The Land Bank

Conservation, recreation and agriculture for the benefit of the public in perpetuity. Since inception, as the first of its kind in the nation, it has served as a model for other communities across the country. For over 30 years, we have worked to acquire, hold and manage key open spaces, provide waterfront access, preserve scenic views, protect ecological resources, promote local agriculture and create outdoor recreational opportunities for residents and visitors alike.

The idea behind creating a Land Bank started appearing in the local Nantucket newspaper as early as 1975. Below are articles collected on the Kennedy Bill that passed in July of 1972. The idea of a Land Bank showed up in the news in 1975 with the article, "The Great Development."

These are new articles that lead up to the Land Bank passing in the Senate. You can see the reactions from the public and what the Land Bank could've looked like. There was a lot of debate on what the goals of the Land Bank would be.

The Land Bank vaulted into success within the first year of establishment and it only continued as time went by. They made $1.6 million dollars just within the first year. Unlike other conservation organizations on the island, the Land Bank’s revenue is derived from a two percent fee which is levied against most real estate transfers. Since this is an island and houses are expensive it's easy to believe that the transfer revenue of the Land Bank is high. This is very different from organizations like NCF where most of their land is donated. 

This is a graph showing their fiscal revenue from 1984 to 2019. In 2004 there is a spike which is interesting because this is when The Land Bank was tearing down a lot of structures. Then of course we have the market crash in 2008. Their revenue spiked again in 2019 as Covid made it possible for people to work from home and many wanted to escape to Nantucket.

Nantucket is unique in that almost half the island is under protected conservation. The largest portion of protected land is owned by the Nantucket Conservation Foundation and the Land Bank. The other organizations that own land under conservation or for an environmental purpose are the Nantucket Land Council, the Massachusetts Audubon Society, and the ‘Sconset Trust.

This map shows property acquisition by decade compared to the latest trail map for the coast-to-coast trail. This is a great map because it shows where each of the major landowners has land. We have the Nantucket Land Bank in green, Nantucket Conservation Foundation in red, and the Massachusetts Audubon Society in blue.

Preservation is an important part of Nantucket as it is a place with a rich history. Structures on Nantucket, in particular, are important to the island due to their age, the stories they can tell, and the scarcity of them on the island. I have mentioned previously about structures on land bank land and this is a map that shows where structures have stood, if they have been moved, demolished or it is unknown. This is by no means all of the structures just the ones I have found while conducting research these two months. Again I will note that it is interesting that the structures moved or demoed were on coastal property. I do not know the reasons for removal or if these properties were salvageable but I think it is important to see a map of what used to be. 

The former building at 27 Easy Street was demolished by the Land Bank in 2015 to help with coastal resilience. However, the property was determined potentially historic by experts right before it was leveled. Its importance lies in its history. The building was originally built as a coopers shop in the early 1800s and was based around where the Nantucket Yacht Club resides today. It was bought by Charles E. Hayden around the late 1800s expanded and turned into a saltwater bathhouse until it was purchased in 1923 by Florence Lang. Lang, a nationally recognized art patron, moved and turned the building into Easy Street Gallery until it closed in 1943 upon her death. The building had a large influence during Nantucket's artist colony days (1920 - 1940). The gallery was one of the first modern art galleries of its time and a meeting place for many. The "waterfront artists" a group led by Frank Swift Chase frequented the gallery displaying their art but also carving a way for art on Nantucket that would precede them.

The paintings below are from artists during the artist colony era. The top left photo is a painting by Doris Riker Beer of 27 Easy Street in 1935. The man below is Frank Swift Chase who was the leader of sorts to the "waterfront artists." If you want to read more about each photo and the artist colony era you can click on the icons on the top left of each photo.

The Land Bank has always had a focus on waterfront properties but it was only until this past decade that they changed their view to that of coastal resilience. The initial goal was to buy waterfront properties in order to make beaches more accessible but as climate change continues to advance the island deteriorates. The Land Bank began imagining the island 50 years in the future and decided the island needed to protect the island from storms, flooding, and sea level rise. They started to focus on waterfront properties specifically in the downtown area, the major street being Washington.

