From Owen Park to the Lagoon Pond drawbridge, decades old, family-run businesses pepper the Vineyard Haven waterfront. The architecture is haphazard, but that is perhaps Vineyard Haven’s charm — plus it’s rare for any town today to look much the same as it did 50 years ago.
The Coastwise Packet Co. sign hangs over the side of Bob Douglas’s workshop in Vineyard Haven. The building is weathered and salty, much like the 83-year-old man himself. But 52 years later it has stood the test of time, continuing to offer the unflappable Mr. Douglas refuge year round. “This is my inner sanctum,” said the founder, builder and owner of The Black Dog Tavern and the wooden schooners Shenandoah and Alabama on a recent summer day. In front of his shop, steps from the harbor, hungry patrons gather outside the Black Dog restaurant awaiting their turn to dine at the iconic Island establishment. The tavern is one of just two restaurants on the Vineyard Haven waterfront. Not far away, the Blue Canoe Waterfront Grill is also a popular eatery with pleasant views of the harbor.
Ships, water and a few businesses to support both: that's all.
Ships, water and a few businesses to support both: that's all.
Day sailors disembark the Alabama and shuffle down the Black Dog Wharf, toting children and their toys. Toddlers play on the sandy beach below and wade in the surf. Colored umbrellas offer respite from the sun.
To the west, where Water street dead-ends, the Steamship Authority is a congested hub. Passenger vehicles and flatbed trucks wind around a crowded parking lot. Ferries shuttle in and out all day, shepherding moving and storage vehicles, kitchen and food suppliers, vacationers and their cars to and from Martha’s Vineyard’s main port of entry. As parked cars wait for a ride back to the mainland, SSA vessels glide through a harbor filled with boats of every description — sloops, yawls and schooners, motor yachts large and small.
From Owen Park to the Lagoon Pond drawbridge, decades old, family-run businesses pepper the Vineyard Haven waterfront. Among them are the Black Dog Tavern and the Black Dog Tall Ships, wooden boat builders Gannon and Benjamin, the Vineyard Haven Marina, the Martha’s Vineyard Shipyard, and R.M. Packer Company, a fuel supplier and marine barge operation. “There are businesses that are tremendously valuable and Packer’s is one of them because they are the landing place for many of the supplies that builders need, like gasoline, petroleum, rocks, half-built houses,” observed Tisbury selectman Melinda Loberg. “No other harbor is equipped for them to come, so it is pretty important that we maintain that footprint and not price it out of the market,” she said.
Harbor master Jay Wilbur: "We aren't a cash register like Oak Bluffs and Edgartown."
Harbor master Jay Wilbur: "We aren't a cash register like Oak Bluffs and Edgartown."
At Gannon and Benjamin, whose wooden boat building business is yet another piece of this eclectic working waterfront, a young boy puts the finishing touches on a small boat he built with his father, drilling wood planks across the boat’s width for seating.
Inland businesses support the varied uses of the harbor. Sailors who moor in Vineyard Haven have access, by foot, to the Stop & Shop grocery store and marine hardware stores where they buy provisions for their galleys and tools to service their boats.
The waterfront architecture is haphazard, but that is perhaps Vineyard Haven’s charm — not quaint, per se, but certainly unique, plus it’s rare for any town today to look much the same as it did 50 years ago. “It is a total free-for-all in its style and demeanor,” said Nat Benjamin, who with his partner Ross Gannon owns and operates the boat yard just off Five Corners, where traffic jams reach epic proportions on busy summer days. He continued: “But it is real, and it’s not unaffordable. Nantucket is so over the top quaint and if you have $15,000 a month you can rent an ice cream cubicle on the pier.”
All ashore who's going ashore.
All ashore who's going ashore.
In 1994 the town went through a visioning process, the result of which was a land use study and a set of regulations that control development and commercial activity along the waterfront. The waterfront/commercial district zoning bylaws read in part: “The purpose of this district is to manage the character, function and integrity of Vineyard Haven’s waterfront by: maintaining and enhancing the existing marine character and water dependent uses of the area.” Commercial fishing and fish processing facilities, boat yards and fuel docks are among the businesses permitted along the waterfront. Another set of regulations accompanies a 1999 district of critical planning concern (DCPC) designation by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, overseen by the town board of selectmen.
Vineyard Harbor Motel is the lone motel on the harbor side of Beach Road. Historic businesses have effectively been protected from being squeezed out by more profitable commercial uses for the waterfront such as restaurants, high-rise hotels and more. “We aren’t a cash register like Oak Bluffs and Edgartown — they really cash in on their summer traffic,” said harbor master Jay Wilbur. “Our harbor is taken up by actual businesses that work and employ people year round, so the economic benefit comes to the town through its residents’ salaries and taxes.”
But like much of the Island, Vineyard Haven is in the throes of change. As a generational shift gradually takes place, old values have begun to yield to new thinking and ideas.
