Don't Let Nantucket Become A National Historic Rental Park And Event Venue

To the editor: Now it seems that the town and the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) have painted themselves into a corner as the ZBA ponders the 59 South Shore Road event house where the owner rents short term so that the tenants can have very large events. This is a commercial use on top of a commercial use. But, remember the ZBA has just ruled that short-term rentals (STRs) are a legal accessory use in the case of the Grapes’ investment property which is rented short term more than twice as many days as it is used by the owners. So, how do they rule against 59 South Shore with a straight face?

Short-term rentals are commercial by nature, but everyone agrees that homeowners should be able to STR their homes. The only way for STRs to be legal in a residential zone is for them to be customarily incidental and accessory to the principal residential use. We all know that renting one’s home is customary on Nantucket, and most people understand that accessory means minor, subordinate, incidental, or less than. That is why it is difficult to appreciate why the ZBA ignored the plain and legal meanings of those words in its recent ruling in Ward 2 when they counted vacant days as owner’s use. The question is where is the line between occasionally renting on an accessory-use basis and running a commercial operation on the other? The neighbors know where that line is, but the town acts as if residential zoning doesn’t exist! The town zoning officer, ignoring the Land Court’s ruling in Ward 1, recently refused to shut down a full-time STR in Monomoy, just as he refused to issue a cease and desist order on 59 South Shore Road despite receiving many complaints from neighbors. You can’t make this stuff up!

Under the ZBA’s view, nothing prevents other STRs from being used just like 59 South Shore Road. Instead of one big event every once in a while, it can be an every day and every-week occurrence. In many ways, STRs are more commercial and more disruptive to neighborhoods. Allowing strangers to use private residential space as mini-hotels and for events is contrary to the purposes of residential zoning and Massachusetts accessory use law, and it certainly is not the custom or tradition of Nantucket.

Yes, all these things are happening even though last Fall a 55 percent majority of voters supported an article that would codify accessory use by allowing some rentals and restricting investor STRs. Unrestricted STRs are inflicting damage on the Nantucket community. They take housing away from year-round residents, they strain the infrastructure and the environment and disrupt neighborhoods, and they cause serious overcrowding, parking, and traffic issues. Who really benefits when 85 percent of STRs are owned by off-islanders?

The town has failed in its attempts to find a solution to the STR problem. It has endorsed five articles in the last four years that would have legalized STRs as a principal use, but the voters have rejected all of them. The town continues to ignore the majority of voters, the zoning bylaw and the Land Court, causing the neighbors and the taxpayers to incur massive legal fees. Meanwhile, time is running out for Nantucket.

There are two more pro-investor STR articles on the warrant for the Town Meeting in May: the Baltzer article, which would make STRs a legal principal use in residential districts, and the complicated Peel article, which also legalizes investor STRs, rewards them with scarcity value, and shuts out Nantucket year-round and seasonal homeowners. These articles deserve the same fate as the last five articles which attempted to legalize investor STRs.

Fortunately, Article 67 submitted by Fritz McClure, and Article 68 submitted by Patsy Wright are also on the Warrant. Article 67 is a zoning article that would codify accessory use, thereby restricting investor STRs. Wright’s article does the same but only requires a majority vote to pass. These articles represent a chance for the community to avoid having 2,000 properties like 59 South Shore Road and becoming a National Historic Rental Park and Event Venue. These articles will be supported by voters concerned about the community, unaffordable housing, and the loss of the sense of place being experienced by those who love Nantucket.

Peter McCausland