The Martha’s Vineyard Commission has voted to take on the much-debated 97 Spring Street housing project in a split vote on Thursday.
Commissioners voted 10–4 to review the project as a development of regional impact (DRI) in what will mean increased scrutiny. The Commission’s review process will involve a public hearing process and could lead to them placing restrictions on the project.
The commission will hold its public hearing stage in January, when new commissioners take their seat after the recent election.
Developer Xerxes Aghassipour intends to house as many as nine Vineyard Wind workers in the Vineyard Haven property, which is within a residential district. Aghassipour has repeatedly argued that commission review is not the proper means to oversee his project, and that the town would instead have the chance to place any restrictions on its use during a certificate-of-occupancy stage.
The commission’s vote on Thursday follows months of intense scrutiny from neighbors and Tisbury officials over the project’s permitting, its intended use once complete, and whether the structure demolished before its construction should have been protected as a historic home.
Commission chair Fred Hancock voted against the review, as did commissioners Greg Martino, Brian Smith and Mike MacKenty. Detractors worried about setting a precedent for other projects on-Island, as well as whether any issues with the property were merely internal matters in Tisbury.
Supporters of a review were compelled by the volume of officials’ and residents’ opinions in favor of oversight, which included over 40 letters from residents.
Some commissioners also felt unsure what guidance the commission would be able to offer to the project, and looked forward to determining this during the public hearing stage.
The successful referral was made by Tisbury’s planning and health boards, and was sent to the commission just days after the commission rejected the boards’ previous referrals.
Thursday’s vote was on a discretionary referral, which can ask commissioners to consider arguments for a project’s significance. In September, a similar referral under a different application failed to get support from the commission. At the time, commission executive director Adam Turner notified the boards that their first, checklist referral failed to trigger any item on the commission’s DRI checklist.
Planning board member Ben Robinson, also a commissioner, recused himself from voting on Thursday.
One new face on the commission in January will be Mary Bernadette Budinger-Cormie, a direct abutter to 97 Spring Street who has raised much of the public’s attention to the project.
The developer, Aghassipour, also operates a Vineyard Wind workforce housing project at 52 West William Street, and owns a workforce housing project on 123 State Road that has been scrutinized by the planning board.
Thank you, Bernadette, for bringing common sense and a Vineyard ethos to this issue. How an off-island developer could come in and bypass zoning regulations while abutters are reassured by town officials that they are being adhered to is certainly concerning. Little by little we are eroding the qualities that make the Vineyard authentic and appealing. There’s been talk of our “cooking the golden goose” at least since the ’70’s. If we recall the disproportionate scale and associated traffic issues of the Edu-Comp project proposed by Xerxes, it is clear he cares not what is best for our beloved island.
Bravo to Bernadette and her incredible opposition team! Thank you MVCommission for taking this DRI. I am certain that your board will work hard at preserving and protecting our Island!
Bernadette will have to recuse herself as part of the MV Commission due to her involvement already. Let’s see the reaction to the developer if the lodging is offered to the hospital of municipal employees who are desperately in need of any lodging options
10 to 4 is “split decision?” – makes it sound close – here’s a more accurate headline:
Island Residents Score a Victory in the Battle to Protect their Neighborhood.
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