<p>The West Tisbury historic district commission has joined town selectmen and many others in raising concerns about plans by the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival to relocate.</p>
The West Tisbury historic district commission has joined the town selectmen and many others in raising concerns about plans by the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival to relocate to a residential area in the town’s historic district.
On Monday, the six commissioners unanimously approved a letter to the festival board highlighting the purpose of the historic district and asking for an informal meeting to discuss the issue further. The letter stopped short of denouncing the plans, but relayed a clear sense of concern in light of the area’s historic character, and fierce public opposition to the plans in recent weeks.
“The objective of the West Tisbury historic district is to provide protection against inappropriate change in one of the Island’s most significant historic areas,” the letter states in part. “In the historic district you would be joining, owners understand that the public benefit is held superior to a reasonable degree of private sacrifice.” The letter included a copy of the historic district guidelines.
The festival’s plan to purchase 12.5 acres formerly owned by the late Cynthia Walsh on Old County Road triggered a wave of public opposition beginning in May, and more than 250 comments on the Gazette website, nearly all of them opposed to the purchase. Festival leaders plan to host a series of public forums in the fall to help determine the future uses of the property.
In their own letter last week, the town selectmen noted the festival’s accomplishments and importance to the community, but also took sharp aim at the proposal, as revealed so far in minutes of the West Tisbury planning board, news articles and film festival materials. Among other things, they called the scale of the plans “beyond all reasonable limits and capacities that could co-exist in the long established peaceable rural neighborhood that surrounds the Walsh parcels.”
Much of the discussion on Monday focused on how to send a clear message without rejecting the plans outright, since the festival has yet to submit an application. Commissioner Charlie Kernick had drafted a much more sharply worded letter, but others agreed that it would be jumping the gun.
“We are supposed to work with owners,” said commission secretary Nancy Dole, who had drafted an alternative letter that the commission later approved with a few changes. “It’s not normal for us to jump ahead in that way.”
Commissioner Lanny McDowell also favored a more tempered approach, as a way to open the door to informal discussions, during which the commission could air its concerns. “I would rather say, ‘This is our job, this is how we go about it, and there are certain requirements that you are going to have to meet,’ and see what happens,” he said.
Ms. Dole said she believed the land on Old County Road would have a similar purpose as the Chilmark Community Center, which has served as the festival’s home base for many years. But she believed the potential noise, traffic and crowds would be a jolt to the neighborhood, where many people have already spoken out against the plans.
Some commissioners worried that the festival may not fully understand how the historic district works until they have a chance to meet with the commission. Sean Conley pointed out that 66 per cent of town voters supported a major expansion of the district in 2000. “It wasn’t by accident,” he said. “The town wanted that to happen. They need to understand that, too.”
Commissioner Ben Moore argued that another location in town might be more appropriate, and pointed to the value of films in the community. Others agreed that the festival deserved a home, but that the Walsh property was not appropriate.
Mr. Conley argued for stronger language in the letter, in part because the festival board reportedly planned to meet on Wednesday to discuss its proposal. “If they know that we have serious reservations and concerns about the activity in the historic district here, it might make them think twice on Wednesday,” he said. But others favored a gentler approach.
“They’ll get the message,” said Ms. Dole.
Comments
Many thanks to the Historic
Miguel Samuel de Bragancaca West TisburyMany thanks to the Historic Commission for speaking up on behalf of the many West Tisbury residents opposed to the MVFF plan. I completely agree that festival deserves a home, but the Walsh Property is the wrong location. I truly hope the MVFF board takes a positive step towards unwinding this divisive situation tomorrow and begins the process of re-establishing their identity as neighborly champions of the arts.
Well said Miguel. TMVFF self
Ebba Hierta West TisburyWell said Miguel. TMVFF self identifies as a champion of community. This is their chance to demonstrate their commitment through actions. They talk the talk, now we will see if they walk the walk. And many thanks to the West Tisbury town leaders who have spoken out about this proposal - your leadership is greatly appreciated.