Nat Benjamin still makes boats the old fashioned way, out of wood.
Nat Benjamin still makes boats the old fashioned way, out of wood.
Though there is a consensus among townspeople that the waterfront should be preserved and remain largely the domain of water-dependent and water-enhanced businesses, a growing contingent of people believe that the current regulations are too stringent and merit review, perhaps with a more open, creative eye.
More varied waterfront activity would contribute to the town’s overall vibrancy and resiliency, insists Phil Hale, owner of the Martha’s Vineyard Shipyard, which has been family owned since 1961. “There are waterfront properties on Lagoon Pond where the water is so shallow that there isn’t much one can do in terms of marine use,” said Mr. Hale, whose oldest son James will eventually take over the business. “Areas like that could be allowed to have art galleries or restaurants,” he said.
Morgan Douglas, son of Bob Douglas who runs the Black Dog Tall Ships, calls the waterfront’s scant development a detriment to the town. “How can you afford to finance and build out a business plan here when you are restricted to a certain type of business and we are on Martha’s Vineyard where you are operating in a high season that lasts eight to ten weeks?” he said. “Should I open a rope chandlery or something? Good luck!”
Phil Hale, owner of Martha's Vineyard Shipyard, would like to see some change.
Phil Hale, owner of Martha's Vineyard Shipyard, would like to see some change.
Vineyard Haven, alternatively known as Tisbury and formerly Holmes Hole, was once one of the largest, most active ports in America. For ships sailing to Europe, Vineyard Haven was the last stop on the map before crossing the Atlantic Ocean and was busy with hundreds of vessels in the mid 1800s. It was also the first landfall port on the return to the United States. Inns, brothels and bars lined the streets all the way up to Grove avenue on West Chop. Five Corners, where Beach Road, Water Street, Beach Street and Lagoon Pond Road meet, was formerly trafficked by boats rather than bicyclists, vehicles, and pedestrians.
The Beach Road area has recently come under increased scrutiny, both for reasons of aesthetics and safety. The state Department of Transportation has directed funds for an enhancement project through its Transportation Improvement Program for 2017. A plan is currently being developed — and debated. Priorities include extending a bike path so that it runs through town and connects to the Vineyard Haven-Edgartown Road bike lane, along with eliminating utility poles from the center of sidewalks to encourage foot traffic. These improvements, some believe, would encourage area businesses to upgrade themselves independently.
In addition to its working waterfront, Vineyard Haven is home to a collection of year-round cultural organizations, including the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center, the Vineyard Playhouse and the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center. An array of artists and designers contribute to a thriving arts community that is unique to Vineyard Haven and recently earned the town a special state designation as a Cultural District, the first such designation on the Vineyard.
Robert Douglas with a friend who is not a black dog.
Robert Douglas with a friend who is not a black dog.
If its port and cultural district define Vineyard Haven, so does the tight knit year-round community. Some of its members are the same ones who rallied to help rebuild Gannon and Benjamin after it was destroyed by fire in the middle of the night in October 1989. “We thought they would be happy that it burned down so they could get rid of us,” Mr. Benjamin recalled wryly. Instead, James Taylor and his siblings put on a benefit concert, the Black Dog hosted a fundraising dinner and others contributed labor and building materials.
And so Gannon and Benjamin is still there, as are its founders, who toil away building and maintaining boats, and gather daily to break for lunch on the beach in front of its main building, where a makeshift outdoor living room accommodates the whole crew. They sit, toes in the sand, and talk about sailing mostly. As entwined as they are in the contemporary fabric of the community, in moments like these, they feel far removed from this era, and the rest of the town. Forty-three years after opening shop, Ross Gannon still scrapes boat bottoms himself.
He reflected: “When it’s your own, it’s a labor of love.”
Comments
It's not quaint, but close to
Dear Lord Martha's VineyardIt's not quaint, but close to an eyesore. It is a negative revenue generator and for something to remain the same as 50 years ago can be found all over the United States so it's not even unique. It's sad that their town has no vision and that the planning board sits on it's bottom while revenue escapes to other island towns because of their inability to move on local zoning. They can defend their positions all day long but elderly residents paying taxes have seen them increase over the Tristan Israel years because of a declining business climate / attitude and detrimental zoning changes over the late 90's early 00's. There is nothing wrong with allowing more restaurants and art galleries. It's not going to change the "character" of town. The "character" of your town is old/ decrepit /anti business and run down.
Well said. The town has been
m. fischer west tisburyWell said. The town has been unfriendly and uncooperative with the business community for years!
If anything, it has gotten worse since the 90's.More eateries are SORELY needed,MUSIC,(try to get that approved by the selectmen--almost impossible). There is such resistance to anything innovative and creative, it is really incredulous. Beach road is a mess, and unpleasant to walk down. Sweltering, ugly, uninviting.Main street merchants have tried over the years to make it so that the public wants to linger here, to no avail. Almost everyone goes to other towns for dinner and atmosphere.
