Nantucket Is A Community, Not A Commodity: Vote No On Article 1

To the editor: Thank you, Mr. Hamlen. You have confirmed what we always suspected was behind the growth in short-term rentals on Nantucket beyond our traditional, family-based rental market: real estate speculators scooping up what used to be year-round houses to make a killing by turning them into short-term rentals. There it is in black and white.

Most short-term rental investors don’t live here, and they don’t “get” what they have done to this community (because they only visit occasionally, if at all). The net profits that their properties generate hardly spend a nanosecond on this island. More than likely, they don’t even care about our long-term viability, as long as the money generated here continues to flow into their bank accounts. Nantucket is just one asset in their investment portfolios. If it loses value, they will just sell and invest elsewhere. Mr. Hamlen just confirmed that.

But what about us who actually live here and value Nantucket as a community apart from its ability to generate passive investment income? We have seen how the fabric of other vacation communities captured by the short-term rental profiteers has been destroyed. We who live here have watched this coming ashore, understand Nantucket economics, and know its history. We can see the writing on the wall.

If this doesn’t trouble you, Article 1 is for you. It will convert even more of Nantucket to a short-term rental investment mecca by permitting every year-round or seasonal house on this island to be replaced with trophy houses and overcrowded lots that no one ever calls “home.”

Big money, lots of it, is behind Article 1, even though voters (people who live here) have rejected similar proposals six times. Why? Because they reject the industry’s attempts to make even more money by making short-term rentals a primary use of homes in our residential neighborhoods. At what cost to us, our island, and our community?

This is what AirROI is telling its clients: “Whether you're considering an Airbnb investment in Nantucket, optimizing your existing vacation rental, or exploring rental arbitrage opportunities, understanding the Nantucket Airbnb data is crucial. LEVERAGING THE LOW REGULATION ENVIRONMENT IS KEY TO MAXIMIZING YOUR SHORT-TERM RENTAL INCOME POTENTIAL.”

Article 2 gives us a better choice at the Special Town Meeting on November 4^th. It puts sensible limitations on the short-term rental industry operating on Nantucket. Speculators like Mr. Hamlen won’t like it. But, for those of us who live here, it’s a small first step toward reigning in an industry that is/was on a fast track to pushing this island beyond the limits of its sustainability.

Join your neighbors at the high school on November 4, at 5 p.m. to defeat Article 1 and pass Article 2. Let’s finally send a message to the world that Nantucket is not a commodity. It’s a community, and we want to keep it that way.

Abigail Camp, Meredith Lepore, and Charity Benz
for Nantucket Neighborhoods First

Editor's note: this letter has been updated to correctly attribute the quote to AirROI. It was originally incorrectly attributed to Airbnb.