Select Board directs staff to design waiting-list system for eight surplus rental-car medallions

The Select Board of Nantucket County on an unspecified date discussed procedures to reallocate eight surplus rental-car vehicle medallions and signaled support for a waiting-list allocation model rather than a lottery.

The board’s discussion centered on two linked questions: how to distribute the eight currently available medallions and whether peer-to-peer car‑sharing (platforms such as Turo) should be treated as rental‑car businesses under the town’s rental‑car bylaw. Amy, a staff member, told the board she had prepared two options modeled on existing town processes: a lottery (similar to the Town Pier slip lottery) and a waiting list modeled after taxi/charter/limo lists. “The recommendation is definitely going to be a waiting list type of thing,” Amy said.

Why it matters: waiting lists preserve an ordered queue for applicants who intend to establish a business and allow the town to require annual renewal and a nominal fee; a lottery can produce winners who are unprepared to operate a business and is typically used for time-limited allocations such as seasonal slips.

Board members and staff described practical details the waiting list would need. Amy said the town already has an information-request list created in 2021 containing about 28 entries; she proposed an annual renewal window (suggested in the renewal period, for example November) and a $10 annual fee to maintain a spot on the list. Applicants who already are on the 2021 list would keep their current rank; new applicants would be time-stamped on form submission and ordered accordingly. Amy said applicants who reach the top of the list would be given a set time — 30 to 60 days was discussed — to activate the medallion by demonstrating they could establish the business.

Members debated whether peer-to-peer car sharing should be folded into the medallion cap. One board member said the bylaw could be interpreted to prohibit peer-to-peer car sharing and that allocating medallions to Turo operators would effectively legitimize the activity under the bylaw. Another member warned that excluding peer-to-peer operators could create a loophole that would be difficult to oversee if hundreds or thousands of vehicles operated outside the cap: “I think we have to have oversight within the cap system,” that member said.

Several board members favored keeping the allocation framework limited to business‑style operators (those planning to establish a vehicle rental business) rather than individual peer‑to‑peer owners, at least until the Select Board decides whether to amend the bylaw. Staff and the board agreed the policy decision about inclusion of peer‑to‑peer operators should be resolved in advance of implementing any allocation system; that policy is expected to be part of the agenda at the upcoming town meeting.

Board direction and next steps: the board expressed a clear preference for developing a waiting‑list system and asked staff to flesh out the operational details — including application window, renewal fee, limits on the number of medallions per entity, and minimum requirements for establishing a business — and to return with a proposed procedure. The board also signaled it will consider whether to amend the rental‑car bylaw at town meeting to clarify whether peer‑to‑peer car sharing requires a medallion and whether the town should increase the cap of medallions if the definition is changed.

Quotations from the meeting illustrate the tradeoffs under consideration. Amy (staff) said: “The recommendation is definitely going to be a waiting list type of thing.” A board member who expressed concern about uncontrolled growth of peer‑to‑peer rentals said: “I think we have to have oversight within the cap system and and so I think that's ... crucial to me.”

The board did not take a formal vote on an allocation ordinance or on changing the bylaw at this meeting; members framed the discussion as direction for staff. The final policy decision about the bylaw and any cap changes will be considered later, including at town meeting, and staff were asked to prepare a detailed proposal for board review.

Ending: Staff will return with a draft waiting‑list procedure that includes application timing, fee, renewal and drop‑off rules, activation timelines for recipients, and recommended language for any bylaw amendments to be proposed at town meeting.