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Bar Harbor's Citizen-Initiated Cruise Ship Ordinance Deemed Unconstitutional for Town's Shoulder Seasons. Judge Lance Walker releases 32-page order.
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Bar Harbor’s Citizen-Initiated Cruise Ship Ordinance Deemed Unconstitutional for Town’s Shoulder Seasons.

Judge Lance Walker releases 32-page order. Carrie Jones May 15, 2026 The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Edward Jones Financial Advisor: Elise N. Frank. BAR HARBOR—In a 32-page order released today, U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker has declared that the Bar Harbor cruise ship ordinance is unconstitutional in all months other than July and August. “On behalf of the board and all APPLL … Continue reading Bar Harbor’s Citizen-Initiated Cruise Ship Ordinance Deemed Unconstitutional for Town’s Shoulder Seasons.

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Courts Declare Bar Harbor Short-Term Rental Case Moot, Dismiss Sidman's Amended Complaint, and a Golden Anchor's Motion Is Also Now Moot Carrie Jones Jul 02, 2025 File photo. Bar Harbor Story The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Swan Agency Real Estate. BAR HARBOR—In the past month, the town received multiple court opinions concerning three court cases that it has been involved with in the past few years. Those cases do not include the federal appeal of the town’s cruise ship ordinance, which limits disembarkations to 1,000 a day without extra fees or penalties and changes the permitting/licensing structure of businesses disembarking those ships. That case, which went to the federal appeals court in Boston, still has not been decided. The decisions also do not include judgement on a specific complaint about the town’s ethics commission and process concerning handling a complaint about an appeals board member. MCCALLION VS THE TOWN OF BAR HARBOR The first case involves a short-term rental dispute focused on property owners at the Bogue Chitto Lane subdivision. Maine Superior Court determined that since the 2023 permit involved has now expired since it is 2025, there were no grounds for the case. In a July 23, 2024, ruling, Hancock County Superior Court Justice Harold Stewart II had ruled in favor of the defendant Town of Bar Harbor and defendant intervenor, W.A.R.M. Management, LLC (WARM). The ruling upheld the Bar Harbor Appeals Board’s decision, which voted against an appeal to revoke a short-term rental permit issued to WARM by then-Code Enforcement Officer Angie Chamberlain. The original appeal occurred at a January 9, 2024, meeting of the Appeal’s Board and was brought by Brandan and Monika McCallion and Old Bears, LLC, who said that the short-term rental permit for a property at 12 Bogue Chitto Lane, which is owned by Roy and Marcia Levitt but registered under WARM, was invalid because it was issued after the yearly deadline of May 31. The McCallions own property near the Levitts’ property, at 11 and 16 Bogue Chitto Lane. The Bar Harbor Appeals Board ruled in favor of the town and the Levitts at its January 9 meeting. Following the loss, Monika McCallion, et al., appealed to Hancock County Superior Court. According to Chamberlain’s statements at the January 9 meeting, the Levitts were not at fault in this situation and the fault lied with a glitch in the software that the town uses for electronic vacation rental permit renewals, IworQ portal. The Levitts own two vacation rentals in Bar Harbor and paid for two renewals online with two renewal applications submitted. “However, due to a glitch in the IworQ portal, the Administrative Assistant Tammy DesJardin, did not receive the two applications for VR-2 registration rentals, but only one application,” the staff report for the January 9 appeals board meeting reads. Chamberlain decided there was enough evidence that Levitt had paid for her registration renewals on January 3, 2023, well before the May 31 deadline. On October 30, Chamberlain issued the renewal “to correct the error made by the town.” During the January 9 meeting, the McCallions also argued that the Levitts had committed a violation by renting the VR-2 without a permit, not displaying a current permit within the rental unit as required by the ordinance, and not having the permit number listed on the advertising site for the vacation rental. The town’s short-term rental ordinance was approved 1,260-840 in November 2021 and requires a yearly renewal and creates a 9% cap on rentals that are the primary residence of the property owner. Rentals that existed prior to that cap are still allowed as long as they pass inspections and renew their licenses. If they fail to renew that license, they would not legally have that sort of short-term rental in town and could choose to be put on a waitlist to try to get a permit again. That waitlist is not currently in use because the 9% cap has not yet been met. In 2024 voters in two other island towns (Mount Desert and Tremont) rejected short-term rental ordinances. According to an article by the Bangor Daily’s Bill Trotter, “The McCallions are former owners of Bar Harbor Manor, a 43-room hotel on Holland Avenue that they sold in 2022 for $8.1 million, according to MaineBiz. Their property at 16 Bogue Chitto Lane has an assessed value of $1.9 million, according to the town’s property tax records. “The property at 12 Bogue Chitto Lane has an assessed value of $1.8 million. It was not clear Tuesday how much 12 Bogue Chitto Lane can be rented for but another property on the private dead-end road — on the opposite side of the McCallions’ property — can be rented at rates ranging from $5,600 to $16,100 per week, according to The Knowles Company.” THE SECOND ORDER: SIDMAN V. THE TOWN OF BAR HARBOR The second order involves Charles