Nantucket Town Government Roundup, May 15 - 28

With the town’s annual elections complete, the campaigning season has wrapped up, and political signs have come down across the island. This government roundup includes information on potential state involvement in an ongoing licensing battle and—yet again—parking concerns at the Select Board.

• Amid an ongoing feud between the Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board and the Great Harbor Yacht Club over whether the Club is violating the license that allows it to use and develop the waterfront, a license that is ultimately controlled by the state, state representatives told the Harbor Plan Update Committee that the state is planning to consult with the town on the status of such licenses every six months. Town staff and elected officials have previously said that historically, it has been hard to get the state to act on violations.
• Members of the Select Board serve on many other town committees as part of their roles on the Select Board. Those roles are reassigned each year, soon after the annual local elections. This year’s appointments were just made. Most notably, Bob DeCosta will serve on the Board of Health, which is still considering how to restrict a proposed artificial turf field slated for installation at Vito Capizzo. Jill Vieth will continue to serve on the Capital Program Committee, Brooke Mohr will retain her seat on the Affordable Housing Trust, and Dawn Hill will represent the Select Board on the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission.
• The Select Board denied a petition to waive a $250 parking fee at 17 Liberty Street. It was caught up in a broader debate about parking that has gripped the Select Board in recent weeks.
• Dawn Hill was re-appointed as the Select Board’s chair, and Brooke Mohr will serve as vice chair.
• “We will be having a discussion in the fall about the residential [tax] exemption,” Hill said, in reference to the tax break for year-round homeowners, which some have suggested should be increased in the wake of the more than $200 million in capital projects approved at Town Meeting and the local elections.
• The Conservation Commission reached a tentative agreement with the homeowner of 34A Grove Lane on a series of mitigation efforts after a significant amount of unpermitted work was done in and around the wetland behind his house—some of it allegedly taking place on his neighbor’s property. He claimed he had no idea that any of the work was unpermitted, leading to one of the stranger enforcement sagas that the Conservation Commission has handled in recent years. As part of the agreement, some of the work will have to be undone, and the area will need to be restored.
• The state is considering reactivating Nantucket’s dormant conservation district, Conservation Commission chair Seth Engelbourg announced. The district is a state entity that acquires grant money and directs it to environmental groups. Positions would be appointed for the first year, and then elected. The Conservation Commission and Agricultural Commission would likely nominate representatives.
• Select Board member Bob DeCosta is floating the idea of a twice-annual Town Meeting: one in the fall, primarily focused on zoning, and one in the spring, primarily focused on finance. Chair Dawn Hill has also raised the possibility of a Special Town Meeting this fall, potentially to deal with LORAN barracks improvements. It’s unclear how likely that is.
• A full report on the investigation into the African Meeting House hate crime in 2018 is due imminently to the Select Board.
• The Barrett Planning Group is updating the town’s Housing Production Plan. A workshop will be held on Monday, June 1, at 4:30 PM at the Nantucket High School Cafeteria.

And here are the local government stories we’ve covered in full in the last two weeks: 

• Nantucket’s local elections were held May 19th. Bob DeCosta and Jill Vieth were elected to Select Board, Brian Borgeson defeated Hillary Hedges Rayport in the Planning Board contest, and incumbents were victorious in all other races where they were on the ballot. DeCosta’s write-in campaign was historic: he received more votes than any other candidate for Select Board, write-in or not, since 2008. Every ballot question, including the relocation of Our Island Home and a public school athletic complex renovation, also passed.
  
• The bylaw amendment approved at Special Town Meeting last fall that legalized short-term rentals (STRs) by-right across Nantucket has withstood a legal challenge and been upheld by the Attorney General.
• After nearly a year of debate, the Board of Health has approved a ban on so-called “nitrogen loading credits” in sensitive areas, restricting the number of bedrooms allowed in certain parts of the island.
• Real estate broker Liza Hatton was appointed to a one-year seat on the Planning Board.
• A school bus driver shortage has created a "crisis" for the Nantucket Public Schools with three weeks of classes remaining before the summer break.
• The Town and the Nantucket Land Water Council have filed suit to block the controversial Surfside Crossing housing development after the state’s Housing Appeals Committee approved it.
• The lawsuit filed by two Nantucket Public School teachers against the town for its failure to implement the Paid Family & Medical Leave Act after it was approved during the 2024 Annual Town Meeting is heading to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
• The Select Board and other town officials are debating the future of the Daffodil Festival.
• The Current took a closer look at what could be next for the geotubes along the Sconset Bluff after an expansion effort failed at Town Meeting.
• The Nantucket Public Schools and the Nantucket Land and Water Council, a local environmental advocacy group, have nearly reached an agreement on a testing regime for the artificial turf field slated for installation at Vito Capizzo Stadium.
• A local homeowner has appealed a Historic District Commission ruling ordering the removal of a deer fence and cattle grates on their Nonantum Avenue property to the Superior Court, perhaps the most high-profile example yet of the lengths some islanders are willing to go to fight back against Nantucket’s enormous deer population.
• The Select Board has approved the designation of an iconic elm tree in front of the Nantucket High School as a Liberty Tree.
• Sushi restaurant Bar Yoshi is changing managers, with a potential license suspension from the Select Board hanging over its head.
• The Select Board approved the Tennis Loft to manage the Jetties Beach racquet courts.