Oh So Close

To The editor: Oh so close. Just 58 more votes would have given Article 66 the two-thirds vote needed for passage to end this “stalemate” on vacation rentals on Nantucket.

Although a clear majority of island voters supported this article to permit vacation rentals subject to strict regulations, end those neighbor-against-neighbor lawsuits, and preserve the economic livelihoods of Nantucket homeowners, it fell a few votes short of the two-thirds necessary to pass a zoning ordinance.

The good news is that support for this reasonable approach is growing — and the highly restrictive, unconstitutional, and unenforceable measures embraced in Articles 67, 68, and 69 went down in flames.

Some 67 percent of voters opposed Article 67; 72 percent opposed Article 68; and 86 percent opposed Article 69.

What happens next?

As town counsel warned, a judge could easily substitute his judgment for Nantucket voters. My hope is that by coming so close to approving Article 66, a judge would take judicial notice that the vast majority of Nantucket voters want to maintain our current practice of renting Nantucket homes to vacationers and rule that this is both a customary practice and the choice of Nantucketers.

Of course, there can always be another vote on a zoning ordinance, although when and how that can happen is up for debate.

In the meantime, congratulations to the hundreds of voters and town officials who turned out in support of Article 66 and opposition to the others. Common sense prevailed.

Jonathan Delano
Lyons Lane