Nov 13, 2025
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Acadia Shops.
BAR HARBOR—How should the town define campgrounds and should individual private campsites be allowed in places outside of the town’s shoreland zone?
Those two questions were approached in a duo of workshops, November 12, as the town’s code enforcement office looked for guidance about potential tweaks to the town’s definition of campground and also about where private campsites should be allowed, if anywhere.
“These are only what-ifs,” Code Enforcement Officer Michael Gurtler told the five people gathered for the noon meeting.
Gurtler sat at a side table with Assistant Code Enforcement Officer Tammy Desjardin and allowed a lively conversation between the participants, answering questions throughout his presentation.
The campground definitions discussion is due to the town’s current land use ordinance (LUO).
The LUO is the local law in each town that regulates the use of land in specific areas or zones. It determines things such as what activities can occur in different areas, the minimum size of a lot, how close things can be built to property lines (setbacks), and more.
There’s a bit of a hitch when it comes to Bar Harbor’s LUO when it comes to campgrounds.
“We currently have two definitions in the land use ordinance,” Gurtler said.
Both definitions are for the same thing: campgrounds.
One definition exists as a general ordinance. The other definition exists within the shoreland zone’s section of the ordinance and complies with the state’s definition.
The state has regulations that towns must comply with in shoreland districts. Towns can, however, be more strict than the state when it comes to uses and setbacks in that district. Bar Harbor had adopted the state’s language for that ordinance.
There is also a definition for private campsites in the town’s land use ordinance.
These are only allowed in the shoreland district. The town is looking for feedback about if those private campsites should still be allowed there or in other places as well.
There could potentially be a land use amendment to make just one campground definition or to change where (if anywhere) private campsites are allowed, but it’s all quite preliminary now, Gurtler said.
CAMPGROUND DEFINITIONS
The general campground definition within the town’s land use ordinance is “any land area specifically designed and developed, containing two or more individual campsites which accommodate that segment of the traveling public seeking temporary camping accommodations for tents, recreational vehicles, or towed travel trailers for compensation. Accessory uses, subject to a site plan review, include camper services and facilities such as shower and laundry facilities, electricity, fresh water, propane and gas sales, ice, outlet for camping supplies and equipment, recreational services and the like.”
The campground definition within the shoreland zone is “any area or tract of land to accommodate two or more parties in temporary living quarters, including, but not limited to tents, recreational vehicles or other shelters.”
“I love this definition because it tells you exactly what is a campground,” Diane Vreeland, of Town Hill, said of the first longer definition.
The town has multiple types of campgrounds, which are covered by those definitions.
“We have campgrounds with cabins. We also have a second smaller glamping resort,” Gurtler said.
There are campgrounds with yurts. There are campgrounds with RVs. There are campgrounds with just tent sites.
Any new campground requires site plan review.
“I don’t think we should allow it in shoreland districts,” Vreeland said of campgrounds.
There are currently campgrounds and private campsites in the town’s shoreland areas.
Vreeland worried about ground water use and wastewater use and potential degradation of the environment.
“There are no campgrounds that have public water and sewer,” Gurtler said. Public water and sewer are available in a limited portion of the town.
“We may look at where they are allowed moving forward, but we are not right now,” Gurtler said of the placement and location of campgrounds.
Generally in zoning and land use you try to avoid having current uses (such as a private campsite in the shoreland district) become noncompliant, he said.
“But why can’t we, Mike?” Vreeland asked.
“I’m not saying we can’t, but it’s not generally a good idea,” Gurtler said.
Typically, zoning changes can’t stop people from doing what they were legally able to do before. Those prior uses continue when activities in a zone change. Those uses are then (after the change) called nonconforming and are legal. In Maine, there can be uses considered nonconforming, lots considered nonconforming, and structures considered nonconforming.
DIVING IN MORE DEEPLY TO THE DEFINITIONS
Town Councilor David Kief wondered about the “temporary living quarters” aspect of the shoreland definition of campground. Would that allow them to leave structures on the sites year-round, he asked.
