A Vineyard farmer stormed out of a recent public hearing, swearing at local officials, as members of the Chilmark select board gave their approval for a croissant shop to open in Menemsha.
The contentious topic that elicited so much fervor: the approval of a common victualler’s license — required of any establishment that means to cook, prepare, and serve food — for Iggy’s Bread to operate a takeaway restaurant out of the former building of the Bite.
The Bite, a fry shack on Basin Road in Menemsha, closed in 2018. Sarah Nixon, co-owner of the property Menemsha Inn and Cottages and Beach Plum Inn, told the select board at Tuesday’s hearing that she’s thrilled to lease the space and welcome Iggy’s to the fishing village.
Iggy’s Bread currently has a summer pop-up in Edgartown, open on weekends from 9:30 am to 2 pm, a location in Boston, and they sell in stores across the state, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.
Nick Zappia, plant manager for Iggy’s Bread, said the company signed a three-year lease with Nixon and her husband Robert, with a three-year option.
At Tuesday’s hearing, Molly Glasgow, co-founder of Grey Barn, felt that with three other farms that sell bread in Chilmark, it wasn’t fair to bring in a “large corporation” that sells to “50 towns in Massachusetts alone,” Glasgow said.
“What does it say about Chilmark, and where do we draw the line?” she asked. “If Homeport can’t do it anymore, is Legal Sea Foods allowed to move in there?”
Members of the board also offered their own thoughts. Generally, they wanted to see someone take over the vacant building, but James Malkin, select board chair, expressed that the whole thing was a “character issue.”
He expressed concern that the Island is “sinking under the weight of money,” and becoming subject to a “Hamptonification,” he said. He wasn’t sure if the move from clams to croissants aligned with keeping Menemsha an active fishing village.
Malkin asked no one in particular, “Is Menemsha a place for croissants?”
Select board members Marie Larsen and Jeffrey Maida didn’t have much of a problem with the bakery’s application. The hours proposed for the bakery, 7 am to 2 pm, wouldn’t interfere with the sunset crowds for which the fishing village is known, they both acknowledged. Members of the audience also made clear that the Menemsha Market, which suffered fire damage in 2019, used to sell breakfast items.
Maida, who didn’t have a problem with breakfast choices in Menemsha, asked Zappia about what the language “bread products” on the application meant. He was concerned that vague semantics might leave the door open for the bakery to sell sandwiches, pizza, and cakes.
Zappia, however, quelled fears, and insisted that they have no interest in selling those products. They plan to serve coffee, cold drinks, pastries, and breads.
“The road to somewhere is always paved with good intentions,” Malkin said.
In approval of the application for the license, select board members did so on the condition that Iggy’s Bread stay within the parameters of the menu, parking, and hours that were described in the proposal.
Most comments made by the public were positive, and were encouraged by a desire to have more businesses open in Menemsha, which a few years ago saw multiple storefronts shutter their doors. However, a few offered opposing remarks.
Glasgow’s husband and co-founder of Grey Barn, Eric, asked whether this building shouldn’t be rented out to a local. Nixon, however, assured the room she’s hardly had anyone approach her about renting the space over the past six years, and those who did approach her couldn’t make the jump financially.
“The property has been vacant, and in this free market of ours, someone came in and wanted to lease it,” Malkin said. “It wasn’t a local kid. It was someone who came in and signed the lease.”
After almost 30 minutes of deliberation, the board granted Iggy’s Bread the license.
“You people are unbelievable. You don’t care about the farmers here. F___ you,” Glasgow said as she stormed out of the room following the motion.
Audience members were taken aback, and Malkin asked that everyone maintain a sense of decorum at town meetings.
“The comments made during the discussion were awkward and inappropriate for all concerned, and were not suitable for the meeting,” Malkin told The Times Wednesday.
Glasgow later apologized in a letter to the select board.
“I genuinely regret and take full responsibility for my actions. I admit that I became overrun with emotion around the subject of chain stores coming to our island,” she wrote. She also offered to do community service for the town.
The plan for Iggy’s Bread was previously approved on paper by the board of health, and provided the plan is executed as proposed, there will be an inspection, and a permit will be issued to the bakery.