Perhaps the "community" they
WashAbhored EdgartownPerhaps the "community" they speak of is the whole Island.
@Washabhored No question that
Captain Obvious Nosh ya weina@Washabhored No question that it is. But man, there is SO MUCH space already devoted to community and arts on this island. If you think that there isn't, you're living in a bubble and need explore the island before you position like this is solving a great community problem . The Dock Dance Band doesn't need a new pier on Ice House for their shows... the MVFF doesn't need a theater in an ag/residential historic district for their programming. You gotta think holistically about this stuff. Ask the question... is the lack of access to cultural programming on this island so great that it warrants doing a megaproject in a quiet historic neighborhood? Is it worth the sacrifice of vibe? Is there a smarter/better way to do it? This is a trophy project. Stop drinking the Kool-aid.
Captain, cute name and
WashAbhored EdgartownCaptain, cute name and opening statement.
Quite obviously, the MVFF thinks there is a need for this project and they believe the area they purchased is the proper venue. It has the added benefit of being allowed under the existing zoning laws.
Please stop with terms like Mega Project that's just another gross exaggeration which only serves to diminish your argument.
Also, the road in question is quite heavily traveled because of the W Tisbury school which generates far greater traffic 200+ days a year than the MVFF will ever create. There are also two commercial entities right in that neighborhood (A BnB and a gallery).
How about giving them a chance to show their plan before you and many others make up one for them. How long before their full-time circus will have an attached Walmart? If what they propose truly isn't in keeping with that area then it should be brought into line or the town could try to work with them.
Maybe the MVFF should be sent
Smell the coffee Oak BluffsMaybe the MVFF should be sent the story of the guy who wanted to build a high end golf course in OB. You cannot fight the tide. You think you have a chance, but you never will.
From a 2011 letter, written
Jackie ChilmarkFrom a 2011 letter, written by Thomas Bena and Brian Ditchfield, published in the Gazette: "This year [2011] we also decided to announce our dream of building a home for the festival on Martha’s Vineyard... We are now engaged in an Islandwide brainstorming session and hope that more of our community will want to get involved. Please contact us with your ideas." Three weeks before the closing on the Walsh property, MVFF members received this: "After 16 years of festivals, circuses, hundreds of screenings, events, conversations, and much soul-searching, the MVFF has found its future home on 12.5 acres in the heart of West Tisbury! As always, we will bring you more than movies. We want to build a vibrant year-round gathering place for our community, a place where education, art, and inspiration intersect. Please make a tax-deductible donation today and help us build this dream for generations to come! The closing date for the purchase of the property is June 22, so things are moving quickly. To walk the land or to get involved in any way, please email Thomas, Brian, or Hilary." From a Gazette article earlier this month making the planned purchase public: "Mr. Bena said before signing the purchase agreement, he approached the West Tisbury planning board and learned that because the film festival is an educational nonprofit, it would be permitted in a residential area." There was no public input about the site for the MVFF home despite the 2011 announcement that there would be. It is disheartening to read now that 'Festival leaders plan to host a series of public forums in the fall to help determine the future uses of the property". In the fall? Im not getting a good feeling. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.
i feel that you local nimby's
richard sandler cats kill, nyi feel that you local nimby's need to get a grip: this is just a three and a half day festival, plus maybe a dozen special screening days sprinkled throughout
the year... this brilliant festival brings the world to your lives...your provinciality is regressive, and, to be blunt you are limiting free speech by blocking the move....and you are living on stolen land....
I agree with Richard Sandler.
Washashore EdgartownI agree with Richard Sandler. Your reaction to this purchase by the MVFF is terrible and a bad example of neighborliness. All they've done is sign a purchase and sale agreement. They haven't built anything. NIMBY is a good way to explain your behavior. Phony Liberal might be another.
Nice boys. Very insightful.
Captain Obvious No man's handNice boys. Very insightful.
@Sandler, you factually incorrect about scope and scale of programming.
