The Martha’s Vineyard Commission this week began hearing the Vineyard Montessori School’s proposal for a new preschool building on its Vineyard Haven campus.
Neighbors of the existing school spoke at length during Thursday’s commission meeting, saying the proposed educational building is too large and would add to already-vexing noise and traffic from the school.
“Our property and others will be adversely affected by the proposed development due to problems with water drainage, privacy and noise,” said abutter Jayne Stanek.
Neighbor Susan Dunbar requested noise abatement for the existing school, and also said that parents routinely idle their vehicles on Tashmoo avenue while waiting for their scheduled pick-up and drop-off times.
Alysha Norbury echoed the other neighbors’ complaints about noise and traffic.
“I work from home [and] the construction from the previous building was very, very distracting. On top of that, [the school] can get loud,” said Ms. Norbury, who lives around the corner from Tashmoo avenue.
“It’s been mentioned numerous times that parents are still idling there, and I don’t know how many times I’ve almost been T-boned because they come flying around,” she said.
The neighbors also assailed the school’s plan to add employee housing at one of its existing classroom buildings, which Vineyard Montessori School attorney Ross Seavey said is not part of the current application.
“If we decide to move forward with that plan in the future, we’d be coming back [to the commission],” he said.
Water drainage will not be an issue, Mr. Seavey said, because the school will capture and retain stormwater in an underground tank so that no runoff reaches neighboring properties.
Traffic impacts from the expansion are expected to be insignificant, MVC traffic planner Mike Mauro told the commission.
“We evaluated it and concluded that the project will not have a negative impact on the surrounding area or neighborhood,” Mr. Mauro said.
“The one potential mitigation, in the event that drop-offs and pick-ups become problematic and seem maybe to be stacking or queuing out onto Tashmoo avenue, applicants should probably consider maybe adding an additional drop-off time or pick-up,” he said.
Responding to the issue of noise, Mr. Seavey noted that the neighborhood is zoned for a school.
“There is always going to be some rowdiness from children,” he said.
However, Mr. Seavey said, a planned six-foot stockade fence and the consolidation of the school’s two playgrounds into a central area may help reduce the level of sound that reaches other properties.
“I’d also say, while I think some people may say the noise of children playing is loud and disruptive, other people probably say ‘We enjoy having these kids in our neighborhood,’” he added.
To evaluate concerns about the size of the proposed building, commissioners have scheduled a visit to the site with Mr. Seavey next Wednesday.
With a footprint of 2,915 square feet, the two-story classroom building will have 5,500 square feet of interior space.
Vineyard Montessori School was founded in 1975 and currently serves 60 preschoolers, 18 toddlers and 15 elementary school students in its two campus buildings, with another 15 elementary and middle school students attending classes in rented space on Church street.
The new building would allow the school to end that lease and consolidate all of its student body on campus, adding up to 29 more children for a total of 27 toddlers, 80 preschoolers and 30 students in elementary and middle school grades.
Head of school Deborah Jernegan said the expansion will create three new teaching jobs.
The school’s public hearing was continued to Feb. 15.
In other business Thursday, commissioners agreed to schedule a public hearing on a proposed modification to the Fisher family’s Flat Point Farm subdivision, initially approved in 2018.
The family is seeking to redraw some lot lines from the original subdivision and create a total of 13 lots with up to 82 bedrooms.
A hearing date had not yet been posted Friday morning.
