Owners of the proposed Four Sisters Inn on Narragansett avenue in Oak Bluffs have received unanimous approval from the Martha’s Vineyard Commission as a development of regional impact (DRI), subject to a number of changes aimed at limiting the inn’s impact on abutting properties.

At a public hearing last October, neighborhood residents opposed the plan by Elizabeth and Harry Marshall to build a three-story, four-room inn on a vacant lot the couple has owned since 2011.

The Pequot Hotel is located nearby, but the rest of the neighborhood is residential and parking is in very short supply, abutters told the commission. Neighbors also said the 4,000-square-foot design is out of scale with smaller homes nearby.

Early in Thursday’s deliberations, commissioner Kate Putnam said she too thought the proposed building is too big compared with others on the street. But commissioners Doug Sederholm and Fred Hancock said the Marshalls’ plan is no larger than the town allows and complies with the Cottage City Historic District Commission’s requirements.

“It is the fourth-largest building within 200 feet,” Mr. Sederholm said of the proposed inn.

“They can build it as of right if it’s a private home,” he added.

Mr. Hancock said the inn’s design is in character with the neighborhood around it, and fills a vacancy in the Narragansett avenue streetscape.

“Having an infill building that does fit in is very important,” he said.

Conditions of the MVC approval include a sound attenuation fence around the inn’s air-handling condensers and laundry vents, a lighting plan that limits visual pollution and a drainage plan designed to withstand severe storms.

The Marshalls have agreed to provide breakfast for their guests only, with no other food service, and to stage no events at the inn that would draw anyone not already staying there. Four Sisters Inn will be open year-round, according to the application, with up to eight guests hosted by two resident innkeepers.

The owners have committed to advising guests that no parking is available at the inn, which is within walking distance of the seasonal ferry terminal and year-round bus line, and encouraging them to visit the Vineyard without an automobile.

The Marshalls also must pay a mitigation fee to the town of Oak Bluffs to make up for their lack of on-site parking. The inn’s energy systems will be all-electric, according to the application.

Among other business Thursday, commissioners quickly approved a $2,397,448 operating budget for the MVC’s 2024 fiscal year. The larger-than-usual increase of 17.9 per cent over the current fiscal year’s budget is chiefly due to legal costs, executive director Adam Turner said, citing last year’s out-of-court settlement with the Harbor View Hotel.

The MVC is weathering several other court challenges from property owners and developers whose applications were denied or heavily conditioned in recent years, leading to a $250,000 (128 per cent) increase in the budget line for legal costs, from $195,000 at present to $445,000 in fiscal year 2024.