Developer Reid (Sam) Dunn added fireplaces to three condominium units at his Stone Bank mixed-use property in Vineyard Haven without approval by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, which voted Thursday to deny his after-the-fact request to keep the amenities in place.
Developer Reid (Sam) Dunn added fireplaces to three condominium units at his Stone Bank mixed-use property in Vineyard Haven without approval by the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, which voted Thursday to deny his after-the-fact request to keep the amenities in place.
The decision means that Mr. Dunn must either remove the fireplaces and their chimneys outright or submit an alternative proposal that the commission can support.
“Those three fireplaces and chimneys are not approved and having them there represents a compliance issue, so I encourage you, if you don’t want to get rid of them, to come back pretty quickly,” chair Joan Malkin told him after Thursday’s vote.
Commissioners initially favored a compromise, suggested by commission member Ben Robinson, that would approve three wood-burning fixtures, instead of the one wood-burning and two gas-fueled fixtures that were installed.
However, Mr. Dunn was not immediately willing to agree to that proposal, leading commissioners to vote on the denial.
Ms. Malkin, Fred Hancock, Greg Martino, Ernest Thomas and Christina Brown abstained from voting.
The other commissioners unanimously agreed to deny Mr. Dunn’s modifications.
During discussions preceding the vote, Mr. Dunn told commissioners the three fireplaces were accidentally left out of the project plans, which show only four units with hearths.
“It was sloppy drafting, because I intended that all of these units would have fireplaces,” he said. “Everybody wants a fireplace, right?”
The commission caught on to the additions earlier this summer, when staff members observed newly-installed chimneys that were not only different in design from the approved plans, but more numerous as well.
Mr. Dunn has since added square housings for the metal-pipe chimneys to align them better with his original design, but commissioners Thursday drew the line at approving the three unplanned chimneys and fireplaces.
Along with the squared-off chimneys for the four approved fireplaces, the commission approved another Stone Bank modification Thursday, ruling that a public hearing is not needed to review changes in a wall Mr. Dunn has built along the property line where it meets the municipal parking lot and bus shelters at the foot of Union street.
The wall will be no more than four feet high along most of its length, Mr. Dunn said.
Among other business Thursday, the commission denied a request from the developers of the Meshacket Commons neighborhood in Edgartown to pave over some of its parking area to reduce the risk of clogging the underground drainage system.
Climate change is causing heavier, more concentrated rainstorms that could overwhelm the system, Craig Nicholson of Affirmative Investments said.
The modification request failed 8-7, with one abstention.
“Get rid of some [parking] spaces and that’ll solve your maintenance issues,” said Michael Kim, the state’s representative to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission.
A change of building trim for Meshacket Commons, from red cedar wood to a manufactured product called Boral, won overwhelming approval from the commission Thursday.
Made from fly ash, fiberglass and urethane and painted like wood, Boral is a long-lasting alternative with a 20-year guarantee, Mr. Nicholson said.
Also Thursday, the commission declined to review a modification to the 197-foot communications tower on Carroll’s Way in Vineyard Haven.
Owner American Tower Corporation has applied to the town for permission to add two microwave dishes and a radio cabinet for communications with offshore workers on the Vineyard Wind project.
Commissioners agreed the application is not a development of regional impact, as the tower is not prominently visible from public ways.
Comments
overwhelming approval for
phil regan oak bluffs.overwhelming approval for replacing Cedar with fiberglass and urethane? Cutting Boral produces a fine airborne dust that is not all that friendly.
This is not a sink the ship
Ginny Jones WTThis is not a sink the ship offense. With an island in one huge mess for many reasons (PFAS, Climate Change. economic, housing and literally tons of trash and septage being shipped off daily,, etc) the MVC is wasting precious time arguing over this item. I have no sympathy for developers but in this instance, get serious! Get your priorities in order!
Bait and switch. Sam’s an
Tom Engley West TisburyBait and switch. Sam’s an expert at that game. Deny all fire places or this bully wins. Make him remove them.
