Town Government Roundup, April 10-23

As visitors return to Nantucket’s shores for Daffodil Day and the start of the season, it is about the time of year that many residents may begin to notice that parking is harder to come by. Read more about a Select Board discussion on downtown parking and a town plan to dredge Polpis Harbor in this edition of the Current’s biweekly local government roundup.

- The Select Board is still struggling to decide how to handle parking downtown. After denying one application to remove a public parking space to facilitate access to a private driveway with spots for multiple cars and continuing two others, including one that had already been continued once before during a similar discussion last December, the Select Board agreed to schedule a discussion on the policy that has historically allowed similar applications to be routinely approved. As it becomes more and more difficult to find parking downtown, the Select Board is questioning whether private and public parking can be equated at a simple two-to-one ratio. Select Board member Matt Fee suggested the possibility of establishing paid parking downtown. The Select Board also decided to eliminate only two of the six spots the town was seeking to cut in front of the Summer Street church to allow firetrucks to make their way down the road, worried that, if neighbors complained, the town might suddenly find that modern firetrucks can’t fit down many of Nantucket’s historic streets, leading to the elimination of large swaths of parking. “Are we opening up a massive can of worms here?” Select Board chair Dawn Hill asked.

- The Select Board is now accepting applications for open spots on appointed town committees.

- The Conservation Commission expressed preliminary support for a town plan to dredge Polpis Harbor and Hither Creek. An official vote was delayed to allow the town to gain state approval.

- The Conservation Commission is planning to amend its regulations to clarify that certain natural materials, such as haybales or coir rolls, when used in isolation to control coastal erosion, do not qualify as structures. The Commission is also in the early stages of considering a ban on fertilizer in parts of its jurisdiction, with exceptions for ecological restoration.

And here are the local government stories we have covered in full over the last two weeks:

- Charter boat captain Bob DeCosta has announced a write-in campaign for Select Board. DeCosta previously served on the Board and has remained active in local politics. Four days after DeCosta’s announcement, artist and musician Brad Smith dropped out of the race, leaving DeCosta against Finance Committee chair Jill Veith and perennial candidate Clifford Williams in the contest for two seats.

- The state Housing Appeals Committee has issued a final ruling in favor of the proposed 156-unit housing development known as Surfside Crossing. The Select Board has authorized an appeal, and the Nantucket Tipping Point, a local group long opposed to the development, will appeal as well.

- The Planning Board approved three workforce housing dormitories across the island, including a controversial development on Waydale Road.

- Artificial turf has remained squarely in the spotlight. With embattled Board of Health chair Ann Smith under fire for controversial emails dismissing the concerns of student athletes, the Board opted to take no action on a proposed island-wide moratorium, expressing support for ongoing negotiations between the Nantucket Public Schools and Nantucket Land and Water Council.

- The Select Board has unanimously endorsed a draft license agreement with the Sconset Beach Preservation Fund, a major step toward enabling the proposed expansion of the controversial erosion-control geotube installation along the Sconset Bluff.

- The final price tag is slightly higher, but the borrowing required to construct a new Our Island Home facility will not increase this year, should voters approve it, judging by the proposed bid reviewed by the Select Board on Wednesday.

- Members of the Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board are at odds with the town’s natural resources department over a memo asking the advisory board to back down from its campaign to pressure the Great Harbor Yacht Club to comply with the conditions of the state permit that allows it to develop Nantucket’s waterfront.

- With Town Meeting approaching, the Current took a closer look at some of the more consequential proposals on the ballot that haven’t drawn as many headlines. Read more about a town effort to create a stormwater management bylaw, a citizen petition to establish an offshore wind mitigation fund, and an article that would raise the threshold for the Historic District Commission to approve a demolition from a majority to a supermajority. 

- Short-term rental occupancy tax revenue collected by the town of Nantucket jumped 24 percent last summer, but remained around 9 percent lower than the record high set in the summer of 2023.

- The Land Bank has set aside a parcel of land off Milestone Road for water mitigation purposes, allowing the town to increase its water withdrawal from the aquifer.