Three New Homes in Bar Harbor? Maybe.
Upcoming Public Hearing on Budget, Pizza and Planning Sessions
BAR HARBOR—At its March 6 meeting, the Bar Harbor Planning Board asked staff to schedule a site visit and neighborhood meeting on a potential three-lot subdivision on Seabury Drive after a sketch plan review.
There was no public comment on Nancy Sweeney’s application for the home lots.
“I’d like to have three house lots on the property that I own on Seabury Drive,” she said. Those would be single family homes with a minimum 1,000 square feet. Her campground is nearby, so she wants to control what is built on the property. All three lots would have separate driveways, wells, and sewers. No wells have been drilled yet. However, there is an old well on site.
The sketch plan is the first of three meetings that the Planning Board has for proposed subdivisions. The next step will be a site visit and neighborhood meeting.
Vice Chair Ruth Eveland asked if Sweeney would think of more homes than one per lot. Sweeney said that she did not want to do that. There would be a buffer zone between the campground and the lots.
“There was a waiver, I thought, for sewer and water,” Chair Millard Dority said. “One of the things we’ve been alerted to is when we’re doing subdivisions that we’re—that we should pay a lot more attention to sewer and water. And that’s something that we’re going to do.”
He said the town’s land use ordinance says that the Planning Board is supposed to find out if there is enough water.
“We’re not trying to shift everything over on code enforcement,” Dority said.
Code Enforcement Officer Angela Chamberlain said that under the Bar Harbor rules and regulations, the builder has to have potable water on the site, but they do not have to show gallons per minute to the office.
There is a ground water analysis in the checklist, but as the rules are currently, there has to be enough dwelling units to trigger a ground water analysis. Three new homes does not trigger that analysis.
Secretary Elissa Chesler said it would be useful to determine if there’s adequate water and septic for proposed subdivisions. Recently, in public hearings before both the Planning Board and Town Council, residents in Town Hill have spoken to concerns about ground water and wells running dry. Those concerns are increased, they’ve said, if the areas that are designated as growth areas by the town for homes are already under pressure.
PIZZA AND PLANNING
The Bar Harbor Comprehensive Planning Committee is holding three sessions about the comprehensive plan’s proposed draft actions.
Boards and Committees Ordinance Amendment adopted
On Tuesday, February 20, 2024, the Bar Harbor Town Council adopted an amendment to the Boards, Committees, and Commissions Ordinance to correct inconsistencies. The ordinance amendment takes effect March 21. A copy has been filed with the Town Clerk.
Call the Town Clerk at 207-288-4098 for more information.
Public Hearing 3/19 on FY2025 Budget
The Bar Harbor Town Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. in the Municipal Building Council Chambers to hear comment on the proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, as required by Town Charter Article VI, §C-31, Part G.
The proposed budget requests appropriations of $28,023,599 for the municipal budget and $8,805,537 for the education budget (elementary school fund). The estimated property tax rate increase is 20.2 percent.
For more information:
Town Council order passed March 4 tentatively adopting the budget and scheduling the public hearing
Video of February 26 Warrant Committee meeting on the budget Part I Part II
Video of February 27 joint Warrant Committee/Town Council meeting on the budget
To view the detailed budget, visit the Budget page or contact the Town Clerk’s office at 207-288-4098.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
EM a. Sketch Plan Review for application SD-2024-01 – Sweeney Seabury Subdivision
Applicant: Nancy Sweeney, P.O. Box 293 Bass Harbor, ME, 04653
Owner: The Woods of Eden LLC, 12 Seabury Dr, Bar Harbor, ME 04609
Application: Three-lot subdivision at the corner of Seabury Drive and Route 3.
Project Location: 36 Seabury Drive (Tax Map and Lot number 207-032-000) encompassing ±24.37 acres according to town tax records.
Districts: Salisbury Cove Rural and Salisbury Cove Corridor
Materials: Sketch Plan Application (Submitted 02.05.24)
https://www.townhallstreams.com/stream.php?location_id=37&id=56498
Application: https://www.barharbormaine.gov/DocumentCenter/View/7281/SD-2024-01-SKETCH-PLAN-APPLICATION