I am a Captain, not a local nimby LOL. Don't be sour just because the MVFF pursued a bad idea and ran into opposition. Enough name calling,
Richard Sandler, Your
Ebba Hierta West TisburyRichard Sandler, Your assumptions about TMVFF future plans do not reflect what the organization itself has actually said about them and you've missed the point about objections to this project in this location. First, TMVFF told the West Tisbury Planning Board that they envision holding their own 3 events per week in the summer, plus they will partner with other organizations to expand the use of the property. And keep in mind, their events seldom involve only movie screenings. By their own description each event is a festival in its own right with live music, food and sometimes alcohol in the mix. And the problem with this location is zoning - it is zoned for rural residential use exclusively. The people who live in this neighborhood have the right to assume their quiet residential neighborhood will not become a business hub for a theater/food/music complex. That's why we have zoning. The people of West Tisbury would be far more likely support this business in town in an area zoned to support it. Not here, not in this residential neighborhood.
Theater/Food/Music Complex?
Washashore EdgartownTheater/Food/Music Complex? An exaggeration. You people are glad to make use of services in other towns on the island but when it comes time to support the people of this island heaven forbid it's near me! Affordable Housing? Not any truly in West Tisbury? Free public beach? Not in West Tisbury. Let's keep it down island with the unwashed huh? Need a doctor? Down island. Groceries? Well I could go to Upisland Cronig's but they're too expensive..down island. Alcohol? Not in West Tisbury except in our nice restaurants...rather restaurant singular. See a movie? Nope. Listen to music? Take a ferry? See other humans?
What's good about the Walsh lot is that it's big enough that they're not too close to their neighbors. Not good enough for the the unwashed huh? Better down island huh? Or off-island even better.
Dear Washashore of Edgartown,
Ebba Hierta West TisburyDear Washashore of Edgartown, Apparently you've never been to a TMVFF hoedown because that is what they do almost every Wednesday night - dinner at 6 p.m. with live music outside, followed by a movie at 8 p.m. And they told the planning board they planned to hold 3 events a week in the summer in the new place, along with other events sponsored by their as-yet unnamed partners. So what else do you call a 6,000 square foot building where they serve dinner, play live music and show movies? Not an exaggeration, sir/madame, it's just what they do. I'd be delighted if TMVFF finds a location in West Tisbury with the proper zoning. But as long as they plan to invade a residential neighborhood, I'll raise my voice in protest.
P.S. Apparently you've never been to West Tisbury, either. We have medical professionals. Last time I checked they included an ENT specialist, a dentist, a gynecologist, a podiatrist,two physical therapists, an acupuncturist and lots and lots of yoga practitioners. Public beach: The Trustees at Long Point. Alcohol is served at three restaurants, not just one. Music, well there is the Sunday series at the library all winter and the many events in the summer at The Grange. Ferry - sorry we don't have a deep water port, no can do. No affordable housing you say - tell that to the people who live on Eliakim's Way, Sepiessa, Old Mill Road, one of the hundreds of private affordable accessory apartments created by increasing density allowances in our zoning by-laws, or the dozens of people whose rent is subsidized by a taxpayer-funded program. Before you spout more silliness you might want to get out of your Edgartown home once in awhile and see what awaits you around this beautiful island.
I may have been at one or two
Washashore EdgartownI may have been at one or two MVFF events. Once again I take issue with the language all of you use to attack the MVFF. It's not residential it's agricultural and the historic district is only the first 100 feet of 12 acres! Using terms like invade shows the aversion you have to the unwashed invading your town! Now 12 acres, that's bigger than the entire downtown of Oak Bluffs to put it in perspective. One building the size of the Island Theater (go measure it before it's torn down). So how many cars go to the Red Barn every week? I bet more than would go to a MVFF event. Of course you want nothing to change even though the population of the island has doubled in the last 30 years. Sorry but you can't expect all development to be down island. It's not fair to them and it's not sustainable. Maybe Tisbury and Oak Bluffs should start charging say $10 extra to ferry tickets from West Tisbury people who use their services but don't pay taxes to support them. If West Tisbury is not willing to fairly shoulder the burden to support their own population then they should pay. Alcohol? I stand corrected but there's only two I believe not three. Affordable housing? West Tisbury's idea of affordable housing is to let more people live in the same house. Not real affordable housing like we have in Edgartown and Tisbury. Just enough so it LOOKS like you have affordable housing. Heaven forbid that it's real. Medical practices...of course yoga is there nobody but people in West Tisbury would count that...there's one MD in West Tisbury. Basically you guys are a bunch of snobs...
