Surge Of Applicants For New Short-Term Rental Work Group
Jason Graziadei •
After two long years of contentious debate over short-term rentals on Nantucket, the interest in the divisive topic has only accelerated.
Take, for example, the number of applicants seeking to join the town's new Short Term Rental Work Group. The Select Board on Wednesday revealed that 41 people had submitted their names for consideration for one of the nine open seats on the work group. That is far more than any other appointed committee in recent memory.
The work group, which was created by Town Meeting voters back in May after they decided to table two controversial proposals related to short-term rentals, has been tasked with further studying the issue and finding consensus. After months of discussion regarding the mission, membership and scope of the new work group, the town administration was inundated with applications from those seeking a seat at the table. The Select Board will make the appointments at its Sept. 21 meeting.
Below are the names of the applicants vying for a spot on the work group charged with studying regulations or zoning amendments that could potentially restrict - or allow by right - short-term rentals on Nantucket:
- Kathy Baird (Nantucket Together)
- Curtis Barnes
- Gary Beller (Advisory Committee of Non-Voting Taxpayers “ACNVT”)
- Sue Brandt
- Abigail Camp
- Wendy Conway Schmidt
- Ernie Culkins
- Jonathon W. Delano
- Thomas Dixon
- Rebecca (Rebek) Duhaime
- Geraldine (Gerri) Ferguson
- Lynn Filipski
- William Gardner (ACNVT)
- Keith Goldstein
- Karel Greenberg
- JP Hernandez
- Peter Hoey
- Peter Kahn (ACNVT)
- John Kitchener
- Robert Levy
- Andy Lowell
- Bruce Mandel - late submission
- Edward Mills
- Henry Mueller
- Leo Mullen
- Chip Newton
- Robin Nydes (Nantucket Together)
- Jeffery Parker
- Matthew Peel
- Sam Pierpont
- Joseph W. Plandowski
- Sharon Quigley
- Georgia Raysman
- Grant Sanders
- Damian Schaible (Nantucket Together)
- Eric Silfen
- Jim Sulzer
- Catherine Ward
- Linda Williams
- Patsy Wright
- Karen Zagaykof
You can read the each applicant's interest form, which includes information such as whether they are a year-round or seasonal resident, and if they operate a short-term rental, by clicking here. The Select Board and other town officials spent weeks attempting to determine what constituted a conflict of interest with regard to participating on the Short-Term Rental Work Group and who could be prohibited from a seat on the work group based on those conflicts. They sought out legal opinions as well as input from the state Ethics Commission, which ultimately determined that given the ubiquitous nature of short-term rentals on Nantucket, few people would have conflicts of interest.
The work group's membership will include:
(1) Planning Board member (primary and alternate) (voting)
(1) Finance Committee member (primary and alternate) (voting)
(1) Advisory Committee of Non-Voting Taxpayers member (primary and alternate) (voting)
(1) ACK•Now member (primary and alternate) (voting)
(1) Nantucket Together member (primary and alternate) (voting)
(1) Affordable Housing advocate (primary and alternate) (voting)
(3) At-large members and (1) alternate (voting)
(1) Board of Health designee (non-voting)