Nantucket Just Dodged A Massive Bullet, But Not Of Its Own Accord

To the editor: Ballot question 7 Nantucket vote: No 51 percent, Yes 49 percent. I could not agree more with Joe Topham regarding the devastatingly negative impact Ballot Question 7 would have had on Nantucket, had it passed. One must ask, however, why he waited until after the voting on Tuesday to voice this concern? The existence of and information on Ballot Question 7 was made available to the public in early September. It’s not as if our officials weren’t aware of it. In the October 29 edition, the I&M reported that Leslie Snell said that neither the Planning Board nor the Nantucket Planning & Economic Development Commission has discussed the question or taken a position on it. How could such an important ballot initiative not have been a focus for the people in our community who are responsible for planning our future? Why was the alarm bell not sounded well BEFORE people voted?

I am also in total agreement with Mr. Topham’s conclusion that the “some voters wanted this tool to promote more development in our community”. This has to be a reference to the construction/real estate interests that have so much influence in Nantucket. It’s nice to see a Planning Board member acknowledge that fact, at last, and bemoan it in addition.

Another point on which I fully agree with Mr. Topham: our island has serious constraints in most, if not all, areas. It’s heartening to hear a Planning Board member say this. A few years ago, the then-Planning Director Andrew Vorce claimed in a meeting that “carrying capacity” is not a concept in land use planning. A little research proves this statement to have been false, actually. If we don’t put carrying capacity at the heart of every analysis we do, and every decision we make, we are doomed to render our island uninhabitable.

Ballot question 7 Statewide vote (99 percent reporting): No 1,287,917; 50.6 percent; Yes 1,255,595; 49.4 percent, a difference of a mere 32,322 votes.

Nantucket just dodged a massive bullet, but not of its own accord. We need to be smart and ready going forward, not just lucky.

With respect,

Anne Dewez
Mill Street