The Martha’s Vineyard Commission unanimously approved the Vineyard Montessori School’s application to construct a new preschool building on its Vineyard Haven campus.
The commission’s vote Thursday night clears the way for the school to seek a building permit from the town of Tisbury, although commissioners imposed several conditions on their approval.
The new building is planned to host 80 preschoolers and nine staff, increasing the school’s population by 29 students, according to commission documents.
In order to receive a certificate of occupancy for the new building, Vineyard Montessori must submit for the commission’s review plans for exterior lighting, landscaping, fencing and drainage.
The school has also committed to administering a ride-share program aimed at reducing traffic back-ups when parents bring their children there or pick them up.
Commissioners decided against asking for “No Idling” signs, saying they would add visual clutter and were unlikely to be observed.
In a public hearing last month, some neighbors of Vineyard Montessori complained to the commission about noise and traffic from the school’s existing operations and raised concerns about storm runoff from the planned construction.
On Thursday, commissioners said the expansion is an appropriate development for the school-zoned neighborhood, where Vineyard Montessori has operated for decades.
“It’s expanding an existing use in the location, and it’s essential to the services that are provided to children on the Island,” commission chair Fred Hancock said.
Also Thursday, the commission reopened a hearing on Vineyard Haven resident Amelia Hambrecht’s proposal to relocate the historic Caleb Prouty house from Cromwell Lane to her property on Lagoon Pond Road.
Long vacant, boarded up and now tagged by graffiti, the 1830s-era home is owned by the Stop & Shop supermarket chain, which uses its Cromwell Lane property for employee parking.
The company’s proposal to remove the building and Ms. Hambrecht’s application to place it on her property are listed as separate developments of regional impact.
During public testimony Thursday, architect Kyle Sheffield, who lives near Ms. Hambrecht on Skiff avenue, argued that the two proposals should be considered together.
“They should be reviewed in concert,” Mr. Sheffield said.
Mr. Sheffield and other abutters of Ms. Hambrecht’s land also said the stately Greek Revival structure would be out of place in their pondside neighborhood.
“The Caleb Prouty house does not belong in our little cul de sac,” neighbor Lisa Belcastro said.
Commissioners subsequently discovered an error in the diagram showing where on the Lagoon Pond Road property the Prouty house would be located.
Ms. Hambrecht confirmed that the diagram showed the house in the right place but with the wrong orientation, leading commissioners to continue the hearing to April 4.
The next Martha’s Vineyard Commission meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. March 14 at Featherstone Center for the Arts in Oak Bluffs, where the center’s Francine Kelly Gallery has a new exhibition commemorating the commission’s 50th anniversary.
