Town Government
Nantucket Boards & Commissions
What Boards & Commissions Are
Beyond the Select Board and the School Committee, much of Nantucket’s governing happens on volunteer boards and commissions. They approve new development, hear zoning appeals, review what gets built in the historic district, protect the island’s wetlands, shellfish beds and open space, run the airport, and guide services for residents. They are the rooms where an ordinary resident can have the most direct hand in a decision.
Who fills them is a real question here, and Nantucket answers it three different ways. Some are elected outright: the May 19, 2026 ballot carried the Moderator, the Select Board, the School Committee, the Historic District Commission, the Land Bank Commission, the Harbor and Shellfish Advisory Board, the Housing Authority, the Planning Board and the Water Commission, and nothing else. Some are appointed by the Select Board under charter section 3.4, which names the Airport Commission, the Conservation Commission, the Commission on Disability, the Council on Aging, the Council for Human Services, the Finance Committee, the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals, plus any committee that acts for both the Town and the County. And some are appointed by the Town Manager, but only where the Select Board has handed that power over, and even then the board can vote the appointment down.
Key Boards & Commissions
- Planning Board reviews subdivisions, site plans and major development. Elected.
- Zoning Board of Appeals hears variances and special permits. Appointed by the Select Board.
- Historic District Commission reviews what is built, altered or demolished in the island’s historic district, which covers a great deal of Nantucket. Elected.
- Conservation Commission protects the island’s wetlands and open space and enforces its own wetland protection regulations. Appointed by the Select Board.
- Harbor & Shellfish Advisory Board advises on the harbors, the shellfish beds and the waterfront. Elected.
- Nantucket Water Commission oversees the public water supply. Elected.
- Land Bank Commission runs the Nantucket Islands Land Bank, which was created by a special act of the Legislature in 1983 and buys open space with a two percent fee on most real estate transfers on the island. Five members, elected.
- Finance Committee holds a public hearing on every Town Meeting article and votes its recommendation, which is printed in the warrant mailed to every registered voter.
- Airport Commission governs Nantucket Memorial Airport. Appointed by the Select Board.
- County Commission is the Select Board sitting as the county’s governing body, with its own agenda, its own minutes and its own warrants.
For the full roster, current members, vacancies and schedules, see nantucket-ma.gov.
How to Serve
- Find an opening. The town posts a committee vacancies list, with its own timeline, on its Boards, Commissions and Committees page, and refreshes it in rounds through the year.
- Put your name in the Talent Bank. The Select Board adopted a Volunteer Talent Bank precisely to collect the names of residents willing to serve, so you can register your interest before a seat is even open.
- Apply to the Select Board office by the date the vacancy notice gives, and read the town’s own committee guidelines and its written Committee Appointment Process while you wait.
- Serve: attend the public meetings and help make decisions for your island.
Two things make this more reachable on Nantucket than in most towns. The first is that the town publishes its appointment process, its committee guidelines and its code of conduct as documents anyone can read before applying. The second is that the vacancy list is long: a five member board, a fifteen member committee and everything in between all draw from the same island of about fourteen thousand people.
Serving on a board is one of the most direct ways to shape Nantucket.