All three harbor overlay district articles adopted
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER
Of the many articles that made the final cut on the second and final night of Town Meeting, the success of Articles 49, 50 and 51 seemed to cause the biggest sighs of relief among voters and harbor plan advocates.

The three articles constitute the establishment of a harbor overlay zoning district for Nantucket's waterfront, from the former Breakers Hotel on Easton Street south to the Great Harbor Yacht Club, as well as all of the Madaket Marine's 17.1 acres on Hither Creek.

The net effect is that 20 percent of Nantucket Harbor's 84 waterfront properties will be preserved as water dependent uses. The new overlay district bylaw is now in line with the state's Department of Environmental Protection's Chapter 91 Waterways program. It prohibits residential uses on the ground floors of new structures on the waterfront.

This is designed to protect the working nature of portions of the waterfront, safeguarding the livelihoods of those who must work on the harbor. The intent is to also preserve maritime character - a draw for island visitors. Plenty of Town Meeting voters protested this change Brant Point Marine at 32 Washington St. successfully got their property removed from the overlay district by the Planning Board.

"This harbor overlay district is going to occur in Madaket as well," said Rick Beaudette, attorney for Madaket Marine. "Specifically, they want to preserve their right to put a house on their property if the boatyard ever becomes unviable, if the boatyard ever goes out of business and this bylaw passes, they will not able to use their lot."

Although those who called Articles 41, 47, 52, 55, 61, 62, 76, 80, 92, 97, 99, 119, 120, 122, 123 and 124 withdrew them from discussion on April 8, aiding in the shortening of Town Meeting from what likely would have been three nights to just two, voters still dealt with some heavy zoning and citizens articles that kept Tuesday night's discussion going to around 11:30 before Moderator Sarah Alger called for a motion for adjournment. The outcomes of these articles follow below:
• Article 53: adopted,
• Article 64: adopted,
• Article 70: adopted by a hand
count of 188-68,
• Article 75: adopted,
• Article 95: not adopted,
• Article 96: not adopted,
• Article 98: not adopted by a hand
count of 97-84,
• Article 101: not adopted by a hand
count of 77-92.
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For a complete listing of the fate of the 126 articles on this year's Town Meeting warrant, check out the town's Web site at www.nantucket-ma.gov/Pages/index today for the results.