The Nantucket Finance Committee on Feb. 18, 2025, voted to support the Planning Board’s positive recommendation for Article 66 — a zoning amendment that would create a permitted category for what the sponsor calls “Nantucket Vacation Rentals” (NVRs) — but opposed or recommended no action on several related citizen articles. Committee members also deadlocked on Article 69, a citizen-petition general bylaw that would impose a temporary cap on short‑term rental certificates.

The committee’s action clears a key gate in the town’s process: Article 66 would amend the zoning use table to list a short‑term Nantucket Vacation Rental (NVR) as an allowed use in most districts, contingent on a valid Board of Health certificate of registration and compliance with general bylaws. Planning Board members had recommended adoption; the Finance Committee motion to support that recommendation passed by roll call.

Why it matters: the four citizen articles (Nos. 66–69) propose different ways to regulate short‑term rentals (STRs) — from making a use allowed in zoning (Article 66), to accessory‑use limits and minimum owner occupancy (Article 67), to a general‑bylaw approach (Article 68), and to a three‑year temporary cap plus a 70‑day annual limit (Article 69). Committee members, town counsel and town staff repeatedly said enforcement capacity, legal risk and available data (especially from the new STR registration) should guide the town’s choices.

Caroline Baltzer, the sponsor of Article 66, framed her proposal as a local, long‑running approach. “I have attempted to reclaim Nantucket STRs as NVRs or Nantucket Vacation Rentals in article 66,” she said, arguing the measure would combine zoning and bylaw protections and help the town resist future lawsuits. Baltzer also noted a pending land‑court case she called a “legal bullying” risk to neighbors and the town.

Town legal adviser John Georgiou gave guidance on recusal and open‑meeting concerns during the meeting’s opening and again during deliberations. “Any emails that are sent to the finance committee are public record,” Georgiou told the committee, and he cautioned members against replying to committee‑addressed emails outside posted meetings because such replies can create an unlawful deliberation.

Key numbers and data cited during deliberations:
- Fiscal year 2024 room‑occupancy tax receipts attributable to short‑term rentals: $8,572,811 (town staff reported). Fiscal 2023 attributable receipts were $7,948,258, a year‑over‑year increase the staff calculated at about 7.86 percent.
- Local STR registry enrollments reported at the meeting: about 863 certificates of registration on the town registry at the time of the meeting; the town staff and others said a deduplicated statewide list had been used previously as a baseline and produced an estimate near 1,900 rental properties (figures described as estimates by staff).
- Community impact fee receipts reported for the first short reporting period (Oct.–Nov. 2024): $13,816.85 (town staff said a full‑year picture will be clearer after payments that reflect the June–August period are received).

Article summaries and the committee’s votes
- Article 66 (sponsor: Caroline Baltzer). Proposal: amend the zoning bylaw to add a permitted use category for Nantucket Vacation Rentals (NVR), with a requirement for a valid Board of Health certificate and compliance with applicable general bylaws. Planning Board: positive recommendation. Finance Committee: motion to support the Planning Board’s positive recommendation (motion made by Joe, seconded by Jill). Roll‑call vote: committee recorded a majority in favor; the committee’s recommendation is “support.” Note: adoption at Town Meeting would require a two‑thirds vote under zoning rules.

- Article 67 (sponsor: Fritz McClure). Proposal: amend zoning to allow accessory short‑term rental use with owner occupancy requirements and a 30‑day minimum owner occupancy; includes a 6‑month continuous rental exception for properties operated as investment/temporary housing. Planning Board: recommended “take no action.” Finance Committee: motion to support the Planning Board’s “take no action” recommendation; the committee approved that recommendation by roll call.

- Article 68 (sponsor not present). Proposal: a general bylaw containing rules similar to Article 67’s operation rules (minimum owner occupancy and stay‑length provisions). Concern raised by legal staff and some committee members: because Article 68 would functionally regulate land use it might be subject to legal challenges as a zoning matter the planning board should have reviewed. Finance Committee: moved “not to adopt” the general bylaw and recorded that recommendation by roll call.

- Article 69 (sponsor: Matt Peel, Nantucket Neighborhoods First). Proposal: a temporary, 36‑month cap of 1,350 Board of Health certificates of registration (CORs), a 70‑day annual limit per dwelling (with at most two CORs per lot), and required periodic public reporting from the STR registry to produce neighborhood‑level data and market statistics. Peeler described the article as a pause that would allow the town to gather and analyze registry data before adopting permanent regulations.

Finance Committee action on Article 69: debate among members and public commenters focused on (a) whether a temporary cap would encourage registration and produce usable data, (b) the risk of economic impact to year‑round businesses if the cap were set too low, and (c) whether the town should wait to gather more registry and occupancy‑tax data. The committee held a recorded vote on a motion not to adopt; the final committee roll call produced an evenly split result and no clear majority recommendation (committee recorded a 4–4 tie in its roll call). The committee therefore did not produce a clear endorsement or rejection of Article 69.

Public comment and enforcement questions
Members of the public and several committee members pressed two recurring themes: enforceability of owner‑occupancy or day‑count rules, and whether the registry and state tax data provide a reliable baseline. Multiple members said self‑reporting of days occupied would be difficult to audit at town scale; town staff said statewide Department of Revenue payments arrive as a lump sum with only a short‑term‑rental vs. traditional lodging breakdown and that privacy rules limit granular public disclosure by the state. Citizens and advisory board representatives urged caution about measures that could favor year‑round residents over seasonal owners on constitutional grounds; town counsel cautioned some proposals could increase litigation risk.

Where things go from here
The Finance Committee’s recommendations will be part of the warrant packet and will go to Town Meeting for final votes on the articles. Article 66 now carries the committee’s support and — if Town Meeting also approves zoning changes by the required two‑thirds margin — would create a specific permitted use for Nantucket Vacation Rentals while leaving operational rules in the general bylaw (chapter 123) to control ownership and operation. The other articles will go to voters with the committee’s recorded recommendations (support for take‑no‑action on 67; not to adopt 68) and with no clear committee endorsement on Article 69 because of the tie. The town’s short‑term rental registry, Board of Health COR counts and future occupancy‑tax receipts will be critical data points for any future changes to the local regulatory framework.