I can't believe that the Bar Harbor Town council and Planning Board would think Ms. Brooks comments in the following sentence should guide our land use.
"Restrictions that prevent property owners from realizing the highest and best use of their land suppress economic growth, deter investment, and erode our fundamental freedoms."
I'm not a fan of encroaching comercialism into residential areas. Not a fan of 40ft is too short, 60ft is too short wanting to get the biggest bang for the buck. I want every resident to have a right to the sun and solar power that would hit their building to not be shielded by a neighbor going forward.
I want a local option tax.
I want 1-2 beds per hotel guest room max and a parking spot on site provided for every 4 people.
I want any hotel type expansion to pay into a public works fund for water and sewer for every plumbing fixture they have.
In short I want control so there will still be land and infrastructure and zoning to have vibrant residential districts that don't have to worry about being bought up and turning into a hotel.
Thank you Cara, Elissa, Ed, and “lin” for your on target and and thoughtful analysis.
I am no longer a year round resident , but a chronic visitor to the Island.
And here are my comments as a visitor who gladly dumps my money into staying at hotels eating lovely food :
I do not want to visit what was once a Maine coastal town on a gorgeous harbor with enough fresh seafood and fun shops and an over the top National Park adjacent that is now stuffed with hotels , restaurants, and hordes of tourists..
So, when I stay in Bar Harbor, I stay at a place that has been part of my old neighborhood for decades. I can completely avoid downtown Bar Harbor and just hike and cycle into the Park …no car! This is rather sad, because when my husband and I lived in Bar Harbor year round, I loved shopping locally in Bar Harbor for almost everything.
I miss visiting and shopping in some great places that still are there.
With the exception of the A&B. Naturals health food store, which I can access in the quiet parts of the day via the less commercial end of West Street, I can completely avoid the excessive hotel and restaurants, and tourists shops .
Like many year round residents , I seek out quieter times and places in the Park, and enjoy the restaurants and sights in the other Island communities
And towns.
So, I support the extension of the moratorium on lodging that many local citizens feel is necessary.
Year round residents have rights, too.
They have a right to restrict towering hotels looming over the liitle kids in the schoolyard, a right not to breathe polluting fumes from megacruiseships, a right to say I am tired of being shoved off sidewalks on my way to the bank by tourist packs.
I can not vote by ballot. But I can vote with money. I refuse to waste my vacation dollars in a town that is now just a destination of too lodging monstrocities, too manyrestaurants, and a local culture of long time residents being paved over by the proverbial parking lot.
Please extend the lodging moratorium
From Ed Damm
I can't believe that the Bar Harbor Town council and Planning Board would think Ms. Brooks comments in the following sentence should guide our land use.
"Restrictions that prevent property owners from realizing the highest and best use of their land suppress economic growth, deter investment, and erode our fundamental freedoms."
I'm not a fan of encroaching comercialism into residential areas. Not a fan of 40ft is too short, 60ft is too short wanting to get the biggest bang for the buck. I want every resident to have a right to the sun and solar power that would hit their building to not be shielded by a neighbor going forward.
I want a local option tax.
I want 1-2 beds per hotel guest room max and a parking spot on site provided for every 4 people.
I want any hotel type expansion to pay into a public works fund for water and sewer for every plumbing fixture they have.
In short I want control so there will still be land and infrastructure and zoning to have vibrant residential districts that don't have to worry about being bought up and turning into a hotel.
Ed Damm
8 year member of the Bar Harbor Planning Board
Thank you Cara, Elissa, Ed, and “lin” for your on target and and thoughtful analysis.
I am no longer a year round resident , but a chronic visitor to the Island.
And here are my comments as a visitor who gladly dumps my money into staying at hotels eating lovely food :
I do not want to visit what was once a Maine coastal town on a gorgeous harbor with enough fresh seafood and fun shops and an over the top National Park adjacent that is now stuffed with hotels , restaurants, and hordes of tourists..
So, when I stay in Bar Harbor, I stay at a place that has been part of my old neighborhood for decades. I can completely avoid downtown Bar Harbor and just hike and cycle into the Park …no car! This is rather sad, because when my husband and I lived in Bar Harbor year round, I loved shopping locally in Bar Harbor for almost everything.
I miss visiting and shopping in some great places that still are there.
With the exception of the A&B. Naturals health food store, which I can access in the quiet parts of the day via the less commercial end of West Street, I can completely avoid the excessive hotel and restaurants, and tourists shops .
Like many year round residents , I seek out quieter times and places in the Park, and enjoy the restaurants and sights in the other Island communities
And towns.
So, I support the extension of the moratorium on lodging that many local citizens feel is necessary.
Year round residents have rights, too.
They have a right to restrict towering hotels looming over the liitle kids in the schoolyard, a right not to breathe polluting fumes from megacruiseships, a right to say I am tired of being shoved off sidewalks on my way to the bank by tourist packs.
I can not vote by ballot. But I can vote with money. I refuse to waste my vacation dollars in a town that is now just a destination of too lodging monstrocities, too manyrestaurants, and a local culture of long time residents being paved over by the proverbial parking lot.
ThankYou.
Very thorough and well presented.