Bar Harbor's Paid Parking Initiatives Start May 15

Paid Parking Downtown Begins May 15. Plus, Our Questions for Warrant Committee Candidate Edmund Ryan.

May 07, 2026

Bar Harbor Kiosk. File photo: BHS.

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Restaurant Barn.

BAR HARBOR—When the Town Council authorized new kiosks in March, it created possibilities that local Bar Harbor residents might be able to potentially get some free parking downtown even during the height of the tourism season when paid parking is in effect.

“It opened up potential options for what I deemed an enhanced residential parking program,” Bar Harbor Town Manager James Smith said during a Town Council Workshop, May 5.

Now, Smith said, town staff was trying to find out what those options would look like and Council direction about even if they want to pursue it.

The councilors did.

The paid parking policy began in 2019. It now generates millions in revenue. Since 2019, the policy has been tweaked more than 16 times.

There are multiple options now that can allow breaks for Bar Harbor residents.

“You can give your residents a certain amount of time. You can reset that on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis. You can do it on a discount, so you can give them a certain percentage off, and you can reset that so that they can get 50% off three parking sessions per week or per day, or however you want to lay that out, or you can do it a fixed price, give them so many hours of parking at a fixed price each week and reset that either on a daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly basis,” Bar Harbor Police Captain Christopher Wharff explained. “Your options are pretty limitless here, which is why we wanted to come to you and talk about it.”

Currently, there is a free permit policy in place for residents for several side streets in town proper. This potential program would be in addition to that. There are also discounted tokens now, which are given out island wide, but are not well used.

Finance Director Sarah Gilbert said that only half the tokens purchased have been redeemed.

“We’ve heard a lot of these—for lack of a better word—grumblings by residents and the question then is: is there something we can do now that we have this new technology to help that and balance all these other considerations,” Smith said. “I think there is.”

Council Chair Val Peacock said she’s heard there isn’t enough permitted side street spaces for residents who do not live downtown proper. Permits are for side streets. Paid parking is for the spaces downtown on the major streets and lots.

“I think if there was a way to think about that. I don’t think it should just be free all the time,” Peacock said, but that it’s interesting to look at options and see what they look like.

People can use an app or pay at a kiosk for those paid spots.

Vice Chair Maya Caines also wondered about the town allotment per resident, to say that everyone in Bar Harbor gets a certain number of hours each season. Coupons could allow residents to key in a number on a kiosk.

“Free parking up to a certain amount, I think, would make people very happy,” Caines said.

The question, Captain Wharff said, is what kind of benefit the councilors would like to give to their residents.

Councilor Earl Brechlin said it would be important not to let the discount rate negatively impact the turn-over of the spot.

Councilor Steven Boucher asked if the residents could have the first 30 minutes free and pay after that.

Captain Wharff was not sure. The town does have the ability to have either a percentage off, fixed discount, or fixed price parking. That use can be reset daily, weekly, or monthly.

Free parking felt better than discounted, Peacock said.

Smith said the town would like to get some current data on turnover and use of the spots. The last data from 2024 showed a turnover in some spots that was more than 95%. The goal is typically 85% occupancy.

“The policy is to create turnover so that there is parking available, but there is a benefit to collecting these parking fees for the taxpayers because we can use it to offset property taxes. But, we also want to be careful we don’t become overly dependent on it and if it dips down one year, we have a budget shortfall,” Smith said.

Since it began in 2019, paid parking has provided revenue for the town.

This past season, the town has collected approximately $3.5 million as of February 28, which is 85% of the yearly goal. It anticipates collecting $4 million by the end of the fiscal year in June. Last year, it collected $3.3 million.

The highest parking meter revenue days for Bar Harbor in 2025, according to Gilbert, were July 5 and October 11.

The parking revenue helps to offset the cost of property taxes, which has been a concern among many residents on fixed or lower incomes in the past few years.

Boucher said that if two-hours were free every week and 1,000 permits used that, it would be $192,000 for the season. He said, however, he’s for the change.

Brechlin doubted that it would be that high a use.

“For a $4 million revenue,” Peacock said, putting the number into an overall parking revenue perspective.

The councilors agreed that if a change became a fiscal issue, they could revert back to how it’s currently being run.

“We have a lot of pressure in this town to think about the level of tourism that we have in this town. That revenue now becomes dependent on cars and people parking in those spots. We’ve been fairly conservative in our projections in how we assign that money, but we budget for spending that money before we spend that money,” Peacock said.

