Excuse Me, Mr. McCausland? NNF Responds To ACK Now

To the editor: Following an unfortunate and misguided attack, Nantucket Neighborhoods First more than understands Mr. McCausland’s relentless pursuit and fixation on accessory use, but we believe it is important to combat and correct any misinformation or confusion brought forth by agenda-driven organizations and individuals.

After 5 years and many town meetings beating our heads against the wall of short-term rental (STR) zoning, NNF decided that the voters deserved a fresh new approach to the issue. That approach is presented to the voters for Annual Town Meeting on May 3 as article 69. And while the town inched a little closer to approving an accessory use article at last year’s Special Town Meeting, NNF took that as a statement from the voters saying, “We see the problem, but we need more and better information and data to decide what’s best for Nantucket’s future,” rather than a lot of speculative and, from what we have learned from our own research over time, unreliable, wildly fluctuating, and largely irrelevant historical data.

Furthermore, Mr. McCausland states that NNF has “sided with commercial interests...” Nothing could be farther from the truth!

Simply put, Article 69 seeks to accomplish the following:

• Establish a temporary three-year cap of 1,350 STRs island-wide
• Setting a maximum of 2 STRs per owner
• An annual maximum of 70 rental nights

This is a huge disincentive for commercial investors. But more importantly, article 69 does not discriminate between year-round residents and seasonal property owners. It does not tell you what you can or can’t do with your property determined by how much time you spend in it. It also does not open the floodgates to STRs in residential neighborhoods with unregulated and, to date, unenforced zoning bylaws.

What it does do is allow the town to collect STR data, determine the level of compliance with state and local regulations by STR owners, gain a greater understanding of STR impact on local resources, and in three years’ time allow the voters and town to make an educated and informed decision on the future of STRs on Nantucket.

NNF is offering voters the opportunity to take a break from this issue by requiring the town to collect data to give voters an accurate factual foundation to use when making their future STR decisions. Only then can we have confidence in our votes, not only for our families’ futures but also for the future of this unique island. It is undeniably time to stop this “insanity” now and base our STR decisions on facts, not wild assertions, hyperbole , and scare tactics.

Matt Peel