To the Editor:
I am compelled to write concerning the Green Villa development before the MVC, for several reasons.
The first is the four-unit strip mall commercial component. This is a truly bad idea.
I think you are aware that one of the first actions taken by the MVC was to establish the Island Roads DCPC. One of the primary reasons for enacting this was to prevent inappropriate commercial activity on the major Island roads. At the time, this kind of strip mall development, with parking between the building and the road, was a big concern. They had the example of seeing what had happened to the Cranberry Highway on the Cape, and realized that it was best to keep retail business in the towns to preserve the rural character of the Island.
In addition, the applicant’s own traffic study states that the increased traffic from this site would result in congestion so extreme that a second lane should be added to the roundabout as a mitigation! What benefit could this project provide that would warrant a detriment that large?
Another concern with the strip mall is that the applicants have suggested that a convenience store would be a likely tenant. I have seen, in off-Island settings, that such a store near a high school tends to become a student hangout, and perhaps detrimental to the educational experience.
As to the housing portion of the project, laudable as the goals are, I believe that the density required to squeeze in the 100 condo units at a 43-foot height is a severe overbuild for this site, and will have a severe detrimental visual impact. This scale and density is not even seen in the down-Island town areas, and is truly more urban than Vineyard-appropriate.
Fred J. Hancock
Oak Bluffs
