Appeals Board Upholds Code Enforcement Officer’s Permit for Bogue Chitto Property
Sep 10, 2025
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Window Panes Home and Garden.
BAR HARBOR—Can the owner of a vacation rental close off a portion of the home when renting it in the short-term when that rental is not the owner’s primary residence?
That was the question attorney Colin W.B. Chard put before the Bar Harbor Appeals Board, September 9.
If the owner couldn’t, Chard believed that Code Enforcement Officer Michael Gurtler’s January 2025 approval of a vacation rental-2 (VR-2) renewal for 12 Bogue Chitto Lane was in error and that the property’s license should be revoked.
Chard was representing Brandan and Monika McCallion who are neighbors of the 12 Bogue Chitto Lane property.
It was not the first time that the McCallions have appealed a permit issued to the property, which has had a vacation rental permit since 2021 in an area of town where new vacation rentals are not allowed, but ones that preexist and are renewed each year can continue.
This appeal focused on the definition of a VR-2 and if it allowed portions of a dwelling to be closed off while rented.
The 12 Bogue Chitto Lane property is owned by Roy and Marcia Levitt doing business as W.A.R.M management LLC.
The town’s short-term rental ordinance was approved 1,260-840 in November 2021 and requires a yearly renewal and creates a 9% cap on rentals that are not occupied by the property owner. Rentals that existed prior to that cap are still allowed as long as they pass inspections and renew their licenses each year by May 31.
Last year, voters in two other island towns (Mount Desert and Tremont) rejected short-term rental ordinances.
CURRENT APPEAL
The September 9 discussion focused mostly on what Chard classified as a question of law involving Bar Harbor’s land use ordinance.
The nub of this whole issue is whether or not an operator of a VR-2 may withhold areas or living space … consistent to the requirements of the town’s code, he said.
The action of potentially renting less than the “entire dwelling unit,” he believed, did not conform to the town’s definition of a VR-2. That phrase is in the town’s definition.
“Because of the errors of law, abuses of discretion and facts not supported by substantial evidence in the record, this matter required appeal to the Superior Court. The Superior Court similarly misapplied the municipal ordinance, in particular the meaning of the defined phrase ‘in violation,’ as defined according to the municipal ordinance,” Chard wrote in appeal materials.
He believes that if the entire unit is not rented out, it violates the town’s code, which would make the rental illegal.
“Where is the line?” Chard asked the board members in the appeal of the January 2025 permit.
“Do you think there’s a difference between a storage closet and a suite?” Chard asked Gurtler during a portion of the appeals board where he was allowed to cross-examine Gurtler.
“I believe there’s a difference between a closet and a suite, yes,” Gurtler said.
Chard asked, “Is it a violation of the ordinance as we’ve been discussing here today to withhold a suite with the addition of a bath for the payment of additional rent?”
Gurtler said he did not interpret it as a violation of the ordinance. “I believe that the legislative intent of the definition of VR-2 was to distinguish it from VR-1.”
VR-1 rentals are the owner’s primary residency. VR-1 owners can rent off a bedroom and host different groups in different areas of the home.
“We regularly have VR-2s where a basement or a bedroom where things are stored, or a closet for the cleaning or an attic or something is restricted from use so I don’t see that’s a violation of that particular definition,” Gurtler said.
The board denied the appeal during a meeting that had some arguably tense moments as Chard tried to call the owner of the 12 Bogue Chitto Lane property to answer his questions.
“The board is not required to assist the parties in preparing and presenting their evidence by calling out names in the audience to see who is here and not here,” town attorney Daniel Pileggi said.
“I object because the appeal is being filed against the code enforcement officer and not the Levitts,” appeals board member Michael Siklosi said. It’s about whether or not the code enforcement officer erred in issuing the rental permit renewal, he argued. “I strongly object to this kind of ambush, which is what I will call it.”
Chard said it was his right to call and cross examine witnesses.
“It is incumbent upon the applicant to present his case. It is not up to the board to chase down witnesses,” Pileggi said.
Approximately 50 minutes into the meeting, Chard asked for the board to continue the matter and issue a subpoena to the property owner so the board could decide the matter.
They did not.
Does the definition of a VR-2 make it so that the entire dwelling must be rented and pieces of it cannot be portioned off, Chard asked.
“This is a very confined question,” Chard said, saying that if people can withhold a suite of rooms, it obliterates the distinction between VR-1 and VR-2 and is a violation of the ordinance. “It is not notices of violation. It is in violation. It’s the plain language.”