Sidman, a Bar Harbor resident and lead petitioner on the citizens’ petition that successfully led to a vote to create daily disembarkation limits. Sidman’s complaint and reconsideration was about the town’s defense of the cruise ship disembarkation ordinance and had two counts. Both counts have now been denied. The Business & Consumer Court had ruled in the town’s favor back in January. Judge Thomas McKeon denied Sidman’s motion earlier this June. Sidman had asked the court to reconsider its previous decision. He argued that the town honored cruise ship reservations for 2024 that had been made between March and November 8, 2022. McKeon said that the case was moot because it was now 2025. Sidman had also objected to being denied “interested party” status by the Bar Harbor Board of Appeals. Sidman believed that since the town only placed fines on the Golden Anchor (where the ships disembark) in March 2025, the case should be reconsidered and that the issues were not resolved but continuing. “The reasons for judicial restraint are evident here,” McKeon wrote in his June 6 decision. “The town has commenced a large enforcement action against a property owner. The town has the discretion, for efficiency’s sake, to decline to litigate enforcement of those disembarkations where the property owner has a defense versus those where the town has a stronger case. Municipalities make those types of litigation decisions every day. The court has no authority to intervene.” The Golden Anchor has challenged, in Hancock County Superior Court, the Bar Harbor Board of Appeals’ decision that upheld the town’s notice of violation against the pier owner, January 31. That complaint involves the company’s ability to disembark cruise ships at its location on West Street, the Harborside Pier, which is also known as the Golden Anchor Pier. It was filed by Timothy C. Woodcock, Esq. of the firm Eaton Peabody. That notice of violation (NOV) concerns the pier’s lack of a daily town permit to disembark cruise ship passengers at 55 West Street, which is where it has been historically accepting cruise ship passengers prior to the town’s rule changes limiting those passengers according to daily caps and requiring a permit rather than a license to do so. The rules also do not allow more than 1,000 to disembark without fees. Sidman argued that he should have standing in the case. The town argued he should not. Though Sidman agreed with the Bar Harbor Board of Appeals’ decision, he did not agree with the board’s reasoning. "Sidman would have preferred that the board’s decision find that disembarking vacationing cruise ship passengers is not a permitted use in the zoning district. Nevertheless, the board’s decision grants the relief Sidman was seeking," according to the July 1 decision. The court agreed with the town, July 1, focusing mostly on defining particularized interest and interested party status, writing, “The board’s decision to deny Sidman interested party status is not an essential finding on which its decision was based, and thus it would seem the exception does not apply. And the board’s comment that disembarking passengers is a permitted use in the zoning district is not an essential finding. Since Golden Anchor did not have a permit, the board did not need to address the zoning issue. Even if the comment were essential to the board’s decision, it would not matter. Since Sidman was not a party before the board, collateral estoppel would not preclude him from making any arguments in future proceedings in which he is involved. See Town of Mount Vernon v. Landherr, 2018 ME 105, ¶ 15, 190 A.3d 249. Accordingly, the exception does not save Sidman’s appeal.” On the five-page July 1 order, the court also wrote, “Applying the exception in this case, which would effectively transform the nature of the present action from permitting case into zoning case, would allow the exception to swallow the rule. Sidman does not have grounds to appeal judgment that grants the relief he sought simply because he would prefer the board's decision to rest on different reasoning.” The town’s appeals board determined on June 24 that Sidman didn’t have standing to appeal the cruise ship disembarkation permit to the town itself at the town’s pier. That decision also centered around particularized injury. The Mount Desert Islander has reported that Sidman will likely also appeal that appeals board decision. THE THIRD BIT OF MOOT: SIDMAN VS TOWN OF BAR HARBOR AND GOLDEN ANCHOR, LC The third order is related to that second complaint. Sidman had hoped to participate as an interested party, not just a member of the public, in the town’s board of appeals meeting about the Golden Anchor’s notice of violation for disembarking cruise ships. The board of appeals on December 10 said Sidman was not an interested party but could speak as a member of the public. Sidman appealed that decision. The Golden Anchor moved to dismiss Sidman’s court appeal. It was determined to be moot because of that order. LINKS TO LEARN MORE Other filings available at the town’s site. Follow us on Facebook. And as a reminder, you can easily view all our past stories and press releases here. Bar Harbor Story is a mostly self-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Thank you for being here with us and caring about our community, too! Thanks for reading Bar Harbor Story ! This post is public so feel free to share it. Share If you’d like to donate to help support us, you can, but no pressure! Just click here (about how you can give) or here (a direct link), which is the same as the button below. To support The Story If you’d like to sponsor the Bar Harbor Story, you can! Learn more here.
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UPDATED: Bar Harbor’s Cruise Ship Limits Lawsuit Partially Remanded to Lower Court