What a childish response. The
Elise TisburyWhat a childish response. The island has much bigger issues than a few chimneys, yet this is what the MVC frets about. Let's see how much more time the MVC gets in a lather over this, instead of focusing on the island's housing crisis. I'm embarrassed by the MVC.
Tom, Thank you for speaking
Frances West EdgartownTom, Thank you for speaking the truth about the operations of subject Sam Dunn. He is responsible for so many developments of severe regional impact... all passed by the MVC. About time they said no to Mr. Dunn.
What’s the big deal here? MVC
Jean VHWhat’s the big deal here? MVC what a waste of time and resources. Why did so many excuse themselves from voting? Each Town should do their own thing IMO.
Does anyone else see the
J.P. St Germain VHDoes anyone else see the incongruity between the actions taken by the MVC against the beautiful (and necessary) rebuild of the “Mill House” on VH harbor, and the servicing of dog food that is now the former bank property? One must ask, is the MVC a capricious power group? The evidence provided by the carbuncle sitting on Union Street is a compelling argument.
The third story of the “pea soup” Trump Tower speaks volumes towards the failure of the MCV. Meanwhile, the Mill House is a very pleasant home that is a vast improvement on the prior structure.
Please stop granting exceptions to the builder of this gateway property - you have done too much already. Stop!
MVC continues to show common
David OBMVC continues to show common sense is displaced by its need to flex muscle and be a power tyrant on this island.
"Mr. Dunn told commissioners
Katherine Scott Tisbury"Mr. Dunn told commissioners the three fireplaces were accidentally left out of the project plans, which show only four units with hearths.
“It was sloppy drafting, because I intended that all of these units would have fireplaces,” he said. “Everybody wants a fireplace, right?”"
This is Mr. Dunn's MO with this project all along the line. Making "mistakes," saying "Oops"---quite disrespectfully, BTW---and demanding acceptance of his "mistakes."
I very much doubt that this was "sloppy drafting."
This is planned mission creep. Dunn in playing commissioners for fools.
Mr. Dunn, a local developer with whom the MVC will surely be dealing again in the future, needs to be taught a lesson and shown a red line once and for all right now.
Make him remove these "accidental" fireplaces.
I never trusted the dishonest way this project was presented to the MVC, with a series of "Oops" fait-accomplis that incrementally changed the character of the development (see my submitted public comments).
We have a colorful new Disney
Mark Acker VHWe have a colorful new Disney Land look in our shore front, with maximum density, and they are concerned about fireplaces? And 6 towns pay millions in legal fees because of this MVC? I can see why.
the good ol' "easier to ask
bobthe good ol' "easier to ask forgiveness than permission"
no way that it was a drafting oversight
The MVC signed off on
Jose Oak BluffsThe MVC signed off on leveling dozens of acres of land abutting Edgartown Vineyard Road to build an assisted living facility and workforce housing. The habitats that have been destroyed are irreplaceable. The impact on the Sengie will be material and not really knowable as the chemical runoff from all of the high end landscaping eventually leaches into the groundwater. Every resident on this Island should see the destruction for themselves and lament the loss. And so I can't get very excited about MVC's concern about removing a few fireplaces even as acres of our lands are destroyed forever with the consent of the MVC. Hypocrites!
Thank you for this comment
B. Jones EdgartownThank you for this comment Jose! Ben Robinson went into a tizzy over “emissions” of 3 fireplaces and looks the other way on the Hospital project destruction and clearing of 9+ acres of pristine forest with diesel chugging bull dozers and heavy machinery. Let alone the thousands of square feet of asphalt to be laid down. Hypocrisy is right! Let’s vote in a new MVC lineup and put an end to this nonsense.
"How the Mighty have fallen!"
Tom Oak Bluffs"How the Mighty have fallen!" An agency originally created to address *regional* issues - the health of ponds and groundwater, the preservation of culturally and environmentally significant assets, the preservation of traditional island growth patterns - is now micromanaging chimneys and house trim. Mission Creep at it's finest.
I don’t understand why all
Jill Goodman ChilmarkI don’t understand why all the buildings had to be different colors. It does have the Disneyland look….
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