Councilor Shank Stepping Down
Emergency Moratorium Extended, MLK March Scheduled, Stanwood Place Discontinued
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Edward Jones Financial Advisor: Elise N. Frank.
BAR HARBOR—Bar Harbor Town Councilor Kyle Shank announced during the January 7 council meeting that he is stepping down from his position on the council, February 4.
“As many of my friends, fellow councilors, and citizens are aware, I have been working remotely for many years now for various companies off-island,” Shank said. “As I've advanced in my career and taken on greater responsibilities, there's been an increased need for me to be in-person and physically present for me to feel successful in my roles. After several months of consideration and discussion, I have come to the conclusion that I will need to relocate in order to remain successful and grow in my current role with my current employer.”
Shank and his family are moving to Pennsylvania, which is where he works and family resides. He had been working remotely, but that will no longer be an option, he said.
“Additionally, as someone who is privileged enough to have living parents, both biological and legal, that happen to live near my current employer, I feel that the timing is right to move closer to them to be able to give back and to provide them with the care and support that they have so graciously provided to me and my family,” Shank said. “For these reasons both personal and professional, I will be moving away from Bar Harbor after the end of this school year and, as such, believe now is the appropriate time for me to tender my resignation as a Bar Harbor Town Councilor, effective February 4, 2025.”
Shank is the head of media technology, analytics, and operations at The Hershey Company.
“It has been an enormous privilege and joy to serve my community over the past two years. I've made new friends, learned a ton, and have nothing but gratitude for the many opportunities for personal and professional development this has afforded me. But mostly, I am just grateful for the trust and faith that you've all placed in me and hope that my actions and behaviors have honored them appropriately. Thank you all and be well.”
Shank was elected to the council in 2023. His bio at the time said that he was a visiting faculty member at the College of the Atlantic “where he has focused on applied data science. He has previously worked at Facebook/Meta, MDI Biological Laboratory, CLEAResult, and as a bartender at both Side Street Cafe in Bar Harbor and Hearth & Harbor in Southwest Harbor.”
He has been the chair of Bar Harbor's Comprehensive Planning Committee and previously served as the vice president of the HUB of Bar Harbor. He has also previously served on the boards of the Island Housing Trust and Kids' Corner and is a member of the Alumni Association of the COA.
”Kyle has a deep passion for issues related to housing, economic development, and education, and the ways in which public and private institutions can work together to solve problems in both the short- and long-term,” the bio he submitted to the Bar Harbor Story read. “He likes numbers just about as much as he likes people and currently lives towards the head of the island with his lovely wife, Allison, and his two lovely—but also feral—children, Willa Brave and Gideon Scot.”
In that 2023 election, Shank received 798 in a crowded field of potential councilors. Council Chair Valerie Peacock was reelected to a three-year term with 723 votes. Maya Caines received 847.
Peacock said of Shank’s resignation, “We’re all pretty bummed to hear about that. We’re definitely going to miss you.”
Because of the timing, it is likely that the town councilors will appoint someone to fill Shank’s seat until the June election. Then, there will be an election for a seat to fill the remainder of Shank’s three-year term. This is what happened when Jeff Dobbs resigned from the council because of health reasons. J. Clark Stivers was appointed to replace him. Stivers chose not to run. Then, at the election, voters chose Earl Brechlin to fill the remainder of Dobbs’ term. The terms of Brechlin and Matt Hochman expire this June.
MONAHAN RESIGNATION
In neighboring Trenton, Councilor Dan Monahan announced his resignation in early December. He, also is moving, though his move is still within Hancock County.
“Sadly, I will be resigning from the Trenton Select Board in the spring of 2025 because my family and I will be moving. My plan is to resign effective May 18, 2025, which is the day before the municipal election/annual town meeting. That way, my position can be put on the municipal election ballot in May for someone to run to fill out the remaining year in my three-year term. I have learned so much during my almost five years on the board and really am really grateful for everyone’s support and engagement,” Monahan said.
During the meeting, Monahan said that he and his family will be moving back to MDI in the spring and he will no longer be able to serve on the Trenton Select Board.
