Nantucket weekends are saved as voters back lax rental rules

At a crowded special town meeting attended by roughly 1,500 residents on Tuesday night, more than 70% backed a measure allowing homeowners to rent out their properties without any requirements on length of stay. They also declined to advance a competing proposal that would have mandated week-long minimum stays during the summer and capped the number of days a property could be rented each year.

Short-term rentals have been a hot-button issue for Nantucket, with supporters of tighter limits arguing that wealthy tourists are gobbling up all the housing options for workers and proponents of a more lax policy highlighting how important visitors are to the island’s economy. The issue has fueled years of tension, including lawsuits and several unsuccessful attempts to establish clear rules.

Short-term rentals have long taken place in Nantucket, but a zoning change a decade ago put the practice in a legal gray area. A Boston judge further muddled things in June when he ruled that short-term rentals aren’t allowed in at least one part of Nantucket under bylaws in place at the time. 

Supporters of laxer rules have argued that Nantucket’s year-round residents need the additional income from renting out properties and that the island should be incentivized to provide lodging for the tourists who come for vacations, weddings and weekend jaunts. 

Once a whaling port, Nantucket has become a playground for the well-heeled. Oceanfront homes can sell for millions of dollars and the population of about 14,000 balloons to five times that number in July and August.

The regulatory uncertainty had led some would-be visitors to conclude they aren’t allowed to rent on Nantucket, said Brian Borgeson, the owner of a charter fishing business who sponsored the measure for lenient rules. Before the vote, he urged his fellow year-round residents to finally approve regulations in order to avoid having a judge decide the rules for them.

“No one here works at the saw mill. No one here works at the iron plant. We’re all in tourism, whether you like it or not,” Borgeson said at the start of the town meeting on Tuesday.

He and other supporters contended that occupancy rules, noise ordinances and other existing restrictions against corporate property lease firms would prevent short-term rentals from getting out of control.

Backers of tighter limits, including Peter McCausland, founder of industrial gas supplier Airgas Inc., had argued that the proliferation of rental properties has shrunk an already-tight housing supply and threatens to drive the middle class from an island famous for its oceanfront estates.

The unsuccessful proposal would have mandated a minimum stay of seven days in short-term rentals between June 15 and Aug. 31. Properties couldn’t have been rented for more than 49 days during that summer period or for longer than 70 days in a year.