Chard argued withholding a suite of rooms from the dwelling obliterates the distinction between the two types of rentals. He said doing so is in violation of the definition of a VR-2 and therefore the permit.
Pileggi said that this issue was among those mentioned in the earlier appeal, which had been denied.
Jonathan Hunter, representing Gurtler, argued that it’s an annual registration and it was an administrative decision by the code enforcement officer.
The board denied the appeal in the meeting that lasted slightly over 90 minutes.
PAST APPEALS
Previously, the town’s former code enforcement officer, Angela Chamberlain, terminated the property’s rental permit because she had initially believed the property owner’s 2023 short-term rental permit had been granted in error.
However, according to Chamberlain’s statements at the 2024 appeals board meeting, the Levitts, who own the property, were not at fault in this situation and the fault was due to a glitch in the software that the town uses for electronic vacation rental permit renewals, IworQ portal. The Levitts own two vacation rentals in Bar Harbor and had paid for two renewals online with two renewal applications submitted.
“However, due to a glitch in the IworQ portal, the Administrative Assistant Tammy DesJardin, did not receive the two applications for VR-2 registration rentals, but only one application,” the staff report for the January 9, 2024 appeals board meeting reads.
Chamberlain decided there was enough evidence that Levitt had paid for her registration renewals on January 3, 2023, well before the May 31 deadline. On October 30 of that year, Chamberlain issued the renewal “to correct the error made by the town.”
The McCallions disagreed.
However, the permit was upheld both by the town’s appeals board and then Hancock County Superior Court. An appeal to Maine Superior Court, heard this year, determined that since the 2023 permit involved has now expired since it is 2025, there were no grounds for the case.
In a July 23, 2024 ruling, Hancock County Superior Court Justice Harold Stewart II ruled in favor of the defendant Town of Bar Harbor and defendant intervenor, W.A.R.M. Management, LLC (WARM).
The rulings upheld the Bar Harbor Appeals Board’s earlier decision, in which members voted against an appeal to revoke a short-term rental permit issued to WARM by Chamberlain.
That original appeal occurred at a January 9, 2024, meeting of the appeal’s board and was also brought by Brandan and Monika McCallion (Old Bears, LLC), who said that the short-term rental permit for a property at 12 Bogue Chitto Lane, which is owned by the Levitts, but registered under WARM, was invalid because it was issued after the yearly deadline of May 31. The McCallions own property near the Levitts’ property, at 11 and 16 Bogue Chitto Lane.
During the January 9, 2024 meeting, the McCallions had also argued that the Levitts had committed a violation by renting the VR-2 without a permit, not displaying a current permit within the rental unit as required by the ordinance, and not having the permit number listed on the advertising site for the vacation rental.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Prior to hearing the appeal, Siklosi said that 25 years ago, he and his wife bought property from the McCallions, who they did not meet during the sale, which was taken care of by real estate agents and lawyers. The board unanimously agreed that he did not have a conflict.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The board unanimously voted in the slate of officers, which was Anna Durand as chair, Claire Fox as vice chair, and Robert Webber as secretary.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
E-code about short-term rentals in Bar Harbor
- Application – Part 1 (posted 8.28.2025)
- Application – Part 2 (posted 8.28.2025)
- Code Enforcement Officer’s Submission (posted 9.02.2025)
Courts Declare Bar Harbor Short-Term Rental Case Moot, Dismiss Sidman’s Amended Complaint, and a Golden Anchor’s Motion Is Also Now Moot
Appeals Board Upholds Short-Term Rental Decision
Court Upholds Town Appeals Board Decision on Short-Term Rental Snafu
Follow us on Facebook or BlueSky or Instagram. And as a reminder, you can easily view all our past stories and press releases here.
Bar Harbor Story is a mostly self-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thank you for being here with us and caring about our community, too!
Thanks for reading Bar Harbor Story! This post is public so feel free to share it.
If you’d like to donate to help support us, you can, but no pressure! Just click here (about how you can give) or here (a direct link), which is the same as the button below.
If you’d like to sponsor the Bar Harbor Story, you can! Learn more here.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR COMMITMENT TO YOUR COMMUNITY
You can help us keep bringing local and daily news for you and our community, if you want. No pressure!
Make a monthly donation
Make a yearly donation
Choose an amount
Or enter a custom amount
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
Your contribution is appreciated.
DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearlyDiscover more from Bar Harbor Story
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.