Applicant withdraws Nantucket variance request after town, neighbors raise legal and neighborhood concerns

The applicant in a disputed Low Beach Road zoning case withdrew a request for variance relief without prejudice at the Sept. 11 meeting of the Town of Nantucket Zoning Board of Appeals. The application sought to permit ground cover credits from three noncontiguous lots the applicant owns so more coverage could be placed on the lot with the existing house.

The request mattered because the applicant said the arrangement would let the town obtain the lower beachfront parcels as open space while the house lot would receive roughly 4,500 square feet of allowable ground cover, a figure the applicant and attorney said was slightly less than what would be obtainable if the parcels were formally combined via the town’s yard‑sale process. Town counsel and conservation specialists warned parts of the property — including a former railroad bed — were subject to Article 97 protections and other legal limits that make conveyance or reclassification difficult.

Applicant representative Linda Williams…