Live Updates From The 2024 Nantucket Town Meeting

We are live from the floor of the 2024 Nantucket Annual Town Meeting.

The session is set to begin at 5 p.m. We'll be providing updates on this page in descending chronological order. Stay tuned!

• Article 60 Adopted: A ban on corporate ownership of short-term rentals was adopted by Town Meeting voters by a vote of 592 - 545. The general bylaw amendment is intended to "prohibit additional corporate ownership and discourage investment-only ownership of residential properties for the exclusive purpose of operating them as short-term rentals rather than housing for either full-time or part-time residences."

• Article 59 Defeated: Voters defeated Article 59, the hotly contested zoning bylaw amendment that sought to codify short-term rentals as an allowed use in all residential island zoning districts. The vote was 713 in favor, and 782 opposed. The vote required a two-thirds majority for passage, so the proposal was defeated by a wide margin. In the aftermath of the vote, there was significant confusion as people in the overflow area in the high school gymnasium stated there was uncertainty as to what they were voting on (the main motion or an amendment). Moderator Sarah Alger said it was too late, based on the town's bylaws, to entertain a motion to reconsider as debate had already turned to Article 60.

• Billy Cassidy has made a motion to take the short-term rental articles (59, 60, 61, and 62) first in the meeting. The motion was approved on the following vote - Yes: 923, No: 449. Debate has begun on Article 59.

• The following articles have been called for debate: 3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 20, 36, 37, 38, 42, 43, 49, 53, 55, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 66, 67, 69, 70, 72, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 82, 92, 99. Which articles are those? See the Town Meeting warrant here. The remaining uncalled articles were all approved according to their Finance Committee motions on a four-fifths vote.

• Attendance at 5:45 p.m. 1,333 voters. That's a roughly 13.6 percent turnout of Nantucket's 9,800 registered voters. Moderator Sarah Alger is still working through technical amendments.