Questions Linger On Housing Production Plan

This letter was originally sent to the Nantucket Select Board, Planning Board, and Affordable Housing Trust.

To the editor: After reading the 92-page Housing Production Plan, attending last night’s joint Select Board and Planning Board meeting, and asking questions about the 17,432 additional dwelling units identified as potentially available, I still have some questions, in addition to those raised in the two-page letter Nantucket Tipping Point already submitted to the Boards regarding this.

Both the Planning Director and Nat Lowell as a Planning Board member stated that the 17,432 figure is essentially not a realistic number and that it’s never going to get built. However, they also explained that the number had to be included in the Housing Production Plan because Weston & Sampson identified it as part of the potential buildout through 2050.

If the Town does not realistically expect that number of units to ever be built, why is it being presented as the potential number of dwelling units available for future development on Nantucket? If 2050 is the planning horizon we are using, that is not particularly far into the future when we are talking about responsible long-term planning.

I would appreciate a clear and substantive explanation of how this number was determined, why it is being used in the plan, and what practical purpose it serves if the Town itself does not believe the buildout is realistic. I am looking for an actual explanation rather than simply being told that I “don’t understand what I don’t understand.”

Since this document is being submitted to the State for approval, these questions should be clear, transparent, and readily answered. Facts matter.

I was pleased to hear Select Board member Brooke Mohr state that the Board will not attempt to change the HDC’s special legislative act, as indicated in the Housing Production Plan on page 71 being presented to the State.

On a separate note, I was glad to hear Planning Board member Nat Lowell say that “we’ve already done all the zoning changes that’s pretty much going to happen.” If that is the case, hopefully it will make the Town Meeting discussion and process considerably more straightforward.

Thank you, and I look forward to a clear response to these questions.

Meghan Perry