Southwest Harbor Housing Committee Will Seek More Public Input About Short-Term Rentals.
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SOUTHWEST HARBOR—The town’s Select Board officially gave a subgroup of its Sustainability Committee the go-ahead to send out a survey about rentals in town with a goal of getting as much response as possible.
Part of the movement forward is due to the state changing rules about accessory dwelling units (ADUs). In towns that do not have short-term rental regulations, there are worries that the new state rules will open up opportunity for infill that’s not used for year-round housing but for short-term rentals.
Tremont, Trenton, and Ellsworth are all working on how to comply with the state mandated changes via LD 2173, An Act to Update the Laws Regarding Housing Developments and Accessory Dwelling Units. For most—if not all—towns, the state changes also mean changes to town’s zoning rules, which have to happen at a town level.
Bar Harbor already has a short-term rental ordinance that caps rentals in properties that aren’t the home owner’s primary residence at 9% of total housing stock. It also requires yearly registrations and has inspection rules.
ABOUT THE LAW
The law was approved by Governor Janet Mills and enacted on April 16, 2026, and gives Maine municipalities until July 1, 2027 to come into compliance.
LD 2173 amends and clarifies portions of LD 1829, An Act to Build Housing for Maine Families and Attract Workers to Maine Businesses by Amending the Laws Governing Housing Density. LD 1829 was approved by Governor Mills and enacted on June 20, 2025.
LD 2173 requires municipalities to allow three dwelling units on a lot “in which residential uses are allowed” or four dwelling units on a lot that is “in a designated growth area, as identified in a comprehensive plan.”
But it’s about more than that in some towns.
LOCAL WORRIES
In May, an inventory of approximately 90% of Southwest Harbor’s dwelling units shows that roughly half are year-round residences with another quarter being used by summer residents and another quarter being used by tourists and visitors for short-term visits.
Recently in Tremont, Fire Chief Heath Higgins explained that without a registry, they sometimes have issues getting in touch with rental property owners or occupants.
In Southwest Harbor this spring, Mary Ellen Martel and Lydia Goetze wrote to the Select Board, “Most Maine towns that register STRs require a simple fire safety inspection and record the contact information for a local resident who can provide access to the structure in case of a fire. We would expect to conduct a public education effort about the issues before voting on the ballot question. We do not see registration as a prelude to regulation, nor do we recommend regulation of STRs at this time. We hope that you will join us in encouraging community conversation and data gathering on this topic.”
The Select Board had asked for continued discussion on the topic of rental properties within the Town of Southwest Harbor.
Greg Piduch, senior planner for the Hancock County Planning Commission, and colleague Regional Planner and GIS Specialist Emily Duseau attended in person and via Zoom.
Piduch discussed rentals and best practices and drafts of the surveys proposed by the Sustainability Committee.
“I think we’re going to get to a point with these rentals,” Planning Board member John Williams said where there will be more rentals than year-round homes and apartments.
He suggested getting a handle on what’s going on, which is part of what the Sustainability Committee, and now the Select Board, is trying to do.
“People are being stuck in a lot of different places without, I’m sure, without the proper safety thing. I’ve heard of places in Bar Harbor where they stuff them in the attics, because there’s just no place to put them,” Williams said about seasonal employees. “At this point, I think we’re trying to shove the horse back into the barn.”
Bar Harbor has regulations about building codes, occupancy, and life and fire safety rules for dwellings. Personal residence (long-term rentals) rules and short-term rental rules have variations. It also has rules for shared accommodations and employee living quarters.
”I think it’s a nice survey. I think it’s short enough,” Piduch said.
One thing to potentially include is whether the dwelling is on private or public water and sewer, he said.
Select Board Chair Dan Norwood praised the subcommittee’s work.
LOCAL EXAMPLES
Piduch gave quick rundowns of how short-term (or weekly) rentals are registered or regulated in other towns. For the meeting, he focused on Swan’s Island, Stonington, and Bar Harbor.
Some have caps. Some have specific districts where they are allowed. There are varying fees for licenses and/or registrations. Most require annual registrations.
“Swan’s Island is pretty basic. It’s a registration process. You have to do it annually, There’s a fee that’s attached in a basic form, and there’s basic safety and compliance standards that these units have to meet,” Piduch explained. “In Stonington, it gets a little more complex. In addition to annual registration, there are fees attached. It kind of varies on how many units an owner is registering, as well as if they’re owner-occupied or non-owner-occupied. There’s various restrictions as far as where these units could be located, and the cap for how many units a non-owner can occupy in the town.”
He said he thought the board members were probably already familiar with Bar Harbor’s process.
“They have two different types of short-term rentals. They require an annual registration. These rentals can occupy specific districts of the town. There’s a lot more that goes into what they’re doing over there,” he said.
Some of the material he’d shared to the town had also included what nearby Ellsworth was doing.
”I have not heard of someone yet, and maybe it’s just because we’re just getting into it, but, identifying an ADU that’s recently been constructed, not being able to be a short-term rental for 10 years after the date of the unit’s certificate of occupancy,” Vice Chair Natasha Johnson said of Ellsworth’s rules.
According to the Hancock County Planning Commission, short-term rental trends in Hancock and Washington Counties are highly seasonal, peaking in July through September.
Unless otherwise labeled, all slides are from Piduch’s presentation. We reached out to Bar Harbor staff members and did not receive a reply prior to press time. Correction: At 1:20 p.m., we found out that we gave John Williams a new first name somehow. We hadn’t filled the paperwork for that and fixed it from Eric back to John.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Housing Data Reveals How Southwest Harbor Dwellings Are Being Used, Just About Half are Year-Round Homes.
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