Deal Reached To Pause Enforcement Of Judge's Ruling In Short-Term Rental Case

In the face of mounting pressure from Massachusetts Land Court Judge Michael Vhay, West Dover Street homeowners Peter and Linda Grape have agreed to not short-term rent their home while the town appeals Vhay’s ruling in favor of their neighbor, Silver Street resident Cathy Ward, who sued the Grapes and the Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals claiming the short-term rentals were an illegal commercial use in a residential zoning district.

The deal relieves the immediate pressure on the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) to enforce the ruling, while also granting Ward much of what she sought in her lawsuit.

“The outcome of today’s hearing before Judge Vhay has come as a relief," Ward said in a statement. "When the Judge appeared more than ready to make the Grapes finally stop short-term renting, their attorney stated on the record that the Grapes will now cease short-term renting the property. I look forward to all parties entering into an agreement that was discussed today that Judge Vhay will accept; and with this hearing, I am hopeful that I, my family, and my neighborhood will finally get some relief.”

Back in June, Vhay ruled against the town and the Grapes on two of three counts in the closely watched lawsuit brought by Ward. Vhay vacated the ZBA's Sept. 2024 decision that the Grape's short-term rentals were permissible under Nantucket's zoning bylaw and remanded the case for further consideration. In his decision, Vhay ruled that "the current Nantucket Zoning Bylaw does not allow rentals shorter than 31 days of 'primary dwellings' in the Nantucket Residential Old Historic district, except for 'the rental of rooms within an owner-occupied dwelling unit'."

Any enforcement action taken by the ZBA against the Grapes or other short-term rental (STR) operators involved in legal cases could have far-reaching implications for the entire island. While Vhay has been clear that he only rules on the cases put in front of him, the reasoning he used to decide in Ward’s favor could apply to almost all non-owner-occupied STRs on Nantucket.

Ward and her attorney, Nina Pickering-Cook, claim that the Grapes only agreed to the compromise because it seemed that the town’s attempt to stay Vhay’s previous ruling in favor of Ward was unlikely to succeed.

“This was in the face of the town being challenged,” Pickering-Cook told the Current. “It was clear they were going to lose.”

Judge Vhay has since ordered the town and Ward to choose one of three options:

• File a joint motion for modification of the judgment;
• File a joint motion setting forth some other agreement by the parties
• Have the town withdraw its motion to stay

If none of those things happen by Friday, July 25, Vhay will take the town’s motion for a stay under advisement for a ruling.

For three years, Ward’s lawsuit has hung over all attempts to regulate STRs on Nantucket, contributing to a tense and at times openly hostile environment.

Ward's lawsuit was funded by ACK Now, the political action group founded by summer resident Peter McCausland that has been fighting to restrict and regulate short-term rentals since 2020.

At a recent Select Board meeting, the Select Board opted not to immediately pursue mediation in an attempt to reach an elusive compromise on STRs, even as citizen groups draft their own proposals and the threat of a fall special town meeting focused on STRs emerges.

“I don't see a path forward,” Select Board member Brooke Mohr said. “I think we just keep doing the same thing until we circle the drain and something happens. I'm at a loss. We've suggested an alternative. It's out of the box, it's different. I believe there is a chance it would work, but there doesn't seem to be trust in any process. Public, private, anything, at this point.”