Town Clerk Carol Walsh said that nomination papers for Monahan’s seat can be taken out Feb 7, 2025 and will be due back by March 21.
LODGING MORATORIUM EXTENDED
The Bar Harbor Town Council has re-enacted its emergency moratorium ordinance in regard to certain types of transient accommodations, more generally known as lodgings.
Town Council Vice Chair and newly elected State Representative Gary Friedmann brought the emergency moratorium forward this fall and it focuses on larger lodging types. It is in effect for the entire town.
The ordinance reads in part that it is there because “residents of the Town of Bar Harbor have expressed concerns about the development and operation of certain transient accommodations, including impacts on health and safety, environmental quality, quality of life, adjacent property values, size, and the approval process, especially for accommodations approved without Planning Board review.” It also states that it is because “residents of the Town of Bar Harbor have expressed concerns that an increase in certain transient accommodations will put undue strain on the water, sewer, and stormwater systems.”
The emergency moratorium was originally enacted November 19, 2024. It expires, according to the ordinance, “before the Town Council can complete the process of providing public notice and holding hearings as required by state law for the adoption of a standard, non-emergency moratorium ordinance, necessitating the reauthorization of this emergency moratorium to ensure adequate notice can be provided.”
The ordinance explains that the town council finds that there is an ongoing nature of the emergency.
It covers TA 2-8, bed and breakfast I-V, hotels, and motels. After December 5, it covers roughly those same categories now called lodging three through seven.
Per the recently approved land use ordinance amendment, those are defined as follows:
“LODGING III - A single-family dwelling in which the resident or residents of the dwelling provide short-term overnight lodging in a maximum of twelve guest rooms located within the dwelling. Meals may be offered for compensation to the overnight guests and the general public.
“LODGING IV- An establishment which offers transient lodging accommodations and which may include additional accessory facilities and services available for the overnight guests only.
“LODGING V - An establishment which offers transient lodging accommodations and which may include additional accessory facilities and services available to the overnight guests and the general public, as well as a conference center.
“LODGING VI - An establishment which offers transient lodging accommodations (1-25 guest rooms) and which may include additional accessory facilities and services available for the overnight guests only.
“LODGING VII - An establishment, in a building constructed before June 10, 1986 which offers transient lodging accommodations (1-25 guest rooms) and which may include additional accessory facilities and services available for the overnight guests only.”
The moratorium will be in effect for another 60 days through March 7. It is a town-wide moratorium. This means that existing structures can not be enlarged nor new structures built.
Councilors Brechlin, Caines, Hochman, Peacock, Friedmann, and Joe Minutolo voted in favor.
Councilor Kyle Shank voted against expressing concerns that the town hasn’t yet addressed any of the internal inconsistencies within it. Shank said Wednesday morning that he means that there is little hard data that speaks to infrastructure impacts and such, which are not strictly related to TA development being used to justify the moratorium.
If there are infrastructure worries, he wonders why not pause all commercial development that have large impacts on that infrastructure.
Additionally, he felt that the application to lodging categories felt arbitrary.
“There’s no reason for this as the only difference between a II and a III is that a III can serve breakfast to customers not staying there, whereas a II cannot. The impacts of both are the same—and I’d have supported this if we said ‘all TAs,’ but the arbitrary cut off struck me as one not driven by facts but by other equities,” he said.
During the Tuesday night meeting, Tom St.Germain agreed with Shank’s assessment of the moratorium, “There is no internal consistency. This council passed the previous emergency with a complete lack of data.”
St.Germain is a Bar Harbor property owner and businessman. He is part owner in the Pathmaker Hotel on Cottage Street.
There are an estimated 3,000-3,500 rooms for visitors in Bar Harbor, not counting campgrounds and vacation rentals.
“We all know that our town has been experiencing unprecedented growth,” Friedmann said last fall, with visitors to Acadia National Park overrunning the town.
The question becomes, he said: Where should hotels and motels be, and what requirements need to be included in those new buildings? Should there be more parking? Should there be employee housing requirements?
Also this fall, a proposed inn on Eden Street that would abut the Conners-Emerson School had caused concern among some residents and the school board about its location. It was due to go before the Bar Harbor Planning Board just after the moratorium’s enactment.
