Citizen Petition Proposes Eminent Domain Taking Of Surfside Crossing Property

A citizen petition filed for the 2025 Annual Town Meeting proposes an eminent domain taking by the town of the Surfside Crossing property off South Shore Road.

Proposed by one of the most vocal critics of the controversial housing project, Meghan Perry Glowacki, the petition would have the town pursue a taking of the lots at 3, 5, 7, and 9 South Shore Road for the purpose of creating a "collaborative community property."

The concept, which Glowacki had previously presented to the Select Board (but not with the eminent domain taking), would scrap the developers' current plan for 156 condominium units in favor of a town-developed affordable housing project with 40 units, the relocation of the Our Island Home nursing facility to the site, along with two athletic school playing fields, and land set aside for open space and walking trails.

The petition calls for a debt exclusion override - with no specific dollar amount attached - to acquire the property by eminent domain.

Glowacki stated she was off-island Tuesday and unavailable to discuss her citizen petition.

Jamie Feeley, one of the co-owners and developers of Surfside Crossing, told the Current Tuesday that he was aware of the proposal, but was not prepared to offer a statement until later this week.

Below is the full text of the petition filed with the Town Clerk's office ahead of Monday's deadline for citizen warrant article submissions for the 2025 Annual Town Meeting: 

Surfside Crossing is currently back before the Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) after opponents, including Glowacki's Nantucket Tipping Point group, successfully sued the developers in Nantucket Superior Court. A judge decided back in January to reject the state approval for Surfside Crossing and send the project back to ZBA for further review.

Surfside Crossing’s 156 condominium units would be contained within 18-three-story buildings (two stories above grade) on 13 acres off South Shore Road. As a Chapter 40B development, 25 percent of those units are required by the state to be deed restricted for affordable housing, or a total of 39 units within the development, to residents earning at or below 80% of the area median income. The other 117 units would be sold at market rate, priced between $500,000 to $1.5 million.

While Surfside Crossing has been hotly debated on the island since it was first proposed in 2018, the state Housing Appeals Committee approved the developers’ 156 condominium unit proposal in September 2022 over the objections of the Nantucket Land Council, along with the group of neighbors and community members that formed Nantucket Tipping Point, and at the time, the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA).

The project developers started clearing the property last August 2023 under protest and acknowledged they were starting construction on an "at risk" basis with the legal appeals still pending.

In April 2023, the town announced that it was dropping its lawsuit against Surfside Crossing after reaching a “collaborative agreement” with the developers. The agreement outlines a commitment by the Select Board and the Surfside Crossing developers to earmark 75 percent of the 156 condominiums in the development to “directly serve year-round housing needs.” That goal would be accomplished through long-term deed restrictions at a variety of income levels. Critics noted at the time that there was nothing in writing that could bind Surfside Crossing's developers to such restrictions, and the dismissal of the town's lawsuit sparked frustration and “blindsided” the board as a whole.

Feeley subsequently said in a statement that he hoped potential partnerships and collaborations with the town, as well as with island businesses and organizations, would result in up to 75 percent - the 117 market rate units - ending up in local ownership.

The plans for Surfside Crossing were filed under a state statute known as Chapter 40B, which allows developers to bypass local zoning regulations and increase density if at least 20 to 25 percent of the new units have long-term affordability restrictions.