The Martha’s Vineyard Commission Thursday unanimously approved the $5.6 million North Bluffs project, a corrugated steel seawall and boardwalk that will run from Oak Bluffs Harbor to the public fishing pier.
Approval came with two minor conditions regarding lighting and landscaping and followed two public hearings before the full commission, two Land Use Planning Committee (LUPC) meetings and nearly a month of public comment and debate.
Commissioners acknowledged the aesthetic concerns that were raised repeatedly, and sometimes heatedly, by Oak Bluffs residents at the two public hearings, however, they were in concert that the project should move ahead.
“Aesthetics are subjective,” Linda Sibley, longtime commissioner from West Tisbury, said. “We should acknowledge there are a significant number of people who don’t like the look, still we feel the benefits outweigh the detriments.”
“We struggled with aesthetics but necessity outweighs it,” commissioner Kathy Newman of Aquinnah said.
Fred Hancock of Oak Bluffs, hearing chairman, summed up his views regarding the aesthetics and the impact of the project on abutters by alluding to the possible consequences of inaction. “We thought the biggest impact was keeping [Seaview Avenue] from falling in,” he said.
The Oak Bluffs planning board referred the project to the MVC as a development of regional impact (DRI) in October. Board members cited a lack of public input for their decision, as well as concerns that the project would unnecessarily sacrifice a valuable town beach.
The choice of corrugated steel over a concrete wall, rested on cost savings, expedience, and reduced vulnerability to weather during construction, since concrete cannot be poured in cold winter temperatures.
The project was scheduled to move into the construction phase, with a spring completion date.
The project had the strong support of the majority of selectmen and the conservation commission throughout the DRI hearing process.
The DRI hearings marked another in a series of unexpected delays that have bedeviled the project since $5.6 million in state funding — $3.6 million from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) dam and seawall fund, and $2 million from the state Seaport Advisory Council — was approved in June.
There is concern that both grants could be lost if the project is not completed, or close to it, by June 30, 2016, according to town administrator Robert Whritenour.
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