Island says no to chain stores downtown

NANTUCKET -- Chain stores, take notice: This remote island enclave has pulled up its drawbridge.

Without a word of discussion or debate this week, Nantucket Town Meeting voters banned retail stores and restaurants owned by national chains from their quaint downtown of brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets.

The ban is believed to be the most sweeping exclusion of chain businesses to date in Massachusetts, according to island officials. The decision follows votes in a growing number of communities around the country to banish fast-food chains, including Ogunquit, Maine, last fall. A new rule on Nantucket must be approved by Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly before it takes effect.

On Nantucket's Main Street yesterday, where shoppers can still order an egg cream at the old-fashioned lunch counter in Congdon's Pharmacy, many shopkeepers and customers said they were pleased with the outcome.

''Part of the reason people live here is that it's a tightknit community and we can support our friends' businesses," said Beth Simonsis, 39. ''If we need something from a big store, like at Christmas, we go off island."

The chain-store ban was proposed by bookstore owner Wendy Hudson, who said yesterday she was stunned it did not generate more criticism at the two-day Town Meeting. Recommended by the Planning Board and unchallenged by the 535 voters at the Town Meeting session Monday, the ban was easily approved by the 480 voters present Tuesday.

A year-round resident for 15 years, Hudson said she was repeatedly told by residents that chain stores ''weren't allowed" on the island. The recent opening downtown by high-end retailer Ralph Lauren highlighted the reality that chains could and would come to the island, threatening Nantucket's unique historic character, she said.

Existing stores will not be affected by the restrictions, which apply only to chains with 14 or more pre-existing locations. The ban covers only about 3 percent of the total commercially zoned property on the island, said Andrew Vorce, director of the Nantucket Planning and Economic Development Commission.

''It's good to do it proactively," said Hudson, as customers streamed into her small bookstore on a quiet street of gracious inns and old mansions. ''Nobody is trying to put something here that we're trying to keep out."

In the heart of downtown Nantucket yesterday, chain stores Ralph Lauren and Lilly Pulitzer were still closed for the winter. ''Closed from Christmas Stroll to Daffodil Weekend," read the sign on the door of the Pulitzer outlet.

On nearby Straight Wharf, businessman Gary Trainor said he was uncomfortable with the ban.

''Competition is healthy," said Trainor, who has owned a jewelry store here for 20 years.

''If others have something I don't, I recommend them to customers, and I've always done that," he said.

Trainor, who acknowledged he may feel more secure than others because he owns his own building instead of renting, said numerous controls are already in place to protect the character of downtown, such as limits on the size of signs.

Several residents who said they supported the ban on chains lamented yesterday that a Starbucks coffee shop had not opened on Nantucket before the new rule was enacted.

Jenna Russell can be reached at jrussell@globe.com.