There is a general feeling on the island right now that development is out of control and that citizens need to become more actively involved in slowing down and regulating the pace of growth.
More from Special Town Meeting: There was a citizen’s article that would have changed the zoning at the controversial Surfside Crossing 40b development from 2 acres to 1 acre zoning which failed to garner enough votes to pass. It would not have stopped the pending 40b application but may have given the developers an incentive to do a less dense build out. The initial application was for 164 units; it has been scaled back to 100, a mixture of single family homes and condominiums targeted towards market rate and affordable housing in a variety of price ranges.
A second citizen’s article, required that future installation of private sewer lines beneath Town streets will require Town Meeting approval. Although the article passed at Town Meeting, it must still pass muster with the state attorney general. Another issue is that the majority of the streets on Nantucket that are located outside of Town are, in fact, County roads, not Town roads so that the article, if legal, would not affect the majority of roads on island. It is clear that islanders want to be more involved going forward, which can only be a good thing.