If there’s a bad year, she said, that could have impacts because it’s not a guaranteed source of income.

“Cars are part of the issue that we have in Bar Harbor and now we’re building a budget dependent on cars and there’s some conflict there for me,” she said. “I joke around about this. Parking spots are $11k each. Each parking spot raises $11k a year for the town of Bar Harbor.”

It’s likely more than that now, she said. The more each spot is worth, she said, the harder it is to take it away for another potential use.

THE COST TO PARK

The town last increased parking fees and extended meter hours in 2023. At the time there had been a parking task force that met and recommended the changes. That change had doubled the the revenue.

If the town raised the fees by a $1, it would be another million in revenue, they estimated.

If the town offered some free hours to residents and felt a fiscal hit, they could potentially make up that difference via raising the fees throughout, Smith suggested.

Sustainable Tourism Task Force Consultant Edmund Morris said in February that Bar Harbor’s cost to park is not exceptional and that many tourists who visit from urban areas are used to parking fees and expect to pay more.

Peacock referenced that meeting.

“Everyone who is coming here is paying way more for parking than we are,” Peacock said, but there’s a balance, she reminded everyone.

Parking rates tend to vary on multiple factors including if the spaces are metered, privately owned, in a garage, on a street or in a lot.

In New York City, street parking run by the city ranges from $1.50 to $13 hour with escalating rates the longer a vehicle stays in a spot.

Table displaying parking rates for various zones in Manhattan, including charges for all vehicles and commercial vehicles, organized by hour. — Via NYC DOT

San Francisco meters tend to range between $7-$15 an hour, while Chicago’s on street parking is similar to Bar Harbor’s.

Table comparing various parking types, costs, pricing models, and additional notes. — Via Parkmodo

However, Brechlin said, he believes the cost to park becomes an unseen tax on businesses. Not everyone coming to Bar Harbor is from an urban area or a tourist. It can be people from Ellsworth or other island towns, too.

“The tourists aren’t going to care, but the other folks certainly are,” Brechlin said.

CURRENT FACTS:

The paid parking program in downtown Bar Harbor begins May 15.

It ends October 30.

It’s enforced 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from noon to 9 p.m. on Sundays.

Free 15-minute spaces are available at Cottage Street (four spaces in front of the post office; two spaces between Ash Place and Holland Avenue, another near Kennebec Street); two spaces at the Municipal Building. On Mount Desert Street there are two spaces across from the Jesup Library. On West Street there are two bus spaces for loading and unloading at La Rochelle Mansion and Museum (Bar Harbor Historical Society).

Paid Parking Areas—Locations of areas for paid parking (meters and kiosks)

West Street – from Town Pier to Eden St.(except south side Eden to Holland)
Cottage Street – from Main St. to Eden St.
Mt. Desert Street – from Main St, to Ledgelawn Ave.
Main Street – from West St. to Park St. • Firefly Lane
Rodick Place
Bridge Street Parking Lot (Casino)
Backyard Parking Lot
East Municipal Building Parking Lot
Central Parking Lot (Old PD Lot)
Grants Park
Newport Drive Lot
Town Pier Parking Lot
Ballfield lot, except during events

Paid parking is $4 per hour and is restricted to one four-hour session for each vehicle in the following meter locations:

On Main St. from West St. to Hancock St.
On Cottage St. from Main St. to Bridge St.
On West St. from Main St. to Bridge St.
On Mt. Desert St. from Main St. to Kennebec St.
On Firefly Lane – all spaces

The fee of $4 per hour in the following parking lots:

Backyard, Central Parking, Grants Park, Newport Drive, Casino Lot and Town Pier.

The fee is $2 per hour for all metered areas not listed in 1 above and all remaining kiosk areas on the streets and parking lots.

List of streets eligible for permit parking in the area between Cromwell Harbor Road, Kebo Street, and Eden Street, where parking is not otherwise prohibited.

Parking Permits are not required on the 4th of July holiday.

Parking enforcement on Sundays shall be from 12 pm to 9 pm.

On MDI Marathon Race Day parking on Lower Ledgelawn (Park Street south), Park Street, Glen Mary Road, and Shannon Road will be allowed without a permit.

LINKS TO LEARN MORE

You can find out more about the current parking situation on the town’s website.

To watch the workshop.

To read the packet.

