Commission Votes to Reopen Hearing on Gas Station Plan

By MANDY LOCKE

One week after the Martha's Vineyard Commission rejected a gas
station slated for Tisbury's State Road corridor, Tisbury Fuel
Service principals asked the commission to take a step back and reopen
the public hearing for their proposed High Point Lane station.

While commission members wrangled over the details of information
they hope to hear in the next phase of the public hearing, a majority of
members acceded to the developers' request.

The Tisbury Fuel Service project - sweetened by a promise to
sell discounted gas to Islanders - stirred an outcry from other
gas station proprietors who feared the effects of a new entrant in the
business.

The protests from the mom-and-pop stations up-Island clearly
registered with commission members Sept. 19 - they cited the
economic threat to existing businesses as the primary reason for
unanimously denying the Gervais and Goldsborough gas station proposed
for 412 State Road. Resistance to allowing a new entrant into a limited
demand market resonated again at a land use planning committee review of
Tisbury Fuel Service last week, when a group of five commission members
recommended a denial of the project to the full commission.

"We'd like to have the chance to talk about this in an
open forum," developer Sean Conley said, requesting the commission
reopen the public hearing.

"[Your concern] took us quite by surprise. I thought
we'd addressed all your concerns, but his came out of the
blue," he added.

The applicant expressed frustration at this unforeseen sticking
point. "We didn't know you needed such a study. It's
not on the checklist," Mr. Conley said, referring to a list of
reports the commission requests for each new development of regional
impact.

The developers asked for an opportunity to examine more closely the
issue of financial impact on competitors.

"We urge you not to make the decision based on innuendo,
gossip or hearsay," Mr. Conley added.

Nearly all gas station owners pleaded with commission members during
the public hearings, asking that Tisbury Fuel Service be denied because
it would divide the Island gasoline market - estimated at 10
million to 12 million gallons yearly. No pleas came more loudly and
clearly than those from the Jenkinson family, owners of Up-Island
Automotive in West Tisbury.

"I put my faith and hopes in the Martha's Vineyard
Commission to help protect local businesses run by local Islanders from
being run out of business by big promises and cheap promises," Pat
Jenkinson said during one public hearing.

Commission members expressed concerns that a State Road station
would force Up-Island Automotive and Menemsha Texaco to fold -
eliminating all fuel stations up-Island.

Commission members agreed that a study of the economic impact on
competing stations must be conducted by a third-party consultant, not a
firm hired by the applicants. The developers, however, must fund the
independent evaluation.

"I wouldn't be comfortable with anyone but an
independent party. Sometimes these studies turn into advocacy instead of
an objective analysis," commission member Linda Sibley said.

The developer will discuss the mechanics of the study with
commission staff and members at a land use planning committee meeting
this month.

The denial of the Gervais and Goldsborough station for fear of harm
to existing businesses initiated questions about the commission's
role in regulating the number and size of suppliers within a given
market.

Expressing relief that the applicants had asked to study the
economic impact issue, commission member Marcia Cini said: "We
could have been turning down a legally risky path - a public
agency shoring up private business."

Mr. Conley also wondered if the commission has stepped onto a
slippery slope.

"They're saying we don't need another gas station.
How many clothing stores, drug stores and restaurants do we need? Will
every business that goes before [the commission] be asked to prove
that?" Mr. Conley asked in a conversation with the Gazette Friday.

Economic impact questions, in the commission's 28-year
history, have been much less frequent than environmental impact and
traffic congestion concerns raised by residential developments. But the
preamble to the commission's legislative charter specifically
charges the land use regulatory agency with a responsibility to
"promote the enhancement of sound local economies."

The commission's concern for existing Island gas stations
while reviewing two new proposals could be leading the agency into new
territory when evaluating commercial development.

"When you get the results, the question becomes, what do you
do with the information?" Ms. Cini said Thursday night.