The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by First National Bank.
TOWN HILL—The 55-acre site in Town Hill that is a joint venture by the town and Acadia National Park meant to house affordable workforce homes could potentially have up to 60 total units at maximum build-out, but it’s too soon to know for sure representatives from the town and park said on Tuesday.
Bar Harbor Housing and Community Planner Cali Martinez and Acadia National Park’s Management Assistant John Kelly presented about the potential affordable workforce housing project in Town Hill at a September 16, Bar Harbor Town Council meeting. John D. Rockefeller gifted the parcel to the park in 1960.
In 1986 the national park boundary was established by federal legislation. There were parcels outside the boundary that were supposed to be deleted. This 55-acre parcel is outside the boundary.
“Flash ahead to 40 years that never happened for a number of reasons,” Kelly said and in that time housing has become a priority for the island. Previously, the parcel had been designated to be a transfer station for all island towns.
“It finally came to fruition in 2022,” Kelly said when the use went from a transfer station to workforce housing and the park would retain up to 15 acres for its own housing development.
In 2023, the town and park began to discuss the project and decided to co-lead.
At the time there was no boundary survey of the parcel or understanding of how much of the land was suitable for housing. The next year, the town hired a consulting team to determine if there were a lot of wetlands or vernal pools that could impact the ability to develop housing. At that same time, there was a cost share agreement between the town and park based on the acreage that each had. Friends of Acadia paid for the park’s portion of the land use analysis while the town applied for and was awarded a grant to pay for it.
“One of the biggest challenges to this property was” the access to the Crooked Road, Kelly said.
The most efficient right-of-way with the shortest distance and minimal impact to the wetlands was purchased by Island Housing Trust. It currently has two parcels on it. They are also engaging with another neighbor.
“I started to define what affordable workforce housing means,” Martinez explained. “That definition, term, is not defined in the legislation.”
Next, they’ll finish determining how many homes are suitable on the site. The current estimate is that up to 50 units are possible on the town’s portion. The park has up to ten units. Those numbers will be solidified later in the process, which is also when a water analysis will be done.
“These are very preliminary numbers,” Kelly said, stressing that those numbers just show the ultimate potential.
They’ll also complete a survey about how to divide the land to the park and town in an equitable way. There are upcoming engagements with abutters and other communities on Mount Desert Island.
“The nuance is that this project is also to be for the benefit of other towns on MDI,” Kelly said.
That means that the homes don’t need to be just for people who work in Bar Harbor but people who work in various island locations.
The town doesn’t currently plan on developing the land itself but in collaboration with developers. There is no prohibition that prevents the town from transferring the lots within the parcels to other owners. Those details have not yet been solidified.
“At the end of the day, the council is going to set those parameters and expectations,” Town Manager James Smith said, but currently they are trying to determine what could be allowed on the land.
“It’s all sort of education right now,” Kelly said. “This is the easy work. You guys have the hard work of how it gets done.”
The goal is to have all those big questions answered by 2026 and then have a water analysis based on the specificity of housing.
The park, however, does not yet have a specific timeline for the development.
Friends of Acadia, a nonprofit group dedicated to supporting the park, has helped with seasonal housing for park employees with multiple projects since 2020 including the Dane Farm project in Seal Harbor, Harden Farm expansion in Bar Harbor, purchase of the Kingsleigh Inn in Southwest Harbor, and purchase of six existing townhomes on the Jordan River Road in Trenton. Those townhomes are to house Island Explorer bus drivers.
“We’re probably going to take a bit of a breather before we jump on Town Hill,” Kelly said.
All slides via Martinez presentation.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
To read the council packet with the Martinez Report (at the end)
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 you daily and local news.
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.