BAR HARBOR, Maine — A split Bar Harbor Town Council extended the lodging moratorium during a special meeting on Monday.
Vice Chair Maya Caines and councilors Earl Brechlin, David Kief, Joseph Minutolo and Randell Sprague voted in favor. Chair Valerie Peacock and Steven Boucher voted against.
The newest iteration of the moratorium will continue for 180 days unless the town council extends, repeals, or modifies it. That extension begins again in January. The work is meant to give the town’s planning board and department time to bring multiple land use ordinance amendments to the voters in June.
On Feb. 5, 2025, the town council had voted to enact a 180-day moratorium on most lodgings. It was renewed in July. Prior to that February vote, there had been an emergency moratorium. That emergency moratorium was originally enacted Nov. 19, 2024.
The town would also potentially remove any “unused or inappropriate” lodging types from some districts, update parking requirements to reflect guest capacity, and remove the lodging expansion exception in the nonconformity section.
That exception allows lodgings that have already existed in an area where they are not currently allowed to be built to be able to renovate in ways that the town considers expansion.
Opponents of the moratorium’s extension say that it’s unduly punishing one commercial use in town and look to a planning board vote to not extend the moratorium since most of the moratorium’s reasoning (the whereas clauses) were unsubstantiated. They have also said that it takes staff and board time away from focusing on creating or encouraging more housing and other work.
Proponents of an extension say that it gives the town planning staff and planning board more time to enact land use ordinance changes that could limit some lodging in some areas. They also say that changes could limit conversions of homes to lodgings in the time between now and June.
During public comment, Eben Salvatore of Ocean Properties spoke first, saying that the moratorium has run its course.
“The crisis cover is gone,” he said. “It feels rushed.”
Jake Jagel of Town Hill shared a letter he and his wife wrote to the council.
“We strongly support the extension,” he said of himself and his wife Dessa Dancy, who was unable to attend the meeting.
He said that there can be irreparable harm to the community and natural resources without changes.
Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Director Everal Eaton reaffirmed the Chamber’s position against the moratorium. He said it was a point of diminishing returns. It stifles reinvestment, keeps property owners from restoring or redeveloping its property.
“It also misdiagnoses the housing crisis,” he said.
“As noted during planning board deliberations, the lodging industry is not the sole driver of our housing challenges. Stagnating one sector of our economy will not spontaneously create affordable housing,” Eaton said.
Short-term rentals are not included in the moratorium. Bar Harbor has capped weekly rentals that are not the primary residence of their owners. Other towns in the region have not. Trenton is set to discuss potential regulations.
This story was originally published by The Bar Harbor Story. To receive regular coverage from the Bar Harbor Story, sign up for a free subscription here.
