Aug 14, 2025
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BAR HARBOR—In one of the final steps before heading to the voters in November, the town’s planning department presented multiple proposed amendments to Bar Harbor’s land use ordinance to the town’s warrant committee, August 13.
The public hearings for all five potential amendments will occur next Tuesday at the Bar Harbor Town Council meeting, at 93 Cottage Street. Also at that 6:30 p.m. meeting, the council will decide whether or not to put each amendment on the November ballot.
The amendments that are moved forward will be on the November ballot and go before voters then. Voters will also see if planning board and warrant committee members recommend passage of the amendments.
At a July 2 meeting, planning board members moved to recommend all the proposed amendments to the town council for a public hearing at the council level. The board also unanimously recommended that each amendment be passed if the council moves them forward.
The warrant committee has not yet made any recommendations. The August 13 meeting was only a presentation with an opportunity for the members to ask questions of Planning Director Michele Gagnon.
THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
The first amendment is meant to clarify that the definition of “two-family” does not include two detached single-family homes on the same lot.
At an earlier planning board meeting, Diane Vreeland asked why not just call it a duplex.
“The definition that’s in the land use ordinance now is wacky,” Bar Harbor Planning Board Chair Millard Dority had said. “We’re trying to get that definition so that people can work with it.”
Code Enforcement Officer Mike Gurtler said at that meeting that one and two family are quoted in the state’s building codes and the proposed changes in the town’s LUO would make it consistent with those state codes.
If they used the term “duplex,” they’d have to change the LUO every time “two family” is mentioned, Planning Director Michele Gagnon had said earlier to the planning board.
CAPACITY LETTERS
This proposed change is about procedure.
A capacity letter is basically a form that is signed by a department head confirming that the project complies to the town’s standards for capacity.
“Most projects go through the planning board twice,” Gagnon said.
The first meeting is for completeness review. That’s to see if it is complete and has all documents.
The second meeting before the planning board is the compliance meeting. And that’s where when the planning board determines if the project meets the performance standards, Gagnon explained to the warrant committee.
Currently, the planning board has to keep finding applications incomplete because department heads don’t always have design plans that are fully developed because of the way that the procedure currently plays out.
The change would make it so that the department heads can sign the capacity letter at the second meeting rather than the first. That would align it with ensuring that the project meets capacity standards, Gagnon said.
Department heads also have a separate technical review meeting about projects, Gagnon said during the conversation with warrant committee members.
SITE PLAN AND SUBDIVISION PLAN
This proposed amendment would “integrate regulations” from multiple articles and “reorder the sections to better align with the typical progression of an application from submission to approval,” according to town documents.
It works both with definitions and procedures.
The intent is to clarify the four different types of plans that the town reviews Gagnon said in a June planning board meeting. It also takes away a mandatory site visit requirement for subdivision plans.
“It’s going to allow the planning board and the planning director to decide whether a planning board site visit is necessary for both a major subdivision and a major site plan,” Gagnon said.
Currently a site visit is not an option for major site plans.
It would also make a more realistic timeframe for the overall approval of site plans, increasing the approval time from 15 days to 30 days. Currently, the planning board has less time to approve big projects than the code enforcement office does.
“A lot of this language makes it really hard for the average user to understand,” warrant committee member Barbara Dunphey said. She said that concerns her as a member of the warrant committee and as a member of the community.
One of the things on the department’s to-do list is to provide a diagram to help people understand process, Gagnon said.
CAMPGROUNDS
Potentially more changes to campground definitions are likely to come before voters in the June 2026 land use proposed changes, staff told the planning board earlier this year.
The current proposed change clarifies how much land is required for each site in a campground, which had been previously unclear, Gagnon told warrant committee members. It also provides for consistency with state standards for campground licensing. Only one RV will be allowed per campsite
Discussion ranged into what is a campground and how campgrounds with yurts and cabins might (or might not) work with current definitions.
Warrant Committee member John Kelly said a campground is where you bring a shelter, whereas now people rent a pre-existing structure. He was concerned about “similar shelter” wording in the definition.
SHORELAND ZONING
The final proposed amendment is about shoreland zoning. These are the rules for the land in Bar Harbor that is in this specific zone. The change would make the town’s rules in compliance with the state’s mandatory Shoreland Zoning Act. Many of the changes deal with additional language about vegetation and revegetation.
It also defines hazard tree, storm-damaged tree, and outlet stream.
LINKS TO DRAFT ORDERS SO YOU CAN LEARN MORE
Site plan and subdivision review
TOWN’S LAND USE ORDINANCE
TO CONTACT THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT
- Code Enforcement Officer — Michael Gurtler
- Email: mgurtler@barharbormaine.gov
- Planning Director — Michele Gagnon
- Email: planner@barharbormaine.gov
- Planning & Code Enforcement Department
- Phone: 207-288-3329
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