Orcas and Nantucket Islands are each roughly the same size and the same distance off their respective coasts. We share the same concerns about the high cost of living, lack of affordable housing, tourist management, ferry problems and environmental degradation. We are living on opposite ends of the country but many of the issues and opportunities are the same. Recently theOrcasonian and the Nantucket Inquirer and Mirror decided to share articles of mutual interest with our readers.
||| FROM THE NANTUCKET INQUIRER AND MIRROR |||
A Land Court judge has ruled that Nantucket’s zoning bylaw prohibits short-term rentals of entire homes in the Old Historic District when the owner is not present—undermining the town’s position and potentially reshaping the STRs landscape.
Judge Michael Vhay ruled on Friday that rentals less than 31 days are not a lawful accessory use of a residence when the owner is not on the premises. In essence, the ruling means owners cannot rent out an entire property in residential zones like the Old Historic District.
Short-term rentals are a central part of the island’s tourism economy, and the ruling—coming just as the busy season ramps up—puts the practice on even shakier legal footing. The town has the option to appeal, which could pause enforcement of the decision.
Town planning director Leslie Snell declined to comment on the ruling Friday. Attorneys for the plaintiff, Catherine Ward, did not immediately respond to messages.
Planning Board chair Dave Iverson said he has no inside knowledge, but expects that the town will appeal the ruling, staying the decision through the summer, and giving voters one more chance to add STR regulation into the town’s bylaws that would supersede this ruling.
“This ruling is already sending shockwaves through the community,” he said. “If we were to follow the letter of this ruling, at least in the Old Historic District, which has the highest density of rentals on the island, it would be devastating. It’s hard to imagine the town wouldn’t appeal, it’s the rational thing to do at this point. If we appeal this at least it creates a time frame of certainty that you’re still allowed to (short-term rent) until the next ruling happens.”
The case was brought by Ward, a Silver Street resident, who was appealing the Zoning Board’s decision for the second time, challenging the legality of her neighbor’s short-term renting of their home. The Zoning Board ruled in September 2024 that it was an acceptable “accessory use” of a home, citing the long-standing island tradition of families renting their vacation homes when not in use.
But Judge Vhay disagreed, ruling that while such rentals may be customary, they do not satisfy the legal definition of an “incidental” use—one of the requirements for a use to qualify as accessory under the bylaw.
The court had already ruled in March 2024, in Ward’s first appeal, that short-term rentals were not a lawful principal use of a primary dwelling. That left “accessory use” as the remaining legal justification for short-term rentals in residential zones—a path that now appears closed following the latest decision.
Vhay vacated the ZBA’s 2024 decision, remanded the case for further proceedings within 45 days, and issued a declaratory judgment stating that the current zoning bylaw “does not allow rentals shorter than 31 days of ‘primary dwellings’ in the Nantucket Residential Old Historic district, except for ‘the rental of rooms within an owner-occupied dwelling unit.’”
At the May 2025 Annual Town Meeting, voters rejected four separate proposals to regulate or authorize short-term rentals, including Article 66 that would have allowed them by right in most zoning districts. It was the latest chapter in the long-running saga of voters being unable to come to a consensus on the STR issue.
“If we don’t pass something, we’re leaving this up to a judge,” said Town Counsel John Giorgio at the time. “And I guarantee you, a judge is going to decide this in a way that may be completely inconsistent with what this community wants. That’s the danger in not acting.”
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