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Nantucket residents, commission clash over overhaul of regional planning body
Summary
A Home Rule petition (S21) to change the composition and appointment method of the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission drew sharply divided testimony at a joint committee hearing, with proponents citing transparency and preservation and commission officials warning the bill was rushed and based on misinformation.
Nantucket proponents and members of the island's planning agency squared off at a Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government hearing over Bill S21, a Home Rule petition to change the composition and powers of the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission (NP&EDC).
Supporters told the committee the bill would increase representation and accountability; opponents said the NP&EDC already has a reform package under development and that S21 was advanced without adequate local collaboration.
"This bill passed by nearly 72% of the vote," said Hillary Hedges Rayport, the bill's lead petitioner and a year-round Nantucket resident, referring to the special-town-meeting vote she said approved the proposal. Rayport told the committee she had worked on the bill for four years and said the commission had…
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