growth of small and not-so-small businesses with nowhere to store their equipment is leading the way for O.B. and the rest of the Island.
The problems caused by the many service businesses are Island-wide and the solutions proposed by the Oak Bluffs planning board will work Island wide. Licensing the causes of a problem so we can regulate the problem is not new. We all have driver’s licenses not because the license makes us better drivers but so the community can regulate the behavior of drivers on public ways. The planning board’s proposals will help regulate the parking, noise, unsightly mess, and the other issues currently causing problems island wide. Leaving the rules as they are will only allow the problems to get worse.
I applaud Mr. Hopkins and the Planning Board for their leadership in taking on a difficult, divisive problem. I hope the rest of us are wise enough to follow their lead.
Chris Murphy
Chilmark