The state limits how many days campgrounds can be used. On the island most are active from May through October, Gurtler said.
“Very few of these places remove everything,” Gurtler said of structures at the campgrounds.
A structure might be there during the winter, but not be used. For example at Terramore, they do not remove the yurts. Some cabins come in on wheels and, while not occupied in the winter, wait there for the camping season to begin again.
Kief wondered if temporary living quarters might morph into something more permanent at campgrounds.
Michael Good, Town Hill, asked if there was a way to include quiet time and language about amplified music in a revised campground definition.
There currently are quiet hours according to the town rules. Amplified music that disturbs homeowners should be reported to the police, Gurtler said.
There is redundancy in the larger general definition of campground, which includes both recreational vehicles and towed travel trailers, when towed travel trailers are considered RVs, Gurtler noted.
Kief said his biggest concern is campgrounds’ and private campsites’ impact on the environment.
“They’re always close to a place that’s scenic,” he said, adding that this is understandable, but those scenic places near marshes, oceans, beaches, rivers, estuaries, tend to be especially environmentally sensitive.
Campgrounds have to meet local and state standards for campgrounds. There are rules within state law and then local law for setbacks and lot coverage and square footage requirement per campsite.
Some campgrounds (such as the KOA campground at the head of the island) in Bar Harbor have existed for such a long time that the campground has different density and setbacks than would be currently allowed.
Terramore was also an existing campground prior to being developed as it is. That allows the campground to be closer to the marsh than it would be if it was developed today.
There was also discussion about the word “accommodation” within one of the definitions.
“The word ‘accommodation’ makes people think lodging,” Gurtler said.
RVs are everything from a pop-up to a mobile-home-sized structure, Gurtler said.
Tents don’t always have poles and stakes and ropes, but the town’s definition says they do. Free-standing tents that do not use poles, stakes, and ropes have existed for a while.
PRIVATE CAMPSITES
Right now a private campsite, which is a single campsite, is allowed in the shoreland zone. It can be an RV, a tent platform, or a tent. The sites are not subject to site plan review. They can not be rented. The land use ordinance hasn’t addressed private campsites in other areas.
There are often requests for RVs on private property, Gurtler said. This happens, anecdotally, six times a year, he said.
Someone might buy land and need a temporary place to stay while building their home and want to bring in their RV or tent during that construction.
Kief said he didn’t have a problem with people camping while clearing their land to build, especially if they are struggling and having a hard time finding a rent on the island.
“It could really make a difference in how they can develop their piece of property,” Kief said.
“And if there’s oversight on that,” Good added.
That would be key, Kief said. He wouldn’t want to see it happening constantly everywhere.
There are some times when areas outside of the shoreland zone have or do host an RV or tent.
A vacant lot downtown had an RV parked on it for two weeks and was not connected to water, electric, and sewer while parked there. The visitors, friends of the property owners, used the facilities in the home across the street. The RV parked behind the MDI YMCA was given special permission by the town council a few years ago to park there. It has housed an employee during summer months and was connected to the Y for waste and water. The planning board allowed an RV as an accessory use on Route 102 at the lobster processing facility for the summer months for an employee who was working there.
“Nobody wants that in a residential area,” Vreeland said of large RVs potentially parked close to a lot line.
The place for an RV is a campground, she said.
Vreeland was worried about the environmental impact.
“We’ve got a lot bigger problems than just water these days,” Kief said.
More than one campsite is considered a campground.
“I think we have to think of everything,” Vreeland said, of all potential impacts of any changes.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
YMCA RV FOR HOUSING GETS THE OKAY FOR AN EXTERIOR OUTLET, STILL NEEDS COMPLETE APPLICATION & CEO APPROVAL
Town Council Goals, Chief Sharing Agreement Set for Tuesday Meeting
https://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/35-a/title35-Asec313.html
You may view the Bar Harbor Municipal Code including the Town Charter online or contact the town clerk (207-288-4098 or clerk@barharbormaine.gov) for a physical copy.
https://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/22/title22sec2491.html
Unless otherwise stated, photos Carrie Jones/Bar Harbor Story.
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