For Whom The Bell Tolls: Nantucket’s Defining Hour

To the editor: When the fog rolls in from the Atlantic and the church bells echo across Nantucket, it’s easy to believe this island is eternal. But beneath the postcard charm and cobblestone streets lies a community on the edge. On May 3, voters will gather for Town Meeting and decide the fate of four pivotal articles—66, 67, 68, and 69. One of them, Article 66, may ring the death knell for what’s left of the island’s neighborhoods.

Disguised as a “clarification” of zoning laws, Article 66 would lock in short-term rentals (STRs) as a principal use across nearly all residential districts. It’s a lawyer’s sleight of hand with generational consequences. If passed, it would permanently disarm the town’s ability to regulate STRs — not just now, but for years to come.

The stakes are enormous. Nantucket’s housing crisis has already forced families, teachers, tradespeople, and artists to flee. Their places are filled not by new neighbors, but by revolving doors of weekly renters. Whole streets have gone dark in winter. What happens when that final bell tolls—and the last year-round family leaves?

Meanwhile, the island’s working backbone - largely composed of immigrant laborers, both legal and undocumented - is increasingly crammed into basements, sheds, and barely habitable dwellings. These men and women serve the summer economy without complaint, while their living conditions remain invisible to the very system that profits from their silence. Their landlords grow rich; their rights are ignored.

Articles 67, 68, and 69 attempt to offer a pause, a course correction, or a line in the sand. But they will mean little if Article 66 becomes law. That article doesn’t just toll the bell - it welds it to the steeple, sealing Nantucket’s fate as a resort economy with no real community left to defend.

The church bells that once called islanders to gather in celebration or mourning now toll with a question: What kind of place are we leaving to the next generation? Will Nantucket be remembered as a living, breathing island community—or just another cautionary tale, another playground sold off to the highest bidder?

Time is short. The bell is tolling. Nantucket must answer—before it’s too late.

Charles Dundee