Nov 03, 2025
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by First National Wealth Management.
MOUNT DESERT ISLAND—Voters in multiple towns will make decisions on both town and state issues, Tuesday, November 4. Here is a very quick rundown of questions and polling places in each town.
STATE BALLOT QUESTIONS:
QUESTION 1: Citizen Initiative
“Do you want to change Maine election laws to eliminate two days of absentee voting, prohibit requests for absentee ballots by phone or family members, end ongoing absentee voter status for seniors and people with disabilities, ban prepaid postage on absentee ballot return envelopes, limit the number of drop boxes, require voters to show certain photo ID before voting, and make other changes to our elections?”
QUESTION 2: Citizen Initiative
“Do you want to allow courts to temporarily prohibit a person from having dangerous weapons if law enforcement, family, or household members show that the person poses a significant danger of causing physical injury to themselves or others?”
BAR HARBOR
Polling Place: Municipal Building Auditorium, 93 Cottage St, third floor
Polling Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
ON THE TOWN’S BALLOT:
DWELLING, TWO-FAMILY
The first potential 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 when the planning board determines if the project meets the performance standards, Gagnon explained to the town’s warrant committee.
Frequently, 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.
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.
MOUNT DESERT
Polling Place: Town Hall, 21 Sea Street, Northeast Harbor.
Polling Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The Town Office is closed Tuesday, November 4, 2025 for the State Election; we will re-open the following day for regular business.
The office will re-open for regular business on November 5, 2025.
TREMONT
Polling Place: Harvey Kelley Meeting Room at the town office at 20 Harbor Drive, Bass Harbor.
Polling Hours: from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
ON THE TOWN’S BALLOT:
TEMPORARY SALES
Feeling that the town’s Temporary Sales Ordinance was not clear or concise, Code Enforcement Officer Angela Chamberlain made it one of her first projects when she began to work for the town. Chamberlain’s goal was to have rules that everyone could understand and that could be applied in the same way for different circumstances.
Clarifying rules, clarifying which permitting authority is the correct authority for different circumstances, clarifying what rules applicants have to follow, and adding definitions were some of the tasks that Chamberlain undertook.
These rules apply to food trucks and outdoor markets such as farmer’s markets and craft fairs.
The one existing food truck that Tremont has, Quietside Snacks, would be grandfathered under these proposed amendments and the new rules would not apply to it.
The ordinance reads,
“(3) Standards for Mobile Vending Units;
“(h) An applicant holding a valid “Temporary Sales” permit as of August 26, 2025, shall be permitted to renew that permit in accordance with the ordinance provisions in effect on that date. Such applicants shall not be required to comply with the standards of Article V, Section U, for future renewals, provided the permit is renewed annually without lapse. Permits authorized under this subsection are non-transferable.”
After much discussion, mostly centered around sanitation issues such as bathroom facilities and trash receptacles, the select board asked Chamberlain to add some language requiring bathroom facilities for food trucks that are in one particular spot for more than 30 days and also to add the allowance of shellfish sales at farmer’s markets.
OFFICIAL ZONING MAP AND ZONE CRITERIA
These potential changes would make the rules for shoreland zoning only apply to lands within 250 feet of the water or wetlands as intended by state law, said Chamberlain. The current zoning map does not reflect this.
The potential changes would also remove areas owned by Acadia National Park (ANP) from the zoning map (as town zoned lots) because ANP does not have to follow town zoning rules.
The potential changes would also alter the zoning for a residential neighborhood which is currently zoned as Commercial Fisheries and Maritime Activities (CMFA) so that rules meant for working waterfront no longer restrict homeowners. The way the area is currently zoned, as CMFA, means that any residential lots/structures are non-conforming uses.
Member Eric Eaton asked Chamberlain to explain a little more about the changes to the CMFA zone.
Chamberlain said that in the area she is referring to, which is the water side of Harbor Drive, from Pointy Head back towards town proper, is zoned as CMFA, but is exclusively residential homes. Residential homes are not allowed in CMFA and all of these properties are non-conforming and the owners would never be able expand their residence, or add an additional dwelling or do anything other than what exists on the property now.
