When a 2×2 Wooden Sign Becomes a Legal Battle — The NanTaco Story

Opening a restaurant is hard enough. Sourcing ingredients, hiring staff, renovating a space, building a customer base — the list of challenges is long before you ever get to the front door. But for Lee and Cindy Milazzo, who launched NanTaco at 21 South Water Street in the summer of 2022, one of the biggest obstacles turned out to be a painted piece of wood roughly the size of a throw pillow.

Their hanging sign — colorful, hand-painted, designed to reflect the Latin spirit of their taqueria — became the center of a months-long dispute with town regulators that escalated all the way to violation notices, potential criminal charges, and a public debate about fairness, consistency, and what kind of signage actually belongs in Nantucket's historic downtown.

The Sign Advisory Council and the Rules of the Road

Nantucket takes its appearance seriously. As one of the most intact historic communities in the United States, the island has layers of oversight designed to protect the character of its streets, storefronts, and neighborhoods. One of those layers is the Sign Advisory Council — a committee operating under the Nantucket Historic District Commission that reviews every proposed sign on the island before it goes up.

The SAC works from a detailed 36-page set of guidelines known as “The Sign Book,” which outlines acceptable colors, fonts, materials, proportions, and design approaches for signage in the downtown historic district. The intent is to maintain the visual coherence of a streetscape that has been carefully preserved for generations.

For the Milazzos, the SAC looked at their hanging sign and said no. The colors were too bold, the font too expressive, the overall feel too far outside what the committee considered appropriate for the district. They also objected to a branded barrel outside the entrance and the decorative touches along the storefront — all of it deemed inconsistent with the island's signage standards. What followed was a stalemate that forced the Milazzos to retain an attorney.

A Question Nobody Could Easily Answer

Their lawyer came to a SAC meeting in July 2022 armed with something pointed: documentation of dozens of other downtown Nantucket businesses whose signs, by his reading, also didn't conform to the committee's own guidelines. Some had vibrant colors. Some had expressive fonts. Some had decorative elements that didn't fit neatly into The Sign Book's parameters. None of them were facing violation notices or misdemeanor threats.

His argument was straightforward — if the guidelines aren't applied consistently, they stop functioning as neutral rules and start functioning as selective judgment. His client wasn't asking for special treatment. He was asking for equal treatment.

Lee Milazzo's business — a new year-round restaurant in a town that badly needs year-round businesses — was being threatened with civil and criminal penalties over a small painted wooden sign. Not neon. Not oversized. A 2×2-foot hand-painted sign that expressed the personality of his restaurant.

One SAC member's comment during the July meeting drew particular attention — a suggestion that the sign's “Latin vibe” was out of place on Nantucket's streets, with a comparison to Hyannis offered as a cautionary example. Milazzo later described some of the committee's comments as racially and ethnically insensitive. That dimension of the dispute lingered long after the procedural issues were resolved.

The Violation Notice That Shouldn't Have Been Sent

In June 2022, the Historic District Commission's compliance coordinator issued a formal violation notice to the Milazzos, opening the door to fines and misdemeanor charges for a business that had only been open a matter of weeks.

Then, in August, the town's Planning and Land Use Services director stepped in and retracted the notice entirely. The reason was procedural but significant: only the Historic District Commission itself has the legal authority to issue enforcement actions. The SAC is an advisory body. The notice had been issued before the HDC ever made a formal ruling on NanTaco's signage application — premature by definition.

A formal retraction letter was issued, confirming no further enforcement action would be taken until the HDC made a final determination. For the Milazzos, it was a meaningful step. But Milazzo was clear that a retracted letter didn't resolve the underlying concern about how the process had treated them compared to other businesses on the same streets.

What Every Nantucket Business Owner Should Take from This

The NanTaco story isn't just interesting local news. For anyone opening or operating a business in Nantucket's historic district, it's a practical lesson in how high the stakes around signage can get — and how important it is to get the process right from the start.

• —Get your sign permitted before it goes up. Every sign in the historic district — the hanging sign, the awning, the lettering on a barrel, the decorative elements on your storefront — is subject to SAC review and HDC approval. Moving faster than that process allows is what turned a straightforward signage question into a legal dispute.
• —Design choices matter more here than almost anywhere else. Understanding what the SAC guidelines favor — and working within them without losing your brand identity — is a craft in itself. The businesses that navigate it best start the conversation early, with designs that speak to the island's aesthetic while still expressing who they are.
• —Wood is the right material. Nantucket's signage tradition is rooted in hand-crafted wooden signs. A well-made wooden sign in the right colors and proportions fits the downtown streetscape naturally, tends to move through the approval process more smoothly, and lasts for years.
• —Work with someone who knows the island. The difference between a sign that sails through SAC review and one that becomes a months-long dispute often comes down to experience — knowing what the committee is looking for and how to present a design that works for both your business and the district.