BAR HARBOR — After enacting two 60-day emergency moratoriums, the Bar Harbor Town Council, on Feb. 4, unanimously voted for a 180-day moratorium on lodging. Councilor Joe Minutolo was not present.
The moratorium will pause the construction of new lodgings and enlargement of others. It applies in all districts in Bar Harbor. This most recent effort was brought forward by former Town Council Vice Chair and newly elected State Rep. Gary Friedmann in November. That 60-day emergency moratorium was renewed and set to expire in March. The language of the moratorium speaks to infrastructure pressure that it says comes from lodging.
Back in September 2023, the town’s attorney, Steven Wagner, explained that a moratorium is “essentially a pause on development.” To do that, the councilors would have to make certain findings, including that the moratorium is necessary to stop a burden on public facilities and other aspects, and that the existing comprehensive plan is inadequate to do so.
Councilor Randy Sprague said his heart was with the residents of Bar Harbor. However, he worried about stopping growth completely.
He said the potential construction of lodging across from a school in town and the “behemoth” across from Jordan’s Restaurant on Cottage Street was worrisome. He said he thinks the zoning laws could be enhanced to protect the infrastructure more than it has been and wished that public works representatives were at the meeting to discuss that.
“The problem is down here, not out of town so much,” Sprague said. “I really struggle with this a lot.”
Councilor Matthew Hochman said many of Sprague’s comments are the points of the moratorium — to figure out the issues the town faces and how to fix them.
“This is not a permanent stop on development. This is a pause while we work on all the things” that the town can work on, Hochman said.
“When is enough, enough?” Councilor Earl Brechlin said as he indicated his support for the moratorium.
The ordinance itself can be amended and even repealed within its 180 days.
Both Vice Chair Maya Caines and Chair Valerie Peacock expressed concern about potentially divisive rhetoric around the issue, which can create polarized camps of opinion.
“To me, this isn’t to say ‘shame on you’ and punish anyone,” Caines said. She agreed with public comment that other organizations have an impact on town infrastructure as well. “I do not want people to feel like it’s a direct attack on one industry.”
She added that the moratorium isn’t pausing the construction of employee living quarters and shared accommodation housing, which had been a worry of some residents.
“There aren’t really clear sides of this issue,” Peacock said. She said she’s talked to many people who understand the history of tourism in the community as well as the stresses that a tourism economy can cause. “I think there’s a lot more middle ground than we’re being led to believe.”
Peacock connected the need for housing to the moratorium. She also said that the town has been doing hard work creating shared accommodations, employee living quarters, capping short-term rentals, cleaning up lodging definitions and creating a comprehensive plan that prioritizes housing.
“We want you to get us out of the moratorium,” she said to the planning board members, stressing that the council looked to that board to help.
She tasked the planning board with creating conversations about codifying residential areas in the downtown center and protecting them, setbacks, height restrictions, and other aspects for transient accommodations in the area, and those accommodations near schools.
“We have a lot of work to get through our differences. Maybe this moratorium isn’t actually a war,” she said. “Maybe it’s a chance to come together.”
During public comment, the councilors heard a range of public comments on the moratorium, with some residents supporting it and members of the business community raising concerns about it.
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.
