NP&EDC Reform To Diversify Planning Agency Nearing Finalization

The Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission (NP&EDC) has nearly finalized a reform that would reduce the role of the Planning Board and increase representation for other island interests.

Pending a workshop session scheduled for August 5th, the NP&EDC is planning to propose a reform that, if passed at the 2025 Annual Town Meeting and by the state, would add representatives from the Land Bank, Cultural Council, Chamber of Commerce and Council for Human Services to the Commission. Two Planning Board seats would be removed, leaving the Board with three representatives to go along with one from Nantucket Housing Authority, one from the Conservation Commission, one for the Select Board in its role as the County Commissioners, and three at-large members appointed from the public. On net, this would increase the size of the Commission from 11 to 13 members.

But at least one critic of the Commission’s current makeup does not see the proposed reform as a step forward.

"Show me the red thread between their proposed structure and better long-range comprehensive planning for Nantucket,” said planning regime critic Hillary Hedges Rayport, who sponsored a separate reform bylaw that was approved by voters last year. 

The NP&EDC, Nantucket’s regional planning agency, has faced some calls to restructure the commission since Rayport's citizen petition passed by a single vote at the 2023 Annual Town Meeting — though it can’t go into effect without state approval. To assuage public concerns at the meeting, the NP&EDC promised self-reform. Now, it is starting to become clear what that reform will look like: no increased at-large representation, but significantly more influence and seats given to a wide variety of island interests spanning from business to the arts.

The decision to leave the at-large members appointed, in keeping with the Commission’s current practice, was criticized by Rayport, who has long pushed for the at-large members, which her bylaw would increase to five, to be elected.

“I believe in the voters of Nantucket,” Rayport said. “I think that a majority of people on this island do not like the way it's headed and don't like what it's become.”

The NP&EDC was split on the issue but ultimately voted to keep the at-large members appointed.

“I am not for having at-large elected. I think it's messy, I think it puts a lot of pressure on people to run a campaign,” Planning Board Chair and NP&EDC member Dave Iverson said.

What remains uncertain is who will be appointing the at-large members. As it stands, the NP&EDC itself appoints them, but they are strongly considering shifting that responsibility to another body, most likely the Select Board in their role as County Commissioners. Finalizing that decision will be one of the key pieces of the August 5th workshop.

Regardless of who ends up appointing the at-large members, the members of the new NP&EDC will be appointed by a far more diverse group of stakeholders. Currently, the Planning Board controls five of the seats on the NP&EDC, meaning it not only appoints those five members but also has a significant say over who is chosen for the three at-large positions — one of which is currently held by a Planning Board alternate. Under the reform, a large number of elected and appointed officials from various unrelated bodies would select the majority of the Commission’s membership.

Rayport also criticized the absence of a specific historic preservation representative on the Commission. Once the chair of the Nantucket Historical Commission, Rayport has advocated for adding explicit historic preservation representation to the NP&EDC, while her opponents have claimed that the interest is already well represented by staff. According to Rayport’s analysis of a survey done by the NP&EDC gauging public opinion on what interests should be represented on the Commission, historic preservation was the number one most cited interest by a wide margin. The Land Bank, which the NP&EDC did choose to include in its reforms, was second.

“They're obviously responding to what I'm doing but they are not responding to the objective of why we need reform. And the objective is to have a more accountable commission that is laser-focused on long-range, comprehensive planning,” Rayport said.

The NP&EDC’s reform also means it might not be called the NP&EDC much longer. The Commission has voted to jettison the clunky name as part of the reform, should it pass muster with voters, replacing it with the simpler Nantucket Regional Commission.