The majority of the houses that used to reside on Washington Street were demolished with only a few moved. We do not need to take down historic properties like 27 Easy Street to be successful. The Land Bank started to look into housing as far back as 2015.  Here is a close-up of the Land Banks meeting minutes in 2015. You can see that on the agenda is Housing Nantucket. They also created housing initiatives in 2015 and have even donated housing to Housing Nantucket but we are still in crisis. It has been seven years and we are still seeing articles talking about the lack of housing.

Land banks are public authorities or non-profit organizations created to acquire, hold, manage, and sometimes redevelop property in order to return these properties to productive use to meet community goals

The mission of the Nantucket Land Bank focuses on conservation, preservation, and agriculture. Traditionally, Land banks are public authorities or non-profit organizations created to acquire, hold, manage, and sometimes redevelop property in order to return these properties to productive use to meet community goals. The community goals of Nantucket have changed and we are now in a housing crisis that needs immediate attention. The Land Bank has changed its mission twice since its inception, once in 1985 with recreation and again in the late 2000s with agriculture. The times have changed and the mission needs to change with it. It has been done before and it can be done again.

Nantucket Land Bank: Preserving and Protecting Nantucket's Open Spaces, https://www.nantucketlandbank.org/. Accessed 27 July 2023.

Benjamin, Alec. YouTube, 16 January 2023, https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/11777/IFB---Demolition--Removal-of-Structures-_Soverino-23-Tennessee_?bidId=. Accessed 27 July 2023.

Buckley, Tom. “Nantucket and the Vineyard Stirred by a Kennedy Bill (Published 1972).” The New York Times, 30 August 1972, https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/30/archives/nantucket-and-the-vineyard-stirred-by-a-kennedy-bill-nantucket-and.html. Accessed 4 August 2023.

“Coastal Resilience at the Land Bank.” Nantucket-ma.gov, https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/37522/Coastal-Resilience-Presentation-CRAC-092220. Accessed 27 July 2023.

“Coastal Resilience at the Land Bank.” Nantucket-ma.gov, https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/37522/Coastal-Resilience-Presentation-CRAC-092220. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Cushman, Jamie. “Housing shortage could impact school class sizes | Inquirer and Mirror.” Ack.net, 1 June 2023, https://www.ack.net/stories/housing-shortage-could-impact-school-class-sizes,32227? Accessed 4 August 2023.

Drysdale, Sam. “Island housing advocates visit State House | Inquirer and Mirror.” Ack.net, 23 March 2023, https://www.ack.net/stories/island-housing-advocates-visit-state-house,31540? Accessed 4 August 2023.

“Easy Street Park | Coastal Engineering Co.” Coastal Engineering Company, https://coastalengineeringcompany.com/portfolio/easy-street-park. Accessed 27 July 2023.

“Easy Street Park | Coastal Engineering Co.” Coastal Engineering Company, https://coastalengineeringcompany.com/portfolio/easy-street-park. Accessed 4 August 2023.

“Frank Swift Chase.” Nantucket Historical Association, https://nha.org/whats-on/exhibition/digital-exhibitions/the-nantucket-art-colony-1920-45/the-artists/frank-swift-chase/. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Gainsbourg, Charlotte. “.” . - YouTube, 13 June 2023, http://digital.olivesoftware.com/olive/apa/nantucket/sharedview.article.aspx?href=NIM%2F1975%2F10%2F09&id=Ar01100&sk=0CCB8229&viewMode=image. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Gainsbourg, Charlotte. “.” . - YouTube, 13 June 2023, http://digital.olivesoftware.com/olive/apa/nantucket/sharedview.article.aspx?href=NIM%2F1972%2F04%2F20&id=Ar00103&sk=6B4D91AB&viewMode=image. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Gainsbourg, Charlotte. “.” . - YouTube, 13 June 2023, http://digital.olivesoftware.com/olive/apa/nantucket/sharedview.article.aspx?href=NIM%2F1973%2F08%2F02&id=Ar00203&sk=4F545502&viewMode=image. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Gainsbourg, Charlotte. “.” . - YouTube, 13 June 2023, https://www.ack.net/stories/select-board-mulls-tighter-house-move-regulations,30284? Accessed 4 August 2023.

