Updated on November 6, 2025
Nantucket voters have overwhelmingly approved the legalization of short-term rentals island-wide, resolving years of legal battles and uncertainty for the community’s tourism-based economy.
Voters passed Article 1, a citizen petition by business owner Brian Borgeson, in a 1,045-to-421 vote, roughly 71% in favor, on Nov. 4, 2025.
Jill Vieth, Chair of the Finance Committee, said the vote at Nantucket High School was the “first citizen petition special town meeting in memory.”
“It takes a lot of work and it takes a lot of courage to drive forward a debate on such a sensitive topic,” she added.
The measure classifies short-term rentals as a principal use in Nantucket’s zoning code, allowing them in all residential districts and resolving the legal uncertainty that has loomed over the practice since a Massachusetts Land Court ruling earlier this year.
“We can go back to living our lives,” said Brian Borgeson, owner of a charter fishing business, to the Inquirer & Mirror. “We can go back to planning our businesses for next season. We don’t have to argue about this again. This was for the people of Nantucket. I love this island, and this is what we do: we come together on big issues.”
The vote represents a sharp reversal of fortune for short-term rental operators, who have faced regulatory uncertainty since a Land Court decision in June 2025.
In that case, Judge Michael Vhay ruled that Nantucket’s zoning bylaw did not permit rentals shorter than 31 days in the island’s Residential Old Historic district when the owner is not present, a ruling that threw summer bookings and property operations into legal limbo.
Town officials appealed the decision, but at the time, Planning Board Chair Dave Iverson acknowledged the bylaw’s ambiguity, telling the Nantucket Current: “Unless it’s expressly allowed in the zoning code, it’s not allowed. That’s our problem. They’re not legal.”
In response, Brian Borgeson and a group of citizens whose businesses were negatively impacted by the legal uncertainty around short-term rentals circulated the citizen petition for Article 1.
“We have worked together because we want to clear this situation up and get it over with. We want to get back to work,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Planning Board submitted Article 2, a competing measure that would have classified STRs as an accessory use with limits on the number of rental nights and turnovers.
After voters approved Article 1, the Planning Board immediately agreed to take no action on Article 2.
“The community overwhelmingly spoke, and that’s all I wanted,” Dave told the Inquirer & Mirror after the vote.
During a public comment period before the vote, supporters of Article 1 cast the proposal as a defense of homeowners’ rights and the island’s visitor-driven economy.
“The reality is, short-term rentals are an important part of this economy on the island,” said former Select Board Member Bobby DeCosta. “We have two forms of ways to make a living here. We’re either in the building trades or in the tourism trades. … [Restricting STRs] would be a dagger to the tourism industry.”
Maggie Stewart, a wedding and events planner, warned of the ripple effects on local workers who depend on tourism income.
“I’m concerned that if Article One does not pass, we will see an immediate and precipitous drop in shoulder-season commerce,” she said.
Opponents, however, said they feared that unrestricted rentals could accelerate commercialization and mar the island’s character.
“Article One opens the gates to a frenzy of home buying by off-islanders creating mini hotels with rapid turnovers and disruption of the tranquility,” said resident Jocelyn Duffy.
The vote formally codified what many homeowners had long assumed before the legal challenge decided by the Land Board: that short-term rentals are a lawful use of residential property on Nantucket. The change also helps insulate existing operators from further legal challenges following the Land Court decision.
The Town’s decision to appeal Judge Vhay’s ruling remains pending. But the newly adopted zoning amendment could render the appeal largely symbolic, since it resolves the central question the court addressed: whether short-term rentals are an allowed use under Nantucket’s zoning code.
For Brian Borgeson and other local business owners, the vote marked a moment of relief after years of legal and political uncertainty.
“There were people in that room who’ve lived here for 60 years and had never come to Town Meeting before,” Brian told the Inquirer & Mirror. “They came out tonight because they care about this place. That’s what makes Nantucket what it is.”
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