The proposal to convert the former Phillips Hardware store into a new set of storefronts and apartments cleared a hurdle with the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) last week.
After their final review on Thursday, the commissioners voted 13-0 to approve a proposed demolition and reconstruction of 30 Circuit Ave., which had been home to the beloved Phillips Hardware for nearly a century. The project still needs a special permit from the Oak Bluffs zoning board of appeals, and will undergo another review by the commission’s Land Use Planning Committee.
In the place of the demolished building, there are plans for a three-story, Victorian-style mixed-use building. The new building, 17,187 square feet including a cellar, would contain 10 apartments for 12 bedrooms, all of which would be restricted as workforce housing, not short-term rentals. The ground floor would have two retail spaces to sell dry goods. At its two highest points, the modular building will be 41 feet and 7 inches tall.
The building was sold in 2022 to 30 Circuit LLC, a company run by Bob and Donna Pacheco, owners of nearby Reliable Self-Service Market.
Overall, the commissioners deemed the project beneficial to the community. It’s expected to bring tax revenue to Oak Bluffs, and the stores are expected to boost economic activity on Circuit Ave., along with providing housing for year-round and seasonal workers.
But its architectural style sparked some debate at the meeting. The proposed building would be built to look like the Victorian-era structures that were a prominent piece of Oak Bluffs in the 1800s, and act as a callback to the Oakwood Hotel that once occupied the space.
Michael Kim, governor’s appointee to the commission, called what was being proposed a “cheap imitation of a style of building” — a modular construction would be done, not the way it was done in the Victorian era — that was being brought forward by a “novice team” and a “novice designer” who isn’t an architect.
“This is … an architectural equivalent of an Applebee’s,” Kim said. He also questioned the expertise of Eric Dray, the historic preservation consultant hired by the commission, now that the building would be built in a more modern style.
Peter Wharton, commission chair, said it wasn’t appropriate of Kim to “attack” Dray’s expertise or the applicants. Wharton also highlighted that Dray deemed that the construction would align with what was historically at the site, and the Oak Bluffs historic commission also, for the most part, looked at the project in a favorable light.
The style was ultimately deemed as beneficial to the character and cultural identity of the town. Other commissioners highlighted that Circuit Ave. was a hodgepodge of architectural elements that have strayed from Victorian-style architecture in the past century. While what was proposed isn’t exactly in the Victorian style, it was an effort to show the historic architecture of the Island.
“It’s honoring what’s been, and it’s also honoring what it can be today,” Elaine Miller, Tisbury commissioner, said.
Michael Kim, the Governor’s appointee, who is not a resident of the island, went out of his way to insult this project’s designers’ and builders and in doing so the Pacheco family. I wouldn’t be surprised if he never shopped at Phillips Hardware or Reliable market. Maybe islanders should put some pressure on the Governor to have a local appointee.
To think that Governor Healey has any interest in real democracy is wishful thinking. It’s nice to see some new housing coming to OB, even if it’s yet further down the path of the Island’s tortured transformation from villages of families into a company town.
I agree with Mr. Axel, for once.