Who Should Enforce The Town's Regulations On Short-Term Rentals?

Who should enforce regulations governing parties on Nantucket? What about short-term rental regulations? Nobody seems to know — but the staff members of the Health Department hope it isn’t them.

“I do not believe currently that the regulations as they're written are enforceable,” Health Director Roque Miramontes said on Wednesday. “I do not believe currently that, at least from the Health Department's perspective, that we would be able to provide appropriate enforcement for the regulations.”

The debate comes as the Board of Health considers adopting new restrictions on large parties at short-term rentals (STRs). Proposed regulations would require permits for gatherings at STRs and would empower the Health Department to enforce fines of up to $5,000 per offense for violations. At a joint meeting with the Select Board on Wednesday, Board of Health members expressed different perspectives on whether the Health Department should be responsible for the regulations if they are eventually passed.

“I don't think a board of five people can handle that,” Board of Health member Jim Cooper said. “I don't think that it's really in the purview of the Board of Health. The Board of Health is there for the health and welfare of the people of Nantucket. Who cares where they're parked? We don't. It's got nothing to do with us. There's so many things in [those] rules and regulations that have absolutely nothing to do with the Board of Health.”

“A lot of things come before us in terms of the Board of Health that we have to say: ‘Is this really a health matter?’” Board of Health member Ann Smith said. “There are situations where an overcrowded property could definitely affect emergency services, and I think in that regard, we could say that it is part of the health department to regulate in some way. So, I don't know whether there could possibly be a compromise here, but I don't know that we should walk away from it completely.”

For his part, Board of Health chair and Select Board member Malcolm MacNab doesn’t know what to think.

“I've been for it, against it, for it, against it, depends on the day,” MacNab said.

Select Board members also expressed concerns.

“[Miramontes] just said this is not enforceable based on staff time and bandwidth and purview, etc. To me, that's as far as it goes,” Select Board member Tom Dixon said. “Putting something on the books that cannot be enforced for natural organic reasons is not a prudent thing in municipal government.”

The draft restrictions would only apply to gatherings at STRs. Some members of the Select Board suggested that this limitation would prevent proper enforcement. It’s possible that disruptive gatherings could be held at homes that are occupied year-round or occupied seasonally but not rented on a short-term basis.

“Although these events may take place at something that is also used as an STR, these events often take place at completely private homes,” Select Board chair Dawn Hill Holdgate said. “How do we get to the real root of the concern, and who does it apply to…I can see a way to possibly regulate, but it has got to be an even playing field.”

What everyone seems to agree on is that something has to be done. It’s just not clear how any regulations could be enforced.

“I think what's happening is that people are finding a way...around our existing scale and our exsisting rules and I think that a lot of the departments are overworked and understaffed and its a hot potato that none of them have the ability to deal with,” Select Board vice chair Matt Fee said. “Just because you're driving your car 100 miles per hour down the highway and you don't get caught doesn't mean everyone should be able to drive their car 100 miles per hour down the highway.”

By the end of the Select Board’s discussion, it did not seem likely that a majority of the Board would support the draft restrictions if enforcement were to remain with the Health Department. But no clear alternative presented itself, and no one was quick to volunteer to take on enforcement.

“I’m disappointed that we’re kind of walking away from this,” MacNab said. “What can the Select Board do? We’re supposed to manage this island the best we can, and I’m not sure we’re managing it correctly right now.”