WARRANT COMMITTEE CANDIDATE PROFILE

We had a bit of a trouble connecting with Ed Ryan, a Warrant Committee candidate for our story. We’ve updated it, but also wanted to include Ed’s profile here to make sure everyone saw it.

You can see that previous story and all of the candidates, here.

EDMUND RYAN

A man with curly hair and a beard wearing a blue and white checked shirt, smiling at the camera in a well-lit indoor space.

ED’S BIO

My name is Edmund Ryan, though everyone knows me as “Ed the AV Guy.” I grew up in central Pennsylvania but often dreamed of living in Maine as a kid and eventually circumstances combined to bring me here. While I lived in Unity, where my wife finished her college degree, we both fell in love with MDI on our many visits here and moved to the area soon after she finished.

As many have experienced, though, finding both housing and non-seasonal employment in the area can be very challenging. Early on I was stuck in a job that wasn’t right for me, but that I couldn’t leave, and we lived off the island because we couldn’t afford anything else. But then a little more than 23 years ago my wife found a job posting at The Jackson Laboratory that seemed to have been written for me. I applied, took a pay cut, but gained a huge increase in quality of life and happiness. In that time, I’ve been the guy who makes the slides, presentations, conferences, courses, videoconferences, and lately the Zoom and Teams Meetings, work at JAX. I’ve met so many wonderful people there and it has been an honor to do my small part in helping them succeed. It took us another 13 years of saving and planning before we were able to move our young family to Town Hill and finally live in this place we’d dreamed about for so long.

My daughter has grown up here and loves the Island as much as we do, and I have been thrilled with the opportunity to learn and grow with her in this place over the past decade. And now I’m interested in helping to make sure others can continue to make this special island their home too.

THE QUESTIONS

Why are you running? How does your why for running delve into your bigger life purpose?

I love this place that has given me and my family so much, and I want to give back. But as much as we planned and saved, our ability to move here was mostly lucky timing, because the pandemic happened, the prices skyrocketed, and I don’t think we could make the same move now. We’ve also watched as many of our friends have moved away, unable to make it work in the area because it can’t provide what they need.

I think there is real opportunity here to improve access to both employment opportunities and housing, and to allow people who want to live and work in the area to stay. And most importantly, this does not need to conflict with the needs of the people already living here, nor require us to lose what makes MDI and Bar Harbor special.

What are some of the things that we might not be focusing on as a town that needs to be focused on?

So much of the town politics have been all Tourism Industry, all the time. And that is, of course, understandable. It is The Big Business in the town, of course, and it consumes so much of the discourse whether it is short term rentals or cruise ships or new hotels or whatever the hot button issue is next year. But the people who live here need healthcare, reliable services, and long-term career opportunities if they are going to stay. And people who don’t live here but work here need reasonable long-term housing options, built without requiring residents to work against our own interests. And that is true whether you are a young person just starting out, a new family trying to make a home, someone living out their retirement dream, or someone in between like me. I think we need to focus on empowering the people who want to live here to be able to stay here, and working to provide what is necessary, rather than catering to these divisive and narrowly focused issues.

What are your thoughts on how the council, the Warrant Committee, the town, and Conners Emerson School Board can work together to lessen the tax implication for the residents or how it currently does?

I think the town governing bodies need to focus on broadening the opportunity for prosperity and harnessing the strengths and resources that our special island provides. That requires responsibly managing our services and infrastructure and regulating but not obstructing businesses and organizations that would build the services and jobs we need. But it also requires using policy and regulation to enable those of us who already live here to build the housing, infrastructure, and services we need, and discourage those interests who seek to extract value from the Island and give little back. Or, at least, to make sure they bear their share of the burden.

But I also look forward to the opportunity to gain more thorough knowledge on the nuances of these issues. I am the first to admit that I don’t have all the answers, and I have a ton to learn, but I am ready to do it and work together with the people of the town to make things just a little bit better. If we keep doing that, just a little, year after year, it can be transformative in time.

What have you done for yourself that you’re the most proud of?

The family I’ve built here, and the way I’ve worked to learn and grow into a better friend, father, and human being through my years.

The Warrant Committee considers, investigates and reports on all of the election warrant articles except for the candidates for Town Meeting. What particular skills do you have that you think will help you perform that role?

I can listen, consider different perspectives, read, string some sentences together when needed, and I have 23 years of experience in helping meetings run efficiently and making sure the technology cooperates. But perhaps most importantly, I will show up.

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