Select Board members, town counsel, the airport commission chair, police leadership and public speakers debated whether peer‑to‑peer car sharing should be treated like traditional rental agencies subject to Nantucket’s medallion cap, or handled in a separate registration system.

Steven Cohen (representing peer‑to‑peer interests) argued for exempting peer‑to‑peer hosts from the car‑rental medallion regime and instead using registration to monitor activity, citing that many hosts are individual residents who use the income to meet household needs. “Peer‑to‑peer car sharing…does not increase the number of cars on Nantucket; in fact, it lowers them,” Cohen said. Supporters said platforms can enforce airport rules and collect airport fees under private agreements.

Opponents — including several Select Board members, airport representatives and law‑enforcement officials — said the activity has already grown into small commercial operations with multiple vehicles that occupy public parking and strain resources. Art Gasparro, chair of the Airport Commission, said many airport tenants are traditional rental agencies and warned that unmanaged peer‑to‑peer growth can harm the public interest and airport operations.

Chief Jody Casper told the board the police department lacks bandwidth for web‑based enforcement during peak season and that monitoring would likely require dedicated enforcement staff or seasonal positions if the town regulates peer‑to‑peer activity. Town counsel and staff discussed several near‑term options: (1) treat peer‑to‑peer as rental agencies subject to the medallion cap, (2) create a separate registration/sticker system limited to small hosts (for example, one vehicle per household) with a numerical cap, or (3) delay local action and wait for pending state regulatory action.

After extended discussion the board asked town counsel to prepare draft language that would create a separate registration regime for peer‑to‑peer hosts (including a possible sticker/registration and numerical limit) while the town reconciles medallion use and unused medallions. Counsel was also asked to explore whether a small number of existing unused medallions can be reallocated. The board’s indicated direction was to develop a regulatory path that (a) allows limited household hosts, (b) provides a mechanism to recapture and reassign unused medallions, and (c) preserves enforcement options for the police and airport.

Why this matters: peer‑to‑peer car sharing intersects land use, public‑way management, airport operations and local business licensing. The Select Board’s near‑term decision will affect parking, neighborhood impacts, airport revenues and how small hosts are treated under town rules.