BREAKING NEWS: Bar Harbor sends tourism industry another chilling dispatch
BAR HARBOR — Enter the lawyers.
In an extraordinary day on Tuesday in the history of MDI, two towns sent the tourism industry a loud and unequivocal message: We’ve had enough. We want our communities back.
The votes in Bar Harbor and Tremont must withstand potential court challenges, especially the vacation rental cap which was approved 1,260 to 840 in BH but did not achieve the lawsuit-proof two-thirds supermajority.
It was the second time this year Bar Harbor voters dispatched such a thunderous message. In May they re-elected two anti-cruise ship town council members who wanted to cap sea-based tourism.
The vacation rental cap is a response to the housing crisis on MDI where landlords were evicting year-round residents in droves to convert to a more profitable seasonal rental model.
The new rules, which will take effect Dec. 2, will assign a VR1 designation to rentals that are owner’s primary residence and VR2 would be other rental properties..
The most controversial piece of the regulations is that registrations will not be transferable upon sale of a property until VR2s decline to 9 percent of the town’s housing stock. VR2 are at about 18 percent. This is the mechanism to induce demand for more year-round rentals, but town officials acknowledge this could take years.
A crucial test will be the the town attorney’s opinion that the amendment only needed a simple majority.
If overturned by a judge though, the town may return with a new amendment in front of the Planning Board, whose chairman disallowed remote participation by a member who later said she would have voted in favor of the amendment. The 2-2 tie left open the question of whether a “recommendation” was needed from the planning board to pave the way for a simple majority vote.
BH approved all seven questions Tuesday, including a $3 million bond (1,682 to 400) to pay for design work for a future overhaul of the aging Conners Emerson school, which is estimated to be a $40 million-plus project.
Other approvals include:
An amendment to allow solar photovoltaic systems as a principal use - 1,677 to 376.
An amendment to allow bonus dwelling units in certain parts of town - 1,558 to 460.