Nantucket roads committee to revisit encroachment policy, push outreach and enforcement changes

The Nantucket Roads and Right-of-Way Committee on June 17 discussed changes to the town's encroachment policy and a two-part approach combining clearer enforcement steps with public outreach. Committee members and town staff described repeated incidents of rocks, stakes and landscaping placed in the public layout and said current enforcement is slow and resource-intensive.

Tracy, land specialist, town staff, said the current enforcement sequence requires certified mail, a remediation period and then a Department of Public Works work order if property owners do not act. "The current procedure tells us that we have to send the letter, certified mail," Tracy said, outlining the multi-step process. She and others said that sequence can produce heavy administrative load and slow removal of hazards.

The committee debated operational fixes and outreach. Members suggested routing more cases through the town's traffic-safety process when striping or formal no-parking markings are needed and adding a liaison from the traffic-safety group to the committee to smooth those requests. Committee member Bill (committee member) recommended a more direct town-originated warning before escalating to the certified-mail step: a letter from Town Manager or the relevant department stating stakes are on town property and must be removed within the standard timeframe.

Tracy proposed an outreach campaign to reduce violations before enforcement is necessary. The plan, led by interns and coordinated with the communications director, would include short social-media videos (Instagram-style 30-second clips), targeted materials for landscapers and construction crews, and presentations to neighborhood associations such as the Civic League. "If possibly everybody could do the right thing and cut their hedges and stop putting stakes and rocks in the layout, that would cut our jobs down pretty significantly," Tracy said. She said an intern from Boston University is reviewing legal language in the encroachment policy and comparing other towns' approaches.

Speakers flagged enforcement pain points: landscapers placing boulders or stakes to hold parking positions, property owners planting irrigated landscaping in the town layout, and contractors parking equipment in ways that block town maintenance. Committee members discussed stripe-based solutions (yellow curb or pavement markings) that would create enforceable no-parking zones, but noted that striping requests must go through traffic-safety and require coordination with police and an off-island striping contractor.

Outreach will target three audiences identified during the meeting: seasonal residents/visitors, year-round service providers (landscapers and contractors) and real-estate professionals/surveyors. Tracy said interns will draft key messages, and the communications director and the town manager's office must review materials before release. The committee agreed to place encroachment policy revisions on the next agenda so members can review draft changes and outreach materials before recommending any formal changes to the select board.

Next steps: Tracy will circulate a draft outreach template to committee leadership; town interns will continue the legal comparison of the encroachment policy; and the committee will add an encroachment-policy agenda item for the next meeting so members can review and comment on a circulated draft.