Many other uses in town are expanding greatly including the hospital and lab and if infrastructure is an issue, St.Germain asked, why are transient accommodations being singled out. He said that traffic jams coming on and off the island occur at opposite times as when visitors staying on the island are coming and going. People staying at hotels being constructed in Ellsworth are still going to come onto Mount Desert Island to visit Acadia National Park.
Everal Eaton, executive director of the Bar Harbor Chamber said that several chamber members were worried about the lack of a data-driven approach that shows an undue strain on sewer and water systems. Like St.Germain, they worried that driving development outside of Bar Harbor which would make it harder for visitors to stay in Bar Harbor and explore it on foot. Many chamber members said that they are consolidating guest rooms into suites. Several members, he said, were concerned that the current moratorium lacks clear goals and a timeline and the open-ended approach has some items that would take several years to enact. Encouraging the development the town desires is a better way than creating restrictions, he said.
Peacock said she was going to vote for the moratorium again but not another time after this unless there is an obvious clear path forward. “I’m not going to vote for another one.”
Hochman agreed. “I’m fine with another 60 days, but unless we get that information, I’m not going to vote for another one.”
Friedmann said the moratorium is because of “years of concern about a tourist-driven economy,” and that residents are concerned about development that’s taken place and the latest concerns are a “wake up call.”
“The call for data is misplaced.” He said development has increased because of the return on investment that makes building hotels in Bar Harbor profitable. He said restaurants have lines and the town is running out of parking and the park is overcrowded and can’t handle any more tourism.
“People can’t actually live here,” Councilor Caines said.
Moratorium opponents have said that moratoriums based on infrastructure concerns would pause all development and that a 25-room hotel would be unlikely to cause more infrastructure strain than an additional 40-room dorm at the College of the Atlantic, or a hospital or JAX lab expansion.
A letter sent to the councilors from Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Board President Bo Jennings said, “I spoke in December against the moratorium, and presented facts that we actually have a shortfall of rooms in BH, with the scaling back of VR permits. Those facts still remain. But I did want to provide further encouragement. I would ask, each of you, to consider that the work being done to form the Tourism Sustainability Task Force (sic), actually negates the need for any further moratorium. Your clearly stated goals will shape decisions and direction for Bar Harbor (sic), and it’s important to gather data/facts for a sound, logical, and reasonable approach to tourism management, including lodging.
“As I stated in December, feelings matter, even ones I disagree with. But we don't want to solely make decisions based on fear and feelings. If we prioritize feelings, and act out of fear, then we negate the stated goals of the STM Task Force.”
That task force is still being hammered out.
During the Bar Harbor School Committee meeting on Monday, committee members briefly discussed how they could be part of the council’s process as it considers a moratorium and how the committee could potentially provide meaningful feedback about placement of transient accommodations nears schools.
“We heard from people based on this proposal that there were concerns,” school committee member Misha Mytar said Monday and she said that she thinks her role as a committee member is to bring those concerns into the process.
At a November council meeting, Brechlin said that the town needs time to let its comprehensive plan be approved by voters and take root as well as for sustainability efforts to get off the ground. He worried about the possibility of an entire block being purchased and changed into a hotel.
“Our job is to talk to the community and give the community the tools to get what we want,” Brechlin said, rather than have the community served on a platter by others.
At that same meeting, Caines expressed her concerns about the town’s infrastructure and its future. “We have a responsibility as a council to look forward to what we want to be.”
“We’ve got to protect our residential areas,” Councilor Joe Minutolo said.
During public comment at that November meeting, resident Stewart Brecher said of Bar Harbor’s situation, “This is not unique. Almost every wonderful place in the world is being overrun by tourists who have no real interest in improving the quality of life” for the people who live here.
A moratorium, he said, only has a point if you have an answer at the end of it. “It’s really a monoculture,” he said of Bar Harbor’s tourism economy, and monocultures eventually die. “We cannot tax the people who are eating up our community.”
STANWOOD PLACE IS A ROAD NO LONGER
The councilors approved Mount Desert Island Hospital’s request to discontinue Stanwood Place, a town road that the hospital borders on its north, south, and east.
