Cabins Approved in Town Hill

Fire Chief's Long Range Goal Is For All Residential and Transient Accommodations to Have Sprinkler Systems

Sep 07, 2023

BAR HARBOR—Though there is always time for public comment at Bar Harbor Planning Board meetings, that opportunity isn’t always taken. However, Wednesday’s Planning Board meeting began in an unusual way: with a public comment and a cautionary statement from Town Hill resident Diane Vreeland.

At the September 6 meeting, Vreeland advised the board, saying that the next time someone comes before the board, for its members to think more when a major project is moved to be minor.

“I encourage you,” she said.

“I know Michele likes that because it doesn’t take up her time and the applicant’s money,” Vreeland said, “but I think it’s important that you think twice about this.”

Vreeland was referring to Planning Director Michele Gagnon, who currently has two new, open positions in her department.

Chair Millard Dority thanked her for her comments and after reviewing the minutes, the board proceeded with its agenda.

When a project comes before the town, there are rules and designations that govern if that project requires Planning Board review or just approval by the town’s code enforcement officer or planning director. Typically, the more complex or “major” a project, the more levels of review it requires. There is sometimes wiggle room where the Planning Board can determine that a project is minor rather than major. Vreeland didn’t specify the project that she was alluding to in her public comments.

ACADIA WOODS COTTAGES

Christy Seed of Acadia Wellness LLC went before the Planning Board for the final step of the proposed construction of ten cabins (transient accommodation units) in Town Hill. Greg Johnson of G.F. Johnston & Associates represented Seed, who was also at the meeting.

The final approval occurred the day after the Town Council began discussions about a potential moratorium on transient accommodations. It was the second completeness review and public hearing for the site, which is at 1344 State Highway 102 on about 6.78 acres.

The cabins are in pods to take advantage of the existing trees on the site. The application was unanimously determined to be complete.

During the public hearing, Vreeland asked if it was a campground; if it was year round or seasonal or for tourists; and asked how many bedrooms were in each cabin. She said the site across the street from the Town Hill Market was contaminated with oil and asked if it had been addressed with the state. She also asked if there would be a sidewalk. She said the site is dangerous because of contamination, and she was wondering where the wells were on the property because she was concerned about the water table in Town Hill. She said her relative’s residence on the Crooked Road often have wells that go dry in the summer.

Dessa Dancy said that she also lives at the top of Town Hill. She said that the design fits aesthetically very well, and she is basically supportive of this type of development, but she also has concerns about water quality and quantity. She said there had been a contamination at the site across the road from the project and that the testing of water would be important for the owners.

Dancy also mentioned the Comprehensive Plan which has a report that advises to limit the development in the town’s recharge areas.

In Town Hill, she said, they can’t get water uphill.

“We only have it from the sky and the only thing holding it is the trees,” she said. Clear cuts reduce the recharge area, she said, so people must be careful when developing.

Gagnon said that she looked through all the sites in Bar Harbor known to the DEP with contamination, looking for the possibility of the spillage of petroleum, but she could not find anything showing contamination at the proposed site. “I’m not saying that it did not happen. I’m just saying I’m not seeing anything.”

Dority said that without proof of that contamination, it’s difficult for the Planning Board to do anything about it.

Each cabin would have two bedrooms. It is transient just for lodging and not a campground because in Bar Harbor that is defined as including RV vehicles, Johnston said. There is no sidewalk planned and no cabins are in the residential district. Johnston stood up and explained on a map where the wells and leach field would be.

The plan was unanimously approved with some conditions.

A CASE FOR SPRINKLER SYSTEMS

Also, at the meeting, Fire Chief Matt Bartlett spoke about sprinkler systems. He showed two videos about the difference between legacy fires and modern fuel fires. It was part of a discussion about Bar Harbor fire codes and safety.

Legacy vs modern-day fire - a modern fuel fire typically has more synthetic material

“It’s almost un-survivable to be in that room,” Bartlett said of one video (above), which shows how, in a very quick amount of time, a room that does not have a sprinkler system transforms. One room went dark after five minutes while the other went dark after 12.

That difference is why he talks more and more about installing sprinkler systems in residences. Black smoke, he said, means toxic gasses are being released from the products. Staircases, he said, act as chimneys, which means the smoke and fire go to the second floor. Bartlett said that putting in a sprinkler system in a residence is an alternative to constructing a fire pond.

Sprinkler systems are set at a certain temperature to activate, Bartlett said.

When a project comes before the Planning Board, the land use ordinance states that a letter is required from the fire chief. Sometimes the letter will recommend a sprinkler system for residences. Sometimes it might recommend a retaining pond. Bartlett went over the components of a residential sprinkler system.

He said his hope is that all new residential and transient accommodations should be sprinkled. “I firmly believe in sprinkler systems,” Bartlett said. They do save lives and reduce damage, he said. He’d like to work with the board and other town departments to do that.

Fire ponds have also sometimes been recommended in projects. Fire ponds (in places where there are no hydrants) require extra firefighters and apparatus to pump the water out and into a tanker. That water then has to be transported back to the scene of the fire.

“There are cases and times where we actually sit there with no water,” Bartlett said.

He said that they’ve experienced five fire deaths in 33 years that he’s been a firefighter. Four of those were in residential structures.

Vice Chair Ruth Eveland said it was helpful for her to understand the number of considerations that go into the fire chief’s letter and it increases her confidence in that letter after seeing Bartlett’s presentation.

The chief said he is also worried because a certain category of transient accommodations—cabins—do not require sprinklers. Part of his long-range goal is to require that.

“Fire ponds are good, but they have their limitations and concerns about long-term sustainability,” Bartlett said. “We had a restaurant call us up a couple of years ago and said, ‘Hey, our sprinkler system is going off in our basement.’”

The department went in, he said, and said, “Hey, you’ve had a fire.”

The system worked so well that they hadn’t known.

His long range goal is to “begin conversations regarding the potential requirement of all new residential and transient accommodations to be sprinkled.”

Board members quickly asked about property owners’ rights as well as concerns about the costs to sprinkler systems and water pressure in relation to those systems. That discussion is linked below.

According to the National Fire Suppression System,

”The average expense to install sprinkler systems in new homes is about $1.35 per square foot. With the average construction cost of a single-family home at $114 per square foot in 2019, that’s paying a little more than 1% of a home’s value for 24/7 fire protection. When the expense is spread over a 30-year mortgage, it’s less than the price of a cup of coffee per week.”