We all participated in
The Bird Houses Vineyard HavenWe all participated in 'visioning workshops' last year. What has become of our input? Please keep trying, Melinda. Beach Rd remains congested ugly chaos. Post office lot is full of litter. Every way a bicyclist may be directed on arrival from ferry is crazy dangerous. Walking through parking lots constitutes pedestrian access. There is no enjoyable boardwalk, pier or pleasant access along the water. For all the discussion, meetings, input, and boards, very little improvement occurs here. Meanwhile Oak Bluffs has made wonderful changes and continues with creative plans in place.
OB eats VH' lunch every
WM WTOB eats VH' lunch every summer. People do not want to visit VH because there is simply nothing to do. No one is asking for another Circuit Ave, however, there has to be a happy medium. The Boch property would be a perfect restaurant, and the land next to it a park with seating for people to enjoy the views under trees. 5 corners is an eyesore. That eatery "Tropical"? with the blackened windows looks like it's closed, but better windows, and a proper and visible seating area leading down to the tip of the corners would certain help greatly.. The little road going up to the Black dog could be a beautiful place with brick walkways, eateries/shops. That section of VH is an easy fix if people would get over trying to preserve what wasn't that great to begin with. Give people a reason to come to VH, and help increase the livelihoods of all who depend on business generated there.
Something has to be done
mfarlock vineyard havenSomething has to be done about Tisbury taxes. The character of the town is in danger of being changed and harmed as long-time seasonal residents are being forced out because of sometimes as much as a 70 percent increase in taxes. Those moving in build walled-in compounds and interact little with the rest of the community. Do we want hedge fund managers and the ultra-rich the only summer residents? Maybe some reconsideration of the districts and the zoning will allow lower tax rates.
I have no idea how zoning
Dear Lord Martha's VineyardI have no idea how zoning allows lower taxes? The "hedge fund managers" you discriminate against pay those higher taxes so yours stay relatively lower. I think you personify the problem in VH. You want things to remain the same and think things are if you keep out investors who want to develop their property THEIR way. Nothing is wrong with a "walled in compound" and these people are usually the ones that donate to your not for profit organizations. What ruins this town is the "everyone must have a say" attitude. Make a damn decision and get it done.
Not everyone wants the same things but everyone can have a lil of something. First step is to change the zoning and that is a Planning Boards bailiwick. Your boards have done nothing for years. Birdhouses. You are right, the problem is actually the number of committees and meetings because nothing gets done. People, including the selectman, Melinda too are so knowledgable but do nothing but study the problem. Here in Chilmark, they do things. They make decisions and if wrong, correct them. Actions speak louder than study study study (words).
Vineyard Haven is the only
Ginny WTVineyard Haven is the only town on the Vineyard where you can find a wide range of entertainment, shopping, medical and cultural options YEAR ROUND. It is also a genuine working waterfront which folks enjoy visiting whether to shop, to go to a movie or just to walk around and look at the architecture. It is also one of the very few real working waterfronts (as opposed to over blown, over priced and over rated glitzed up boutique towns with a lot of tourist merchandise from unsavory parts of the world) left on the east coast. It is a bit gritty and parts are unattractive, but by God, it is real and genuine. People work there year round and contribute to the island economy rather than working for four months of the year and sucking off the hind you know what of welfare for the rest. There are art galleries in the maritime district, there are also restaurants (how many do we need? Or how many art galleries Year Round -- NOT just in the summer) It is affordable (just) rather than over priced such as other waterfronts. It is family oriented. It has culture and style. Again, it is genuine. Change it and you'll be just like everywhere USA. Change it and you could become like that other town just to the east-- just about everything closed down for eight months of the year and rather tawdry! Thank goodness for the wisdom of the Planning Board, the Town Fathers (and Mothers) and the waterfront owners (who are paying premium taxes and insurance rates) to be where they are. Folks, you'd better be careful what you wish for. You could be Mystic, Conneticut, Newport, Rhode Island, or Nantucket. All over crowded and overpriced. As it is people do not shop down island because of the traffic. We have too many people and a fluff economy. You cannot make 12 months of income out of 4 months of work. Be happy that you have the waterfront you have and not some tacky, tasteless ersatz replica with fake sharks, fake pirate ships and the waterfront or your neighbor.
Ginny, right on. I have
Truthteller CAGinny, right on. I have lived around the world and I think a working waterfront is a beautiful thing. I do not find that area of the town ugly, I find it wonderful that people live and work year around and for boat people it is great. I have no problem going there for boat business and I hope it stays just the way it is.
You nailed it, Ginny. I Love
Dan ObYou nailed it, Ginny. I Love VH. Salty. Good. Real. Town. No tourists needed.
