Yes On Article 66: Stop The Frivolous Lawsuits And Waste Of Town Resources On Legal Fees

To the editor: My name is Ralph Keith, and I am a non-voting taxpayer. Like several others on Nantucket, my wife and I were sued for Nantucket’s longstanding tradition of renting to vacationers, and for which Nantucket and Massachusetts collect an additional 11.7 percent tax. The lawsuit against us, and all of the other lawsuits, have come through the same law firm, representing ACK Now.

I spent my first summer on Nantucket in 1943. My mother owned two homes on Nantucket and rented them to summer visitors. In the 1950s, I attended Academy Hill school, and I have family buried on Nantucket. Many years ago, my family donated Jose Reyes baskets to the Nantucket Basket Museum and also donated a collection of scrimshaw to the Nantucket Whaling Museum, some of which is still on display today. I served six years in the US Marine Corps Reserves and received an honorable discharge.

In 1964, my wife, Bonnie, and I honeymooned on Nantucket. We returned years later and purchased an antique home in town. We enjoyed that vacation home for 25 years with friends and family.

For more than one season, we also short-term-rented that antique home to a husband and wife. After a few seasons, that couple decided to purchase property on Nantucket, and we sold them adjacent land on which they planned to build a new home of their own, next door. Instead of building a new home, that couple instead purchased an existing home on Cliff Road.

Many years later, we sold our antique home and purchased a new home that was being built on an empty lot. Our new home, at 15 Delaney Road, happens to be around the corner from that Cliff Road home, owned by the couple who previously short-term rented our antique home.

Over the years, Bonnie and I, our family, and our friends have used the new property for visits ranging from a couple of days to two consecutive months. We have also rented our new home to vacationers. We never received a complaint regarding any of our guests.

Many years later, Bonnie and I were shocked to find out that this couple, to whom we had previously rented our antique home and who now owned a home on Cliff Road, despite never contacting us, were pursuing a lawsuit against the Town of Nantucket and Bonnie and I, because we were renting. We tried to reach out to our prior short-term renter and were refused any discussion.

His lawsuit asked the court to declare that the Nantucket zoning bylaw prohibits STRs in the R-1 district. After two years of ZBA and court hearings, and much emotional and financial pain, the judge declared the lawsuit moot; we are free to continue renting our home as we have been.

Is a 12-month/annual lease legal on Nantucket? If you agree, then you should concede that it is also legal to rent a home for one week. Renting, whether for 12 months or for one week, is not specifically listed in Nantucket zoning.

Affordable housing narrative: Contrary to this couple’s slander, we have not harmed affordable housing. The seasonal use of our non-winterized antique home by family, friends, and renters, did not affect affordable housing. And, our new home built on a vacant lot, did not take an existing home out of the year-round housing market. We have never owned more than a single home on Nantucket at a time. In 2019, the neighbor who sued us purchased an additional Nantucket home from a year-round resident and has left it vacant all these years. It could have housed a teacher.

Traffic/infrastructure narrative: Does Nantucket law prohibit homeowners from occupying their homes every week of the summer, or from having a different family member use their house each week of the summer? Contrary to the narrative of causing increased traffic, our home contributes nothing more than normal residential traffic use.

Corporations and real estate investment trusts are already prohibited in the town code, which includes all STR regulations – Chapter 123. Two articles were passed by voters in 2024 that prohibit disinterested corporate investors, without ties to Nantucket, from renting short-term. Chapter 123 of the town code is already registering and regulating short-term rentals and monitoring nuisances.

Nantucket Budget: Nantucket has been receiving $5.1 million – $8.2 million in tax revenue annually since 2020 for rentals less than 32 days.

Vote “YES” on Article 66 – Stop the lawsuits. Protect town resources.

Ralph Keith