Built Environment 3.2: Community Character

This section looks at the visual and other impacts of building in the 95% of the Island outside Historic Areas or Traditional Neighborhoods.

Here, there is still a desire to ensure that buildings generally harmonize with their neighborhoods or natural contexts, and that their negative impacts on Island character and on abutters are minimized. This is especially important as seen from major public roads and vistas, and from public waters – ponds and the ocean. For example, presently, about 540 buildings could be erected only slightly set back from the Island’s scenic roads, and there is nothing to prevent owners of these, or existing, buildings to remove the vegetation that currently lines these rural roads; the result would totally transform the country part of the Island into what would appear to be a densely built suburb. Also of great concern is the construction of new buildings that are so large that they totally overwhelm their neighborhood.

This can be addressed by ensuring that new construction is compatible with the character of neighborhoods, roadscapes, and the Vineyard as a whole. In many natural areas, this often means limiting the visual presence of new development.  At the same time, the flexibility and creativity of owners and project designers should not be unnecessarily inhibited.

We want to avoid a free-for-all where inappropriate new construction is allowed to undermine Island character and to negatively impact quality of life and property values. But we also want to avoid an excessively bureaucratic approach requiring individual review of all projects, or an excessively restrictive approach that squelches creativity, such as Nantucket’s requirement that even buildings in new subdivisions must exactly follow historic design details right down to the number of window panes.

So it is proposed that the community take a two-pronged approach:

·  Use a system of individual project review for the relatively small number of projects that are more critical because of their location – especially those highly visible from major roads or public waters – or some other factor, such as size.

·  For other areas and projects, use a combination of zoning to ensure that the basic parameters of new buildings are appropriate, and education to make owners aware of other considerations about site layout, building design and landscaping (see Strategy 3.0-1).

 

House Size: So-called “trophy homes” or “McMansions” are the poster child for concerns about the changing Vineyard. Many people expressed concern about the visual impact of large new homes, their energy and water use, as well as the traffic and loss of open space they generate. The number of large houses is certainly increasing, with the percentage of houses with more than 4000 s.f. of living area before and after 1990 increasing from 3% to 5% in Tisbury, and from 8% to 19% in Chilmark. It must be remembered, however, that the vast majority of new houses are still smaller than 4000 s.f. and many impacts are similar no matter how large a house is. In some cases, it might be preferable to have one large house on thirty acres in an environmentally sensitive area, than to build ten medium-sized houses along with ten guesthouses, ten garages, and multiple swimming pools and tennis courts.

Objective B3: Protect general community character by ensuring that buildings fit into their context – especially as seen from public places such as roads and public waters – while allowing creativity and flexibility.

Strategy B3-1: Set up project review processes along Scenic Roads and Public Waters Viewsheds. The first step is to identify and designate Visually Critical Areas. For Scenic Roads, the viewshed along the Island’s main roads includes a depth of 100’ in wooded areas, the visual extent of open landscapes (e.g. fields, low vegetation found in areas such as Moshup Trail and Cape Pogue), as well as scenic vistas from public spaces. The Public Waters Viewsheds include areas clearly visible from 100’ offshore in coastal ponds and the ocean. The MVC and/or towns should establish a project approval process for projects in these areas (MVC review, special permit, and/or site plan review as discussed in section 10 of this Plan). Projects that are clearly demonstrated to have limited impact – say by maintaining a 50’ permanent no-cut zone between it and a Scenic Road, by keeping fencing low and open, or by being visually narrower than a threshold for each coastal area – could be exempted from review. Larger buildings could be permitted, but would be reviewed to ensure that their impact was minimized. Two existing Districts of Critical ·       Planning Concern – the Island Road District and the Coastal District – could provide the legal framework to allow towns to adopt the necessary regulations.

Strategy B3-2: Set up a project review process for high-impact buildings based on size or other criteria. A design review process for high-impact buildings such as those larger than a specific size would help ensure that new or enlarged buildings are properly reviewed, given their potentially greater impact. The threshold could vary by neighborhood. For denser neighborhoods, it could apply to all buildings whose floor space was, say, more than 25% greater than the average for the neighborhood. In rural areas, it could require review of any project greater than, say, 5000 square feet. The trigger could also be based on project density, so that larger projects on larger lots would not be reviewed. Projects could be exempted if they met objective criteria dealing with potential areas of concern, such as ensuring adequate wastewater treatment, limiting energy consumption and furniture, and signage – would ensure that decisions are coordinated and reinforce the particular character of each town.

Strategy B3-6: Implement design excellence in public and utility buildings and facilities: Some of the most visually minimizing visual impact. The process could involve requiring a special permit from a town board for projects with local impact, and MVC review for more significant projects.

·  Strategy B3-3: Revise zoning requirements in neighborhoods to conform to existing character. For much of the Island, even outside Historic Areas and Traditional Neighborhoods, the zoning bears little relation to the actual pattern of building in an area. Large areas, even whole towns have the same minimum setbacks and maximum building heights, adopted in the 1970s and based on standard formulae used across America. Until recently, this was not so much of a problem since people erected buildings much smaller than the maximum permitted in zoning regulations. However, the high current property values, changing lifestyles, and the fact that we are running out of vacant land are increasingly leading people to build right up to the maximum permitted in zoning. For example, traditionally, virtually every buildings on the Island had a steeply sloping roof. However today, someone trying to maximize the floor space within a 35-foot height limit is tempted to propose a bulky building with a flat roof. Zoning dimensional regulations (setbacks, building heights, density, etc.) in neighborhoods should be revised to bring them into general conformity with the existing pattern, thereby preventing the most inappropriate new development. Also, we should limit large parking areas in front of buildings.

·  Strategy B3-4: Set up municipal tree-planting programs: Each town has a tree warden responsible for public shade trees (pruning, removal of damaged trees, planting). The Aquinnah DCPC also gives the tree warden review powers for clearing, cutting, pruning, and topping of ground cover shrubs and trees on public and private land. It is recommended that other towns follow suit, at least for major trees on or close to the pubic way. A related effort is to set up municipal street tree planting programs to plant and maintain trees along public roads. Those responsible for this program could also offer advice and assistance (e.g. access to plant stock) to help people increase vegetation in front of buildings and fences, in Visually Critical Areas.

Strategy B3-5: Plan and implement improvements to the “public realm”: An important factor in determining the character of a community is the design of its public realm, namely the publicly owned streets, sidewalks, rights-of-ways, parks and other publicly accessible open spaces, as well as its public and civic buildings and facilities. Adopting an integrated plan for the design of these spaces – including street lighting, street problematic buildings or properties on the Island belong to towns or to utilities such as NStar or Verizon. These organizations should provide leadership by seeking the highest building and landscape design quality when planning new facilities. They should also analyze all existing facilities to identify improvements.