The road is approximately 191 feet long and 25 feet wide. The discontinuance allows the hospital to continue its multi-million dollar expansion plans. The road extends from Main Street toward the building.
Mount Desert Island Hospital hopes to expand and modernize its main Bar Harbor campus, including its emergency department, planning to begin work in 2025 on a 42,600-square-foot expansion.
The plans would triple the emergency department’s current footprint to 10,524 square feet along with other improvements.
That expansion would allow for 16 care spaces, numerous triage areas, better airflow (to reduce potential for infectious airborne disease spread), and more patient rooms.
On Tuesday, November 19, the Bar Harbor Town Council took the first step in that road discontinuance process. How roads are discontinued is ruled by state statue, and, in this case, also town rules. A road in Trenton similarly just underwent the same process.
When a town discontinues a road, it returns to the abutting property owners. For Stanwood Place, the only abutting property owner is the hospital, said Town Manager James Smith.
MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY MARCH
The councilors approved the Mount Desert Island High School Civil Rights Team request for a march through Bar Harbor, January 18 to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. The holiday celebrating Dr. King is Monday, January 20. The march will be held on Saturday.
Participants can gather at the town’s village green at 1 p.m. The march will go along Main Street, left on Cottage Street, left on Holland Ave, left on Mount Desert Street and to the MDI YWCA.
The high school group is marching in partnership with the MDI Racial Equity Working Group and the YWCA.
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"There are an estimated 3,000-3,500 rooms for visitors in Bar Harbor, not counting campgrounds and vacation rentals."
While the 3,500 figure has been stated often, particularly by one individual (despite repeated corrections with that individual present), it is not accurate. Here is a list of every hotel/motel/B&B room presently operating in Bar Harbor. It's 2,885.
Acacia House 9
Acadia Hotel Downtown 27
Acadia Inn 95
Acadia Oceanview 34
Acadia Pines 22
Anchorage 56
Atlantean 8
Balance Rock Inn 27
Bar Harbor Cottages & Suites 12
Bar Harbor Grand 70
Bar Harbor Inn 153
Bar Harbor Manor 43
Bar Harbor Motel 84
Bass Cottage 11
Bay Ledge 11
Bay Meadow Cottages 13
Bayview 26
Belle Isle 26
Best Western 96
Black Friar Inn 6
Bluenose 74
Central House 14
Chiltern Inn 7
Cleftstone 18
Coach Stop Inn 6
Pathmaker 46
Cromwell Harbor Motel 26
Days Inn 66
Eden Village 21
Edenbrook 47
Edgewater 19
Elmhurst 12
Emery's 23
Eyrie 58
Gallagher's Travels 21
Hampton Inn 103
Hanscom's Motel 12
Harborside 193
Hearthside 9
Heathwood 5
High Seas 39
Highbrook 26
Hinckleys Cottages 26
Holbrook House 13
Inn on Mount Desert 31
Island Place 10
Ivy Manor 18
Lewis Cottages 10
Little Fig 23
Main Street Motel 44
Maples Inn 7
Mira Monte 19
Oceanside 153
Primrose 15
Queen Anne's Revenge 29
Regency 278
Robbins 30
Rose Eden Cottages 12
Salt Cottages 40
Saltair 8
Sand Bar Cottage 19
Seacroft Inn 6
Seaside Cottages 8
Seasider 77
Shore Path Cottage 9
Stratford 7
Sunnyside 20
Thornhedge 12
Tide Watch Cabins 5
Town Motel 18
Ullikana 12
Villager 63
West St. 85
White Columns 10
Wild Wood Way Cottage 2
Windward Cottages 5
Wonderview 72
Woodland Park Cottages 8
Yellow House 7
Total 2885
-Stephen Coston
--P.S.--I think this is a good example why one Councilor's comment that "The call for data is misplaced" ought to be a real eye-opener. Just because something gets repeated so frequently as to feel self-evident doesn't make it true. Data, obviously, should always be present in every important conversation. Only someone who knows or suspects the data does not support their position would say otherwise.