Housing, Zoning, and Lodging Intertwine in Bar Harbor’s Other Planning Efforts.

Carrie Jones

Dec 24, 2025

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Havana.

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BAR HARBOR—Whether or not the construction or significant renovation of lodgings continue to be paused in Bar Harbor will be decided on December 29 by the town council, which has just released the new proposed moratorium and an amendment.

The public can also speak about the topic during a public hearing or by emailing comments to council@barharbormaine.gov. Typically, the council allows comments for up to three minutes.

The moratorium began in November 2024 and covers all lodging types.

The town council packet for its December 29 meeting, released December 23, just before 4:30 p.m., includes a new proposed moratorium, an extension of the earlier lodging moratorium. The meeting is on a Monday at 6:30 p.m. The council normally meets on Tuesdays. There is also a Zoom option.

The new proposed moratorium has an amendment as well, which states that “conversions of year-round housing to other uses continue to reduce available housing, and a portion of these conversions involve lodging uses or parking conversions.”

It does not explicitly state if the parking conversions are for lodging uses.

It also says that “the encroachment of commercial operations into residential areas poses significant challenges to the stability and character of community.”

The whereas clauses continue and state, “Whereas, concerns were identified as relating to neighborhood character, the encroachment of commercial uses within residential areas, and the pressure it creates on quality of life, stability and cost of housing; and whereas, specific updates are needed to address residential conversion concerns, neighborhood character and stability, parking, and lodging definitions in order to ensure the proper regulation of these lodging uses; and whereas, additional work remains in order to prepare proposed Land Use Ordinance amendment(s) to be placed on the ballot for the voters to weigh in on these concerns.”

The amendment states that the moratorium’s purpose is to:

1. “Complete the Planning Board work currently underway concerning lodging definitions, guest room capacity, Lodging I standards, parking requirements, and the identification of appropriate locations for certain lodging uses,
2. “Prepare Land Use Ordinance amendments for voter consideration in June 2026,
3. “Protect residential stability and neighborhood character while this work is completed, and
4. “Avoid development activity that could conflict with, or undermine, the ordinance amendments now in preparation.”

The moratorium’s amendment also speaks to lodgings not being able to extensively renovate or remodel.

“Remodels, renovations, and minor revisions to Certain Transient Accommodations in the above categories, such as replacing fixtures, reconfiguring existing rooms, replacing roofs, or making cosmetic improvements, that do not alter the intensity of use or trigger additional parking, traffic, or infrastructure impacts, are exempt from the moratorium. Intentional demolition of existing structures or accommodations, or any portion thereof, including the removal of structural elements, exterior walls, or roofing systems, beyond that required for routine maintenance, is not a remodel, renovation, or minor revision,” it states.

If the town council enacts it again, the new iteration of the moratorium would continue for 180 days unless the town council extends, repeals, or modifies it. That extension would begin again in January.

Opponents of the extension say that it’s unduly punishing one commercial use in town and look to a planning board vote, which recommended the council not extend the moratorium since most of the earlier moratorium’s reasoning (the whereas clauses) were unsubstantiated. They have also said that it takes staff and board time away from focusing on creating or encouraging more housing.

Proponents of an extension say that it gives the town planning staff and planning board more time to enact land use ordinance changes that could limit some lodging in some areas. They also say that changes could limit conversions of homes to lodgings and if keep that sort of commercial use from encroaching on residential neighborhoods.

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PLANNING WORK

Along with scheduling a public hearing for the continuation of potential lodging moratorium for December 29, the Bar Harbor Town Council heard a quick planning department update from Planning Director Michele Gagnon during its December 16 meeting. The update encapsulated a broad look at the planning department’s, design review board’s, and planning board’s work toward potential changes in the town’s land use ordinance. That ordinance regulates building and zoning within the town.

Gagnon presented multiple potential land use amendments that if they move forward would come before Bar Harbor voters in June.

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HOLY REDEEMER ZONE CHANGE

The first would be for the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church to change its zoning to allow it to have a parking lot. Its current lot coverage requirements would not. It would be taken out of the Mount Desert Street Corridor District and into Downtown Residential District, which it abuts.

The Neo-Gothic stone church sits on the corner of Mount Desert Street and Ledgelawn.

Each district has different lot coverage requirements and setbacks and specified allowed uses. A good portion of the change is due to the church hoping to build a parking lot on the Shannon Road side of the lot. This would increase the church’s lot coverage, which is already too much for its current zone.

Those more hesitant about the project worry about changing one lot’s zoning for one entity. Supporters say that the church abuts a residential zone already and is an allowed use.

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DESIGN REVIEW BOARD

The design review board change would repeal article 13 and replace it. This article determines how the design review board works. It will also host the annual updates to Appendix A, which lists the town’s historic properties in districts that the board has purview over.

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HOUSING BARRIERS: AREA PER FAMILY.

The “housing barriers” amendments would tweak the area per family which regulates how many people can be on one lot.

Housing and Community Planner Cali Martinez explained that it would remove that requirement in zoning districts on water and sewer and that are in designated growth areas determined by the town’s recently approved 2035 Comprehensive Plan. It would also lower the amount of area per family required for lots in designated growth areas, but not on water and sewer.

“Area per family” is how much land each dwelling in a zone needs. It is regulated by towns or cities and meant to make sure that families have adequate space. However, the restriction can also prevent property owners from building accessory dwelling units on their lots.

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CAMPGROUNDS AND CAMPSITES

Campgrounds and campsites were other potential changes discussed.

The goal of the change is to clean up the town’s land use ordinance as well as tweak definitions.

An individual private campground would not be available to rent and no bigger than 2500-square-feet, Code Enforcement Officer Michael Gurtler said.

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Transient Lodging

Potential changes to what types of lodgings are allowed in the town and how they are defined currently include replacing the term “guest room” with “guest unit” and establishing a minimum number of guest units and a maximum guest capacity, using state fire marshal’s formula for calculations.

Another change would remove L1 type of lodging from all districts. This type of lodging has been single family dwellings.

The town would also remove any “unused or inappropriate” lodging types from some districts, update parking requirements to reflect guest capacity, and remove the lodging expansion exception in the nonconformity section.

That exception allows lodging that have already existed in an area where they are not currently allowed to be built to be able to renovate in ways that the town considers expansion.

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TIMELINES

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LINKS TO LEARN MORE

To watch the past meeting.

For the December 29 meeting:

Remote participation notice: Because one or more members of the Town Council plan to attend the meeting remotely, members of the public must also have the opportunity to attend and participate remotely. Please click the link below to join the Zoom webinar. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82517939695?pwd=x0SOzxRsuqVci8xi7qcb2svOIXtrr4.1

Webinar ID: 825 1793 9695 Passcode: 645655 Phone +1 929 205 6099

To see the packet.

Bar Harbor Town Council’s December 16 packet and agenda

• Presentation at the December 16, 2025 Town Council meeting
• December 16 Planning Board workshop packet
• December 9 Planning Board workshop packet
• December 3 Planning Board workshop packet
• November 20 Planning Board workshop packet