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Board keeps peer-to-peer rules under review, preserves authority to reclaim unused rental medallions
Summary
After extended debate, the Nantucket Select Board on Jan. 22 kept proposed amendments to Chapter 58 (rental vehicle medallions) on the May 3 warrant and directed staff to produce a revised draft that preserves the board’s ability to reclaim unused medallions, creates a process to reallocate them, and allows the board discretion to increase the medallion pool by up to 100.
Select Board members on Jan. 22 wrestled with competing priorities in proposed amendments to Chapter 58 of the Town Code governing rental vehicle medallions and peer-to-peer car sharing. The discussion focused on three linked issues: (1) whether people who rent a single personal vehicle through a peer-to-peer platform (for example, Turo) should be treated differently from commercial rental agencies; (2) how to identify and reclaim unused medallions; and (3) whether to increase the town’s medallion cap to accommodate existing peer-to-peer activity.
Town staff (Brian Turbot, Finance Director, and Amy Baxter) and Town Counsel presented a draft that would add a definition for peer-to-peer car sharing and give the Select Board regulatory authority to manage medallions and their allocation. Several board members, including Matthew Fee, said they opposed creating a broad exemption that would allow virtually any household to rent a vehicle without running through the medallion allocation process.
Advocates for a limited exemption said their objective was modest: to allow one peer-to-peer car per household — typically people who list a single car a few times per season — while keeping larger, commercial operations under the medallion system. Advocates proposed a registration/sticker system to identify single-household peer-to-peer vehicles so the town could count and track them. Residents who use peer-to-peer platforms said the income helps them cover rents and household costs; one attendee, Eni Kozik, said renting three household vehicles “helps us pay only, in my case, half of my rent per year.”
Rental car companies represented by counsel (John Pertin) and owners of existing businesses urged caution. Counsel said the existing medallion system helped limit traffic and protect established businesses and warned that easing restrictions could quickly increase the number of rental cars on island.
The board reached a compromise in principle: they will pursue language to (a) strengthen the town’s authority to reclaim and reissue unused medallions, (b) allow the Select Board discretion to allocate additional medallions if necessary, and (c) preserve options to create a registration/sticker system for limited peer-to-peer activity. The board directed staff and town counsel to circulate a revised draft by the next morning for final review. In addition, the board agreed to increase the administratively allowed add-on pool from 50 to 100 medallions (i.e., to allow the board discretion to increase the total cap by up to 100) so that any recovered medallions and limited reallocation could be accommodated while the town develops a formal process.
The board voted to include the article (as revised) on the May 3 Annual Town Meeting warrant and asked staff to return with final recommended wording for the article and a proposed implementation plan for reallocating medallions. Town counsel and several board members warned that any final approach must preserve the Select Board’s ability to require review and approval when medallions or licenses are transferred.
