Short-Term Rental Opponents Should Stop Vilifying People With The Us Vs. Them Narrative

To the editor: I am writing to refute Abigail Camp, Meredith Lepore and Charity Benz’s error filled, uneducated rant about my good friend Bill Hamlen. So much of what they wrote is typical of the awful, unfounded rhetoric that spills from ACK-Now supporters.

Here are the FACTS. Bill and his wife and family have been coming to Nantucket for decades. Bill came to Nantucket in 1984 as a young college graduate. He visited again in the 1990s and in 2012 he started coming annually. In the aftermath of the Great Recession, with the Nantucket real estate market on very uncertain ground, Bill did see an investment opportunity as he described in his letter. He purchased a home near town that he and his family still use to this day. He also purchased two other brand-new houses built by developers that were NEVER targeted for year-round residents. These were eventually sold as he described. He also purchased and renovated another property that had been used as a summer rental for decades. NONE of his activity took any housing opportunities away from year-round families. Furthermore, all of this was driven by the “once in a lifetime” era of low interest rates following the 2008 financial crisis. That situation no longer exists, yet the ACK-Now propoganda continues to ignore this crucial fact.

People who rent houses to short term vacationers do so for many reasons. Some, a small minority, are purely investors. Many do so as they can only justify owning a seasonal home if they can rent it for some portion of the season. A recent letter from Todd and Susan Raisch is a clear example of that type of owner. Many are multi-generational seasonal residents who rent so they can continue to own and use their properties. We all know the cost of homeownership here, especially for older homes in constant need of maintenance. And there are year-round owners who may own investment property (like the Corkish cottages on Polpis Road) or rent a second dwelling to make extra income. None of these owners are pillaging year-round homes or neighborhoods.

This ugly rhetoric does nothing for the community. It is factually wrong, it vilifies many good people and ultimately shreds the community into the “us” (the noble good guys) versus “them” (the evil, off-island money-fueled investor). This ugly dialogue has no productive end.

The affordability problem on Nantucket has been an issue for decades. I chaired the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee for three years in the late 1990’s and we struggled with housing affordability then. The island community has NEVER had an honest discussion about how the island got to this point. I hope that someday soon we will, but it won’t happen as long as the “us versus them” attitude continues.

Until then, blaming the island housing problem on people who rent to vacationers is ludicrous and completely unproductive. Article 2 is emblematic of this mindset. It will not hurt the investor owner. It will not magically create affordable housing opportunities for year-round families. It will devastate shoulder season business, making it far harder for small local businesses to succeed. And that will make the island far less affordable for the year-round community that ACK Now and the anti-STR forces profess wanting to protect.

Sincerely,
Edward J Sanford