Dear Edgartown Washashore: I
Ebba Hierta West TisburyDear Edgartown Washashore: I am right now holding up a mirror and I really wish you could see yourself. The only person name calling is you. The only person slinging insults is you. You bring a level of nastiness to this discussion that should shame the organization you purport to support. You actually do them a disservice. And you do it hiding behind an alias. Man/woman up and come out of the shadows of anonymity. And the three WT restaurants that serve alcohol are State Road, Lambert's Cove Inn and the Plane View.
Sorry for the nastiness.
Washashore EdgartownSorry for the nastiness. Maybe it was a bit too much but you've never even considered that the plans of the MVFF are reasonable and you use terms like invade what do you expect? These are decent island people and you are treating them like foreign invaders. Let them present their plans. You have to think outside your ideas of what's appropriate. Solutions today have to take into account realities of today not 30 years ago. This is an excellent location for what they want to do.
Why don't they use the old
Jill West TisburyWhy don't they use the old Hot Tin Roof/Flatbread venue instead?
Good idea, Jill. As to
Rez Williams West TisburyGood idea, Jill. As to affordable housing--mentioned in a previous rant--there are 2 separate projects of affordable housing, one abutting and one contiguous.
Rez is correct. Along with
Nancy Dole West TisburyRez is correct. Along with the abutters who are owners in the Historic District on Old County Road, the Walsh property the MVFF seeks to develop directly abuts a project of affordable housing. And my understanding is that those abutters are equally concerned that their neighborhood will be impacted negatively by the MVFF. In their case not only by traffic entering the property from Old County Road, but also by the fact that the MVFF would place the actual late night activities, parking lot, 6000 sq ft theatre etc in their backyards.
Nancy, I appreciate your
Washashore EdgartownNancy, I appreciate your concerns but the land is 12 acres. That's more than enough space to place their activities away from abutters. Give them a chance to explain themselves.
Mr/ms Washashore: The Walsh
Nancy Dole West TisburyMr/ms Washashore: The Walsh property is on Old County Road, in the historic district. It is 12 acres, a narrow rectangular slice of land that is a bit over 2000 ft deep. The first 800 ft in depth starting on Old County is included in the historic district. Not 100 ft as you stated. You would understand it better if you looked at a map, including the impact on abutters. Re: giving them a chance to explain themselves, there have been two well attended public meetings concerning the MVFF Walsh property purchase, the MVFF was not present at either. The Historic District Commission invited them to meet with the members informally, and to date has received no reply.
The MVFF did go to the planning board to confirm that they are an educational nonprofit and thus are not subject to the zoning bylaws applicable in the residential zone. That and their announcement that they intended to purchase the property for their use, which is pretty well described on their website, are really the only information anyone outside of their organization has to go on. The issue is not whether the MVFF belongs in West Tisbury. It is whether it belongs in this particular neighborhood.
Nancy, thank you for your
Washashore EdgartownNancy, thank you for your thoughtful reply. It's refreshing to have your reply compared to what has been posted prior to this. A question for you; I can't find a map of the historic district on your website. I did see several documents but not a map. Secondly, if it is 800 feet rather than 100 feet as I may have erroneously stated, that would put it back in the wooded part of the property correct? Wouldn't that be a better place? I'd rather they didn't cut any trees down.
So, what has finally made the
Rex Treadwell EdgartownSo, what has finally made the island flip its delicate wig
is the threat of a elitist film center? Heaven forbid an actual threat should ever emerge with more heft than a documentary about transgender mimes playing past 8pm on a Saturday night.....
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