SHORELAND ZONING AND MULTIPLE ARTICLES
These proposed ordinance amendments update the town’s ordinance to match the state’s Department of Environmental Protection’s rules and requirements for shoreland zoning.
TRAFFIC CONTROL AND PARKING ORDINANCE
The proposed changes would strengthen and clarify the language of the ordinance for enforcement purposes.
The changes would also remove the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office as the enforcing agency and add the Southwest Harbor Police Department.
TRENTON
Polling Place: The town office at 59 Oak Point Road, Trenton.
Polling Hours: from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
SOUTHWEST HARBOR
Polling Place: Town fire station at 250 Main Street, Southwest Harbor
Polling Hours: from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
ON THE TOWN’S BALLOT:
Multiple potential ordinance changes are on the ballot for Southwest Harbor residents, November 4.
In a special meeting, the Southwest Harbor Select Board held public hearings on multiple ordinance changes for several land use ordinances. However, the public didn’t have any comment on many of the proposed ordinances.
The Coastal Waters and Harbor Ordinance, Telecommunications Facilities Ordinance, Ordinance Banning the Sale of Potentially Intoxicating Hemp Products, Ordinance Establishing a Retroactive Moratorium on Tobacco Specialty Stores, and Citizen Initiative Referendum Question were all up for public hearing.
- Question 1: Coastal Waters and Harbor Ordinance.
- Question 2: Wireless Telecommunications Facilities Ordinance.
- Question 3: Hemp Prohibition Ordinance.
- Question 4: Retroactive Moratorium on Specialty Stores. This would temporarily halt or regulate the establishment of certain retail businesses.
- Question 5: Citizen Initiative Petition: Soil Standards
COASTAL WATER AND HARBOR ORDINANCE
There was no public comment on the ordinance that looks to tweak regulations for moorings, operations within the town’s harbor and also speaks to the town’s use of its coastal resources.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS FACILITIES ORDINANCE
There was no public comment in person about changes to the ordinance.
However, Dick Atlee tried to speak via Zoom and was not heard.
He wrote in the chat, “My concern with the wireless ordinance is in III.G, Purpose, which claimed to protect the pubic health, safety, and welfare. There are significant concerns with RF radiation biological effects, and many dramatic cases of sickening of residents and school kids in the vicinity of towers. But having read through the ordinance in detail (it’s very thorough), I could find no mention of health issues.”
He then later sent the board an extended statement that said he was impressed with the ordinance’s thoroughness, he worried about some of the specific aspects that he found inconsistent.
ORDINANCE BANNING THE SALE OF POTENTIALLY INTOXICATING HEMP PRODUCTS
There was no public comment about the potential ban of the sale of intoxicating hemp products in town stores, restaurants, and bars.
RETROACTIVE MORATORIUM ON TOBACCO SPECIALTY STORES
For the pause on any tobacco specialty stores being in town, there was one public comment, which was about what it meant to be retroactive.
The moratorium would be retroactive to the end of August when the board saw the first draft. If passed, any permits drawn from that time would not go forward until the moratorium was over.
CITIZEN INITIATIVE REFERENDUM QUESTION
At a recent meeting, Southwest Harbor Select Board member Carolyn Ball reminded the board that the planning board had a split recommendation over the referendum, which would require soil testing for contaminants for any property within a half-mile that the state has deemed “an uncontrolled site” prior to any land use that requires permitting.
That is currently the Worcester Associates landfill property in between Long Pond and the Marshall Brook Road and began in the 1930s with an open burning dump that was used by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and then the town. It has polluted ground water in the area.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Information page on the Southwest Harbor website about its potential changes.
The Packet of Materials for Southwest Harbor that includes potential changes.
Two-family dwellings (Bar Harbor)
Capacity letters (Bar Harbor)
Site plan and subdivision review (Bar Harbor)
Campgrounds (Bar Harbor)
Shoreland zoning (Bar Harbor)
Land Use Ordinance- Temporary Sales (Tremont)
Land Use Ordinance- Official Zoning Map & Zone Criteria (Tremont)
Land Use Ordinance- Shoreland Zoning and Multiple Articles (Tremont)
Proposed Zoning Map (Tremont)
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