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In the latest skirmish over the future of vacation rentals on Nantucket, voters rejected four new proposals designed to regulate the market.
Town boards had supported what they characterized as a compromise designed to protect residents’ ability to rent out their homes and guest cottages for supplemental income, while discouraging speculation by investors.
“It’s designed to slow the possible growth of rentals as well as drastically reducing the profit margin on investor-owned [short-term rentals],” Nantucket Planning Board Chair David Iverson said in urging voters to support the zoning article at a special town meeting Tuesday.
But the zoning article was rejected by a 472-416 margin.
Nantucket voters have rejected a series of new regulations on short-term rentals in recent years. Opponents have argued that the new limits would burden residents who rely on income from renting out their homes or guest cottages for a portion of the year.
The town board-backed proposal attempted to respond to those critiques with protections for existing property owners. Those that owned owned multiple properties previously used for short-term rentals could continue to do so for eight years.
After eight years, they would be subject to a new limit of one rental property per owner, limited to eight changes of occupancy during July and August.
More than 10,000 Nantucket properties are used for vacation rentals, town officials estimate.
Backers of the most stringent limits, the Put Nantucket Neighborhoods First nonprofit group, say outside investors are turning some of the island’s pricey mansions into mini-hotels that disrupt the character of residential neighborhoods.
The group proposed its own zoning amendments classifying short-term rentals as an accessory use, requiring owners to occupy the dwelling for more days per year than renters. Backers said the regulation was modeled on a recent bylaw in West Tisbury that’s been approved by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell.
Opponents said the residency requirements would be impossible to enforce. The proposal failed to achieve the required two-thirds majority, in a 478-394 positive vote.
In recent years, Nantucket officials and citizens have proposed a series of zoning bylaws designed to regulate short-term rentals. None have gained the two-thirds majority at town meeting.
Then in March, a state Land Court ruling injected more uncertainty into the future of the short-term rental market.
The case that stemmed from a zoning dispute over the use of a house at 9 West Dover St. for short-term rentals. Associate Justice Michael Vhay ruled that short-term rentals are not allowed as a dwelling’s principal use in the town’s residential zoning districts.
Despite the ruling, town officials, acting upon the advice of Town Counsel John Giorgio, said they would not intervene in short-term rentals during summer 2024.
A message was left with the Nantucket Select Board seeking clarity on the future legal status and enforcement of short-term rentals in the wake of Tuesday’s vote.
Real estate agents say the publicity about the attempted regulation has prompted questions from prospective renters about whether contracts will be honored for 2025.
