As Tisbury imagines what development over the next 10 to 15 years will look like, some half-dozen consulting firms collaborated to produce varying scenarios for the future, including specialists in transportation, economic development and natural resources.
Could Vineyard Haven’s waterfront become a center for maritime industries, or an arts and crafts district with studios, galleries and perhaps a sculpture park?
Should Tisbury build a new town hall on High Point Lane, and turn the State Road business district into a walkable village center?
How about more housing on the outskirts of the State Road business area, and a new east-west connector road on either side of State?
These were among the questions raised at a workshop Monday night that gave the public a chance to weigh in on different visions for Tisbury’s development over the next 10 to 15 years. The online workshop, which repeats Thursday, is part of the town’s master planning process that began last year.
“This is kind of meant as…a thought experiment of what would happen if you focused on one role for these areas,” said Peter Flinker of planning firm Dodson and Flinker during Monday’s presentation and discussion, which drew more than 60 people.
Some half-dozen consulting firms collaborated to produce varying scenarios for a future Tisbury, including specialists in transportation, economic development and natural resources.
Their research included studies of current land use and traffic circulation, sea level projections and comments from Tisbury residents and businesspeople who took part in walking tours of the commercial districts in October.
With the downtown waterfront area destined to be submerged by rising seas in the coming decades, Mr. Flinker said the advantage of creating an arts district on the harbor is that studios and galleries are easily relocated.
“You don’t have to build something really expensive to have an arts and culture focus,” he said.
The other waterfront concept leaned into the town’s port history with what Mr. Flinker called “heritage maritime industries” that would complement existing businesses such as Gannon and Benjamin Marine Railway.
Some Tisbury residents at Monday’s meeting didn’t think the downtown scenarios clicked.
“I don’t think either ‘waterfront heritage’ or ‘artistic center’ scenarios are viable for a bunch of reasons,” resident Ruth Davis Konigberg told the group.
Ms. Konigberg suggested a third option with public harbor access, similar to the fishing pier and boardwalk at North Bluff in Oak Bluffs.
The State Road options drew mixed responses as well.
“It seems to me that you’re just trying to do everything and then there’s not a lot of prioritization, which would make it a little easier to implement,” said Jim Hoffman. “I thought you had some good ideas there, [but] whether you can fit everything in is hard to know.”
For many participants, traffic was a big concern.
“I think the enemy of Vineyard Haven is our cars,” said Stephen Bohan. He called for parking areas to be located behind businesses and not in front.
A second online workshop is scheduled Thursday from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The meeting link is posted on the Tisbury Master Plan website at tisburymasterplan.com.
The town’s master planning process, which dates back to a 2015 vision plan, is finally gaining steam after the hiring last year of Barrett Planning Group to develop a blueprint for the next 10 to 15 years.
A draft update of the vision plan is expected in April, followed by more public presentations, according to the project schedule shared at this week’s workshop.
The draft master plan is scheduled for public discussion beginning in July, with the goal of submitting the final plan to town officials in September.

Comments
A lot of people with ideas.
Jesse Steere Vineyard HavenA lot of people with ideas. No common sense. They are now ruining Main Street. I guess all the delivery trucks are going to just stop in the middle of the road,drop their ramp and wheel all the food and other goods to the shops. Motorcycles are going to have to take up one of the few parking places left. It’s off season and you already can’t park. I drove through the other day thinking of getting something to eat. There was no parking so I went to a place on State Road that has parking. It is sad,no more mocha mots. Can’t park. I feel sorry for the businesses down there. I’m sure we will lose som more after this summer. But like someone said. It will look nice
There are a lot less parking
Frank Brunelle Beach RoadThere are a lot less parking spaces, true. As a former Main Street store owner I have always had an interest in the ability to park. But the ability to get into downtown is also an issue with so many vehicles now. There were plans to remove the police station from that location and free up a lot of spaces. Originally there were 5 allocated. Now there seem to be around 15 or so. When the Stop & Shop was ready to renovate and build there was a plan for underground parking. Is this still the case? That could free up a tremendous amount of parking. The town of Tisbury missed the boat at the fire station and did not allow parking except for some special cases and this is a massive blunder and a parking garage there could both be attractive and provide robust support for local businesses. As to an arts district on Beach Road, that would be great as far as I am concerned because I have a studio there and would welcome the ability to sell my art as well as work on Beach Road. And as far as sea level rise goes, it is a very easy to raise the land and the buildings a few feet. Once again, my studio has both as it was required for building and the land was raised for handicap access. The Pharmacy is raised, and the land could easily be filled to match a road being raised and in fact there is no way that this can not be done since critical harbor infrastructure must be in place for water to land transport of people and goods. Funding will be required and this should be a state funded effort at least partially and this is what we should be talking about It will take years to agree to fund land raising on Beach Road and owners will need to ante up, but the legal, economic, and practical aspects need to be addressed.
To me a lot hinges on a
Inde West tisburyTo me a lot hinges on a solution to five corners. Their idea of moving the post office is a giant first step to a solution. It reduces traffic, opens up more space, and, while there are many uses for that space, including parking (as they suggested), nothing will help vineyard haven as much as a large roundabout there. That requires state buy-in, but moving the federal barrier — the post office — is a brilliant first step. It needs a makeover anyway.
Solving the problems on our
George Stein OBSolving the problems on our doorstep are more worthy of funding at this time than creating new ones. Most comedic remark is parking behind businesses as opposed to in front of them.
When we were in business on
Frank Brunelle observationWhen we were in business on Main Street I wondered about the vehicles trying to get into the Stop & Shop parking lot. This was decades ago but it was jammed up then. It is worse now. So I stood across the street from cars turning right to go and look for a space. What I found out was that they went in a line, and often not one would find a space. So they would turn right, go around the block, in a unified line, and try again. This also, more often than not, resulted in not one finding a space so they would go around again. The average was maybe 5 vehicles. And so as they repeat the third try they act in effect like 15 vehicles!
This was as a result of the repeated attempts where they have to through five corners and back up the hill and down Main Street again. I mention this because parking is very important. The town could, if it wanted to, charge for parking in a parking garage, people would be happy to pay for it, and it would be very convenient and certainly make a profit. There are examples of these types of garages that are truly beautiful and roof parking would be a terrific viewing point. it would provide also an opportunity for solar to shade the vehicles.
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