Nantucket officials weigh mediation, enforcement and code cleanup in ongoing short-term rental dispute

Nantucket — Members of the Advisory Committee of Nonvoting Taxpayers on July 12 pressed town staff about efforts to resolve continuing short-term rental (STR) disputes, asking whether mediation, clearer public explanations and stronger enforcement measures could break a long-running impasse. Town staff described a possible mediation process that would bring stakeholder groups together to explore compromise, but members noted time constraints and public skepticism. “Mediation is not gonna happen overnight,” Libby Gibson said, and the Select Board had not yet set a final approach. Committee members and guests raised three related concerns: whether key zoning protections were omitted in a 2015 “cleanup” amendment, whether the town’s STR registry collects enough information to enable enforcement,…