Gainsbourg, Charlotte. “.” . - YouTube, 13 June 2023, https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/DOCUMENTCENTER/VIEW/35045/COASTAL-RISK-%20ASSESSMENT-AND-RESILIENCY-STRATEGIES-REPORT-JANUARY-2020-PDF. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Gainsbourg, Charlotte. “.” . - YouTube, 13 June 2023, https://nantucket-ma.gov/DOCUMENTCENTER/VIEW/29062/COASTAL-RESILIENCE-METHODS-%20CRAC-10-1-19. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Gainsbourg, Charlotte. “.” . - YouTube, 13 June 2023, https://dcp.ufl.edu/HISTORIC-PRESERVATION/WP-%20CONTENT/UPLOADS/SITES/14/2019/06/RESILIENT-NANTUCKET-REPORT-WITH-SLR-%20VISUALIZATIONS.PDF. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Geddes, Dean. “Housing an urgent need, new hospital CEO says.” Ack.net, 30 March 2023, https://www.ack.net/stories/housing-an-urgent-need-new-hospital-ceo-says,31588? Accessed 4 August 2023.

Geddes, Dean. “Land Bank planning ahead for sea-level rise.” Ack.net, 29 September 2022, https://www.ack.net/stories/land-bank-planning-ahead-for-sea-level-rise,30178? Accessed 1 August 2023.

“INVITATION FOR BIDS Demolition and Removal of Structures and Subsequent Site Restoration at 72 Washington Street The Nantucket.” Nantucket-ma.gov, 1 May 2018, https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8157/IFB---Demolition--Removal-of-Structures-_Aladjem-72-Washington_. Accessed 27 July 2023.

Jenness, Amy. “Ocean Bathing for Health & Recreation - Yesterdays Island, Todays Nantucket.” Yesterday's Island, 9 July 2015, https://yesterdaysisland.com/07090201512-ocean-bathing-for-health-recreation/. Accessed 27 July 2023.

Jenness, Amy. “Ocean Bathing for Health & Recreation - Yesterdays Island, Todays Nantucket.” Yesterday's Island, 9 July 2015, https://yesterdaysisland.com/07090201512-ocean-bathing-for-health-recreation/. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Michie, Laurence. “Island Trust Bill 25 Years Ago Foreshadowed Debate Over Land Use.” The Vineyard Gazette, 23 May 1997, https://vineyardgazette.com/news/1997/05/23/island-trust-bill-25-years-ago-foreshadowed-debate-over-land-use. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Simons, Ben, and John Davis. “The Nantucket Art Colony.” Nantucket Historical Association, https://nha.org/whats-on/exhibition/digital-exhibitions/the-nantucket-art-colony-1920-45/. Accessed 4 August 2023.

Tartamella, Brent. “Nantucket's Land Bank: Success Defined.” Fisher Real Estate Nantucket, 10 January 2023, https://fishernantucket.com/nantucket-land-bank-2/. Accessed 27 July 2023.

Tartamella, Brent. “Nantucket's Land Bank: Success Defined.” Fisher Real Estate Nantucket, 10 January 2023, https://fishernantucket.com/nantucket-land-bank-2/. Accessed 4 August 2023.

“Untitled.” Nantucket-ma.gov, 8 December 2021, https://www.nantucket-ma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/4393?fileID=35743. Accessed 27 July 2023.

“Untitled.” Nantucket-ma.gov, 8 February 2021, https://nantucket-ma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/3783?fileID=28751. Accessed 27 July 2023.

“Untitled.” Nantucket-ma.gov, 8 February 2021, https://nantucket-ma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Item/3783?fileID=28751. Accessed 4 August 2023.

“Video: 27 Easy Street Demolition | Inquirer and Mirror.” Ack.net, 2 April 2016, https://www.ack.net/stories/video-27-easy-street-demolition,7335? Accessed 27 July 2023.