The Martha’s Vineyard Boys and Girls Club is seeking permission to build a nearly 22,000-square-foot clubhouse in Edgartown as the organization runs out of room at its current campus.
The nonprofit went to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission Thursday for a public hearing on the project, which also includes new outdoor play facilities and parking on a 2.38-acre parcel of the Boys and Girls Club’s 14-acre property on Edgartown-West Tisbury Road, west of the current clubhouse on Robinson Road.
“The existing 46-year-old facility does not meet the needs of the club today, and that’s why we’re in front of you looking for your approval on this project,” said Julia Tarka, a former Boys and Girls Club board vice president who represented the club at the hearing March 20.
Barbara-jean Chauvin, the club’s acting executive director, said the club needs to expand because space constraints leave many Island children unable to join.
“Membership was closed in January for capacity reasons. We have a waiting list,” Ms. Chauvin said.
Enrollment in the after-school program closed even sooner, last November, she said.
The Boys & Girls Club currently serves about 25 per cent of the Island’s children in kindergarten through eighth grade, Ms. Chauvin said.
There are 422 members in all, with 180 in the after-school program, bringing about 100 children to the clubhouse every day for recreation and social learning, she said.
“At this point, we are using every square foot of our building in order to make this happen. We’re using hallways and office spaces and whatever is available at the time,” Ms. Chauvin said.
The new facility would allow many more Island children to join, she told commissioners.
“We expect to have a 25 to 35 percent increase in … everyday participation within the club, and we expect that the overall capacity will be at least 50 percent [greater],” Ms. Chauvin said.
The summer camp program also would be able to expand, she said, and the club would be able to devote more space to its medical, dental and food support programs.
About 65 per cent of the Boys & Girls Club member families have household incomes under $100,000, Ms. Chauvin said.
“That is not a lot of money, as we all know, to live here,” she said. “So the population that we are serving … they need us.”
Much of the club’s property is listed as significant habitat by the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Act and cannot be developed without permission from the state, according to Reid Silva, the club’s civil engineer.
“It’s a much bigger hurdle,” he said.
The site itself, however, has already been cleared of trees, a move that drew criticism from abutting homeowners whose properties formerly had been screened by the vegetation.
“It’s been very jarring,” Eleanor Bates of Marchand’s Path told the commission.
Amy and Lauren Shatz, also of Marchand’s Path, echoed Ms. Bates’s concern.
“Right now, our yard has very little privacy. It is completely exposed, and we had no idea that this was happening,” Ms. Shatz said.
She and Mr. Shatz both complained that the Boys and Girls Club had been unresponsive to their concerns, but board president Norman Rankow told the couple that was not the case.
“I did reach out to both of you, both through an email and through a phone call … and I also sent you a plan upon your request. It was preliminary, but it wasn’t far from what this is today,” Mr. Rankow said.
In response to abutters’ concerns, he said, the club also reversed its initial floor plan for the new building so that the gym is on the far side from the neighbors’ homes, and doubled the setback on their side of the proposed structure.
“We had the building 40 feet from the Shatzs’ line,” Mr. Rankow. “I think it’s 79 feet today.”
Mr. Silva said the club will submit a landscaping plan to the commission, which also has the authority to require screening plants as part of its conditions for approving the project.
The Boys and Girls Club did not break any rules to clear the project site, Ms. Tarka told the commission.
“I went to the town of Edgartown, met with the building inspector, talked about what was needed for clearing, talked to other town departments, and since it didn’t require a permit, we figured we’d move forward,” she said.
“We received an $850,000 federal grant, and as I’m sure most of you are also aware, there is instability in the grant market right now [so] we wanted to start spending and … start pushing the project forward,” Ms Tarka said.
“But it’s not that we think we’re getting an approval here tonight by any means,” she added.
“We’re excited to answer your questions, get your feedback, and work towards an approval so we can build a new club for the kids,” Ms. Tarka said.
The Robinson Road clubhouse, once it is vacated, would be likely be sold to the town of Edgartown, which has the right of first refusal to buy the property, Ms. Chauvin said.
Neighbors, as well as commissioners, pressed the applicants on the club’s long-range plans for the rest of the 14.33-acre property.
While Ms. Chauvin did not rule out future land uses, she said nothing is envisioned for the near future.
“Like any organization, the club will have a need for staff housing. We’re currently renting a house for staff, and that’s part of how we make staffing work,” she said.
“But at this point in time, there’s no plan to use any of that land,” Ms. Chauvin told the commission.
There were about two hours of testimony on the Boys and Girls Club application before the commission continued the hearing to its May 8 meeting.