1. Development of vacant lots
Mfarlock vineyard haven1. Development of vacant lots increases the tax base. 2. As a seasonal resident I do not receive residential exemption. 3. Walled in compounds change the character of the island. 4. Many do not donate. 5. I think we agree something needs to be done. We may disagree why but getting personal doesn't solve anything.
I'm new to town, but I think
Dean Rosenthal Vineyard HavenI'm new to town, but I think it's fair to say that much of the waterfront area is an eyesore. It may be true that the businesses are old and steady, but Beach Road before the Lagoon Pond bridge is one of the ugliest stretches on Martha's Vineyard. This article has a positive take on the waterfront and the tone is upbeat, emphasizing the history and long term local businesses in the context of the town. But the truth is that a lot could be done to beautify the waterfront without turning it into a theme park. That is where the conversation starts.
In fact vacant lots "may"
Ginny WTIn fact vacant lots "may" increase the tax base [this is debatable because they are still paying taxes] but they do not require any services such as schools and other community services. There is a very carefully worked out ratio of the cost of community services to undeveloped land. Undeveloped land costs a community FAR less than developed land. Think of a lot with a house and three kids in the school system (about $50 K or more in "tuition" costs, and then think of how much it costs when there is no house. This is the "cows don't pay to go to school" concept. By the way, businesses pay plenty in taxes -- no residential exemption -- although they do have public services such as police and fire protection.
The conversation that needs to start is about the island economy. Get it back to a sustainable, green, year round broad based economy (benefitted jobs!) and a lot of the island's social ills will flatten out.
The Vineyard Haven waterfront is, as I wrote before, a bit gritty, but it is real, it has it own attractions (although there are several derelict buildings) and it is working 7 days a week, 12 months a year. If there are individual problems, clean them up NOT the whole waterfront which is a waterfront model that works. It is not fake, it is not an architectural pastiche of cutesy buildings tarted up. Further Vineyard Haven Harbor has a world class collection of boats ranging from the ferries, the tugs and barges, small passenger cruise ships, ALABAMA and SHENANDOAH, a few fishing boats, the various schooners, sloops, cutters, yawls, and ketches (many built locally and all beautiful), to the smaller watercraft. It is vibrant, exciting, and a visual feast. Outside of a maritime museum, and perhaps the waterfront of Port Townsend, Washington, Brooklin, Maine, or in small European clusters there isn't a waterfront anywhere in the world which can match Vineyard Haven. And contrary to opinion, most of the boats do NOT belong to wealthy owners, they are owned by working class people of the Vineyard.
The late Jamie Weisman (architect with a business in the maritime district -- there are many grandfathered non maritime businesses located there) had a plan to enhance the waterfront without huge changes. It included walking paths, places to sit and look out into the harbor, and various park like areas. Perhaps it should be revisited. Particularly for the Lagoon side which isn't particularly attractive. But keep in mind that we don't need more businesses which are only open in the summer time, and we don't need more traffic generators. Beach Road is already a failed road. Frankly, in times of storm (or rising oceans) it is underwater which means that vehicles will be unable to pass (great, if you are trying to get to the hospital!).
Wake up people and be careful what you ask for.
Ginny, sorry but you have no
Dear Lord Martha's VineyardGinny, sorry but you have no idea what you're talking about when computing commercial properties of vacant land vs used land. Sorry but you're wrong. All the other things you talk about are not going anywhere. Why would the Shenandoah and Alabama leave? They're not changing or going anywhere. More restaurants bring in meals tax. More revenue. Walk along William st, the historical MFARLOCK. You will see "walled" properties but some are not walls. They are high Hedges or fences which still provide the walled off effect. MFARLOCK, many do donate. They don't advertise it. Art Galleries are fine... you have two on the waterfront... clean up the buildings, bring more. A few of your comments (Ginny) that people work there year round? Are you sure you're talking about beach road? The art galleries? Not year round. Art Cliff diner, not year round, car rental company, not year round, a moped shop, not year round, blue canoe restaurant not year round, a marina not year round. Now look at the year round places. Hinckley's which is barely remaining alive as there's nothing left on their shelves and restaurants such as black dog which benefits from one of the largest changes in VH in 100 years, that being beer and wine being adopted. CHANGE. That's right. That whole area needs change and a cleaning.
I love Vineyard Haven. It's
Tim VhI love Vineyard Haven. It's my favorite town on the island. Quiet, unassuming, somewhat original, more salty than Edgartown and not honky tonk like OB. Love the ferry coming and going, love the working waterfront - but the town fathers could keep the place cleaned up a bit more. The benches at Owen Park are about to tip over, the entrance to the dock and beach are a mess and embarrassing, the tennis court property is not cared for well - it wouldn't take much to make a little more effort with our high taxes.
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