Planning Board Quickly Susses Out Perceived Issues with Lodging Type

Carrie Jones

Apr 26, 2025

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BAR HARBOR—The Bar Harbor Planning Board quickly discussed at the tail end of its workshop Wednesday potentially getting rid of a category of lodging in the town.

“This one is my pet peeve,” Planning Board Chair Millard Dority said.

“Mine too,” agreed member Guy Dunphey.

Lodging one is a type of single-family home where “the resident or residents of the dwelling provide short-term overnight lodging in a maximum of three guest rooms located within the dwelling.”

The topic came up in a workshop, which is one of many that are occurring, as the town undergoes a 180-day moratorium on lodging. The town has that time to determine to tweak or not tweak the issues surrounding lodging.

The moratorium was approved by the town council after an emergency moratorium had already occurred on the same topic of transient accommodations.

The board has had previous presentations on the island’s historic relationship with vehicular traffic and visitation, public safety calls, and will likely have one about the town’s infrastructure.

There seemed to be consensus during the quick discussion that lodging ones (L-1) were an issue. Unlike short-term rentals that are owner-occupied (VR-1s), in an L-1 the resident does not have to be an owner and the term of stay can be shorter. Meals can be served at the dwelling as well, but only to guests.

It seems like a backdoor way of a VR-2, a type of short-term rental that is capped in Bar Harbor (there is currently a waiting list for permits), and the length of stays can also be nightly in the L-1 category, which is shorter than a VR-2’s allowed length of stays, Dority said.

“I see nothing wrong with a person who owns a house and wants to rent rooms in the summer,” Dority said, but hiring someone to be there feels different. He wants it to be the primary residence as well.

Dunphey also quickly spoke about the town looking into potentially removing some lodging uses from some residential areas in town.

Bar Harbor Housing and Community Planner Cali Martinez said that the data collection about zones, lodgings, residences and more, will likely be presented at the next workshop.

“It’s critical that we get this moratorium issue solved so that we can get into housing,” Dority said.

A desire to have more affordable and available homes on Mount Desert Island has been a topic in multiple towns and at Acadia National Park.

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• 2025 Workplan
  • Strategy 1: Address the Immediate Needs of the Moratorium: Manage Lodging Uses
    • Moratorium Ordinance Language (uploaded 03.28.2025)
    • Data collection overview and roadmap (uploaded 02.18.2025)
    • Workshop #2 (March 27, 2025) Meeting recording (uploaded 04.09.2025)
      • MDI Historical Society presentation starts at: 04:50
      • Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce presentation starts at: 31:17
    • Workshop #2: Staff Discussion Guidance Slides (uploaded 03.27.2025)
    • Workshop #2: MDI Historical Society Presentation (uploaded 03.28.2025)
    • Workshop #2: Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Presentation (Trends in Tourism Economy) (uploaded 03.27.2025)
      • Maine Office of Tourism 2023 Economic Impact & Visitor Tracking Report (uploaded 03.28.2025)
      • Maine Office of Tourism Downeast & Acadia 2023 Economic Impact & Visitor Tracking Report (uploaded 03.28.2025)

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A QUICK BUT IMPORTANT NOTE FROM US: In our previous story, we somehow wrote “The Balance Rock Inn” instead of the “Black Friar Inn.” They are both great places! And we do know the difference. And the owners of the Black Friar were so lovely and gracious about it. We apologize for the error.

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