Please reach out to us at nantuckettogether@gmail.com if you cannot find an answer to your question or you wish to submit one for the panelists to answer at the STR Webinar.
NO. No, despite 100 years of history, STRs are suddenly not legal on Nantucket due to a state Court Order in March that found that Nantucket’s Zoning Code does not allow STRs expressly enough, and therefore STRs are now illegal as a primary use island-wide.
NO. While the Massachusetts Land Court ruled that short-term rentals of a primary dwelling on West Dover Street did not qualify as a “principal use,” it remanded the matter back to the Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals for further public hearing on the issue of whether short-term rental could be a lawful “accessory use” of the primary dwelling. That hearing has not yet occurred, nor is there currently a definitive interpretation of what is considered “customary accessory use” on Nantucket for short-term rentals of residential property.
The Court Order does say that STRs may be allowed as an accessory use, but there
is no definition of what that means. That question will be heard at the ZBA in June and
will likely end up in litigation. No one can be sure what kind of STR may qualify, if any.
YES. Article 59 simply creates an express STR use in the Zoning Code and allows
STRs in all districts, except the Commercial Industrial District. It does not remove
guardrails or add something new – it reinstates the practice that has been in place for 50 years. Article 59 also confirms a finding by the court that STRs are a residential use, not a commercial use, because the activity occurring at the property is residential.
NO. It will not be too late to add rules or limit STRs later. The state law that allowed
for STR rental taxes also allows Towns to regulate nearly all aspects of STRs through
general bylaws instead of the Zoning Code. It takes a 2/3 vote at Town Meeting to
change zoning, but a bylaw change only needs a majority vote, so passing Article 59
sets the stage under zoning for easier STR regulations in the bylaw. For example, the
Town has already passed an STR bylaw to require meeting a list of health and safety
regulations before obtaining a newly required Certificate of Registration. Also, Article 60 on this Warrant is a bylaw change that would prohibit corporate ownership of STRs; it only needs a majority vote and should also be adopted.
NO. Article 59 does not create a different system or eliminate any protections. It
codifies the exact situation that existed until the court changed everything this March,
and had been in place since well before Nantucket adopted zoning in 1972. This is
evidenced by
1) The Town had taken the position that STRs are legal in the Zoning Code in
multiple ZBA appeals and court cases,
2) The Town had allowed STRs under the Zoning Code for the past 5 decades,
3) The Town adopted an STR registration system and other rules 3 years ago, and
4) The Town has been collecting STR taxes for 3 years.
Article 59 would simply affirm that Nantucket wants to continue our long history and
tradition of having visitors stay in houses, not hotels and resorts.
NO. Having only accessory use STRs does not work in reality.
If Article 59 is not adopted, there will be catastrophic impacts, including:
NO. The vast majority of STRs are owned by local families and by summer residents
who need to rent out their houses to help with expenses. There are some STRs that
are only used as rentals, but the economics of that model really do not work. That is
why there has not been a proliferation of investor STRs and less than 4% of STRs are
investor-only properties. Today, most STR rents go to people just trying to live on
Nantucket or make their family’s Nantucket dream work. Those rents get reinvested
into hiring locals to provide services, and the money spent by STR visitors mostly goes
to local businesses and service providers. The idea of wide-spread exploitation of
Nantucket by off-island investors and big companies is a contrived myth designed to
mislead us.
NO. This is a very misleading argument. People who buy houses and then rent them
are competing with vacation home buyers, not year-round or affordable housing buyers. Banning STRs only helps vacation home buyers who can afford to buy a house, leave it mostly empty and not rent it out. Nantucket’s popularity with wealthy summer home buyers benefitting from years of low interest rates and the soaring stock market, extensive land conservation, and Nantucket’s low-density Zoning Code, have been driving up real estate prices for 50 years - that ship has sailed. We need to address our housing crisis and other problems, and also preserve the environment, but banning STRs will not help one bit.
Defeating Article 59 only helps the few who do not make their living here, who do not
need rental income, and who want to see thousands of fewer visitors and thousands of fewer residents to service them. That is their whole point, and they say it repeatedly.
ACK-Now and Put Nantucket Neighborhoods First both state that the summer visitors
and the residents who service them are what is ruining their Nantucket because they
drive on the roads, park in town, have kids in school, need healthcare, use town
services, use nonprofit services, need housing, use public parks and beaches, add
trash to the landfill, add sewage to the system, drink water from the aquifer, use
electricity and propane, and are otherwise the problem. They even complain that the
problem is the disturbance from the noise and laughter of children playing next door - if only this was a joke. They want to lower their taxes and weed out tens of thousands of us to create an ultra-gated community that does not need or want us, and they say it over and over. Believe them.
This is a very misleading argument. STR visitors live in a house with their family and
guests just like non-STR visitors. Sometimes they are great neighbors and sometimes
not, but the same disturbances that can come from an STR visitor can come from a
house lived in by locals, non-renting summer residents, long term renters, or workforce housing. The best way to stop nuisances in our neighborhoods is through bylaws that can be enforced with fines or the loss of a registration certificate
We need to approve Article 60 so that large corporations cannot purchase additional properties to create new STRs on Nantucket.
Again, once Articles 59 and 60 are approved and adopted, any other reasonable regulation can also be added to the bylaw at future Town Meetings with a simple majority vote to address problems that may exist or be anticipated.
Affirm our tradition of vacation home rentals. Protect your rights and your job. Prevent
an economic meltdown. Say no to making Nantucket available only to the ultra-wealthy.
Please vote YES on Article 59 to replace the state court Order with a local decision, and on Article 60 to prohibit new corporate ownership of STRs.
Tax them using the existing 3% Community Impact Fe
Section 501(c)(4) community organization
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