Bar Harbor Voters Pass Land Use Ordinance Regulating Short Term Rentals

Voters in Bar Harbor passed Question 4 - the Land Use Ordinance Amendment regulating short term rentals, in the election held Tuesday, November 2nd.

The vote was 1260 yes, 840 no.

This will effectively limit the number of vacation rentals on the Island going forward and those who currently have vacation rentals will have to renew their registration yearly. The goal of the ordinance was to insure that more year round housing stock is available.

Article 2 also passed by a wide margin. This question asked Bar Harbor voters if they favored a $3 million bond, to to pay for further design work to the Conners Emerson School. The bond passed 1682 to 400. It is expected Bar Harbor voters will be asked in the near future to vote on approval for the renovations to the school

The turnout for the election was 43.6 percent, with 2152 voters casting ballots out of the 4936 registered voters.