we want what is best for the island and the community

• Summary of Outcomes:

1. The Nantucket Current and Inquirer and Mirror reports of the voting and discourse can be found by clicking on the links cited in this sentence.  Read them if you are interested in the detail.  View the video of the 2024 STM starting about 20 minutes into the meeting.
2. The Inquirer

We fully support the Planning Board, FINCOM and Select Board recommendations to take no action on citizens warrant aricles 2-7 even if they are called by their supporters on the floor of STM.  In summary and with further detail:

• Article 2 as shown in the warrant, is a rehash of previously failed ACK-NOW citizens articles that attempt to define 'accessory use' in terms of counting days a home is occupied by the owner vs. those it is rented and sets a very strict limit on summer rentals.  In the past few days the sponsor has decided to propose (on the town floor) a different alternative to replace the one in the warrant.  This will take components of a recently passed general bylaw in W. Tisbury that is simpler but still unacceptable for the same reasons. Do we want our neighbors clocking our coming and going? Do we want to submit our federal taxes to the town for the purposes of counting occupancy days when IRS rules are different than Article 2's proposed rules?  [e.g., days that rental owners are in their homes to work on them do not count as 'occupied' for the purposes of pro-rating expenses and do not appear on IRS forms, but they would could for Article 2]. Do we want to leave ourselvrees continually open to challenges on those metics?  Do we want the already-busy ZBA to spend time on this?  We think not - VOTE NO when the submitter calls the article (click here for the proposed new version of Article 2)
• Articles 3 & 6 - These were companion articles (Zoning and General Bylaw) submmitted by Attorney Steven Cohen who has since indicated they should not move forward for a vote, instead deferring his support to Article 1.  We all pray for his recovery and return to the island after his horrible accident in July but he is unlikely to be present to speak at STM
• Article 4 - Submitted by Grant Sanders who also agreed to not call his article in favor of Article 1 but he reserved the right to do so if Article 1 fails.  We do not support this article due to its potentially illegal residency requirement, overly restrictive limitations on summer rentals and the 5 year 'sunset' clause on existing multi-STR owners due to the potential associated litigation for the 'taking' of property rights. Mr. Sanders plans to propose a 'positive motion' on his article from the STM floor but is not willing to share what that will be.
• Arrticle 5 - we do not support this overly complicated redefinition of corporate ownership that was approved by voters at 2024 ATM as Article 60.  Let's see who falls through the cracks first and wait for state AG approval of Article 60 before changing the definition.  There just are not that many that are corporate-owned and many are already on the market due to Article 60.
• Article 7 - We do not support this article for the same reasons cited by town counsel - it includes rules that are already on the books, increased registration fees unrelated to the cost of administering the STR regulation program as well as those that are ripe for litigation.
  

Kathy Baird for Nantucket Together 

 ProcessFirst was selected by the town to delve into online rental platform, MA State STR registry, home sales data and combine it/ compare it to the extent possible with similar data being independently aggregated by the Nantucket Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB), removing duplicates and protecting personal information.