West Tisbury residents will get a chance this week to weigh in on what path their town should take in the coming decades at a series of public visioning sessions put on as part of the town’s Master Plan development process. 

The series will kick-off with a potluck dinner on Friday, April 26 at the West Tisbury school from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., followed by a community brainstorming session from 8:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, also at the school, where breakfast and lunch will be served. 

It is the first time in 25 years that the town has embarked on the process, said visioning committee member and Vineyard Conservation Society director Samantha Look, and could prove critical for future town planning and advocacy. 

“It’s an opportunity that’s put to everyone in the town, to have a voice in thinking about what our aspirations are for the future of our community,” Ms. Look said, in an interview with the Gazette. 

The results of the previous visioning process, Ms. Look said, have become a key tool in achieving Island conservation goals for the last quarter century. 

“In my own experience, working on bylaw changes, or initiatives that were going to impact the town, we literally pointed to language that came out of that process,” she said. “As someone advocating for something, that was really, really meaningful and powerful.”

This current round of visioning, Ms. Look said, gives residents an opportunity to weigh in during a critical inflection point for the Island and town. 

“I do feel like the Vineyard, and West Tisbury as part of the Vineyard, are at a really pivotal moment,” she said. “It’s an incredibly important time for people to come out and speak up about these things…I think we really need to put our best minds on being creative and stretching to think of what innovations we have out there that protect our community.”

The visioning process will inform the creation of a town-wide master plan. A master plan provides guidance for future land use, economic development, housing and other matters of public policies for Massachusetts municipalities.               

More information on the visioning event can be found at the West Tisbury town website, or by emailing visioning@westtisbury-ma.gov; childcare and transportation options are available.