Town Government Roundup, January 30 - February 12

The latest edition of Nantucket Current's town government roundup includes a Finance Committee vote on a citizen petition for the spring Annual Town Meeting, the latest on the town's rental preservation program, and possible town real estate acquisitions. 

• In response to a question asked during public comment at a recent Select Board meeting, the town wrote that they are “internally reviewing certain potential real estate acquisitions where existing Town-owned land may be insufficient to meet identified municipal facility needs.” Notably, the Select Board has recently met at least three times in executive session “to consider the purchase, exchange, lease, or value of real property regarding 131/135 Pleasant Street, 47 Sparks Avenue, 51 Sparks Avenue and 109 Pleasant Street.” The town currently has offices and a meeting trailer at 131 and 135 Pleasant Street. The other properties are not town-owned, covering a large swath of undeveloped land next to the Boys & Girls Club known informally as the Craig property. It’s unclear if the Select Board’s executive session meetings are related to the town’s public comment reply.
• The Affordable Housing Trust has settled on a series of guidelines for its long-term rental preservation program. The program, which would pay homeowners up to $18,000 over three years to continue renting their homes long-term to year-round Nantucket residents and workers who qualify for attainable housing, is intended to provide “multi-year financial support to existing landlords renting their properties at the most affordable rates to local worker household groups.” It will essentially be the counterpart to the Trust’s popular Lease to Locals program, which attempts to convert units into long-term rentals, but targeted at landlords already renting long-term. The Trust has yet to set a budget for the program, which will cap rent increases and limit applicants to one unit per cycle.
• The Finance Committee voted 8-0, with Joanna Roche abstaining, to recommend that Town Meeting take no action on a citizen warrant article that would raise the threshold for the Historic District Commission to allow the demolition of historic structures from 3-2 to 4-1.
• The state has officially approved Nantucket’s application for safe harbor from unfriendly 40B developments through 2027. Nantucket reached the requisite number of units for safe harbor in early January with the addition of 64 units at Ticcoma Green, as announced by the Housing Department. State law requires municipalities to continue making significant progress in creating subsidized housing in order to exercise control over 40B developments, like Surfside Crossing, which can have greater density than allowed by zoning if 20 to 25 percent of the units meet the state’s definition of affordable housing.
• TheHistoric District Commission requested only minor revisions to a six-room expansion of a historic guest house at 17 North Water Street previously approved by the Planning Board.
• TheLand Bank has received $72,143 in state funding for tree-thinning work intended to control southern pine beetles. The invasive beetles have prompted significant conservation efforts since their arrival on island several years ago, including earlier tree-thinning work.
• The town’sCommunications Department is creating a branding and style guide for town communications and is looking for feedback from islanders. To provide feedback, fill out this survey.

Here are the stories we covered in full over the last two weeks:

• The ‘Sconset Beach Preservation Fund claims that a portion of its geotube installation along the ‘Sconset Bluff has been intentionally vandalized, leading to a partial collapse of the erosion-control project. It’s unclear how immediate the threat posed by the collapse is. The town of Nantucket is partnering with SBPF on an expansion of the erosion control project, which is included on the warrant for this spring’s Annual Town Meeting. One state agency expressed skepticism of the expansion plan, but it cleared the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act review process.
• Amy Eldridge is running for Select Board this spring. Incumbent Select Board member Malcolm MacNab will not run for another term.
• Fusaro’s is set to be under new management this spring, after the Select Board approved the transfer of its alcohol and entertainment licenses from Tom Fusaro to Mark Smith.
• Arrests aredown 24 percent over the last two years on Nantucket, while motor vehicle stops are up 40 percent, according to a police department presentation delivered to the Select Board.