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Multiple Aspects of the Walker Decision Carrie Jones Aug 12, 2025 The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Paradis Ace Hardware. BOSTON—The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit on Aug. 11 partially upheld and partially sent back to a lower court Bar Harbor’s legal dispute with the Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods (APPLL), the Penobscot Bay and … Continue reading UPDATED: Bar Harbor’s Cruise Ship Limits Lawsuit Partially Remanded to Lower Court

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UPDATE: Council Will Hold Special Meeting Wednesday About Cruise Ship Limits Next Steps

Pilots Association deciding whether or not to join APPLL in appeal CARRIE JONES MAR 5, 2024 Share BAR HARBOR—Last night at the end of its regular meeting, the Bar Harbor Town Council met with the town attorney in executive session to discuss its legal rights and duties after Judge Lance Walker ruled for the town in a federal case about cruise ship disembarkation limits. The … Continue reading UPDATE: Council Will Hold Special Meeting Wednesday About Cruise Ship Limits Next Steps

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APPLL and Pilots File Final Rebuttal in Cruise Ship Disembarkation Lawsuit Against Town

CARRIE JONES OCT 28, 2023 Share BAR HARBOR—Both the Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods (APPLL) and the Penobscot Bay and River Pilots Associations filed briefs October 27. Those should be their final rebuttal briefs in a case against the Town of Bar Harbor’s new cruise ship disembarkation limits that were placed into the town’s land use ordinance. Those limits have not yet been … Continue reading APPLL and Pilots File Final Rebuttal in Cruise Ship Disembarkation Lawsuit Against Town

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APPLL and Pilots Association Files Briefs in Case Against Bar Harbor’s Cruise Ship Limits

Website glitch blamed for late filing CARRIE JONES SEP 4, 2023 Share BAR HARBOR— The Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods, et al., filed its post trial brief this weekend in the federal case against cruise ship disembarkation limits that were voted in last November. The plaintiff-intervenor, the Penobscot Bay and River Pilots Association also filed its brief. The briefs were due on September … Continue reading APPLL and Pilots Association Files Briefs in Case Against Bar Harbor’s Cruise Ship Limits

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Council To Discuss Agreements With Cruise Industry & Litigation Wednesday

Discussion Comes After Alleged Cruise Ship Visit Violation CARRIE JONES JUN 23, 2023 This story has been updated with more recent and detailed information that we discovered June 23. Elements of this story are the same as our original June 21 article. BAR HARBOR—The Town Council briefly discussed the cruise ship disembarkation rule making at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night and the next morning … Continue reading Council To Discuss Agreements With Cruise Industry & Litigation Wednesday

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Updated: Sidman Files Motion to Dismiss Cruise Ship Cap Lawsuit

Judge sets deadlines and trial date. Carrie Jones BAR HARBOR—Parties in the lawsuit Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods (APPLL) et al. vs the Town of Bar Harbor have until March 24 to file motions about having the preliminary injunction to be part of the actual trial. The injunction is meant to keep the town from instituting the changes from a November cap creating … Continue reading Updated: Sidman Files Motion to Dismiss Cruise Ship Cap Lawsuit

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Charles Sidman Granted Intervenor Status in Cruise Ship Lawsuit

Carrie Jones BAR HARBOR—Charles Sidman was granted intervenor-defendant status by U.S. District Court Judge Lance Walker in the case of Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods vs Town of Bar Harbor, which is about the daily cruise ship limits enacted by town voters in November, by a vote of 1,780 to 1,273. The new plan limits the amount of passengers disembarking cruise ships each day … Continue reading Charles Sidman Granted Intervenor Status in Cruise Ship Lawsuit

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Town Council Authorizes Town Attorney To Mediate Cruise Ship Lawsuit Injunction

Councilor Asks For People To Send Opinions Not Insults BAR HARBOR—The Town of Bar Harbor is looking to mediate an injunction in a lawsuit against the town’s new cruise ship caps. The injunction would pause the new rules. After an executive session during its regular Town Council meeting Tuesday night, the Bar Harbor Town Council has released a statement via the town’s Communications Coordinator Maya … Continue reading Town Council Authorizes Town Attorney To Mediate Cruise Ship Lawsuit Injunction

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Town Council Has 60 Days To Respond to Cruise Ship Plan Lawsuit

Suit also asks for injunction to pause changes’ enforcement BAR HARBOR—The Town Council brought attorneys from Rudman and Winchell to its meeting Tuesday night so that they could expressly talk about the lawsuit brought by some area businesses against the town.   On December 29, a complaint was filed in US District Court in Bangor. The complaint was against Bar Harbor and concerns the new … Continue reading Town Council Has 60 Days To Respond to Cruise Ship Plan Lawsuit

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