Bar Harbor gets green light for maritime district plan
Photo / Renee Cordes
Bar Harbor, which already enjoys a substantial number of visitors sailing in Down East waters, got the green light from voters to boost its passenger cruise ship business. By a vote of 945 to 658, voters approved in Tuesday's election a zoning change that clears the way for the town to buy the former ferry terminal and redevelop it for passenger cruise traffic.
Bar Harbor voters on Tuesday approved a zoning change that clears the way for the town to buy the former ferry terminal and redevelop it for passenger cruise traffic.
By a vote of 945 to 658, voters approved a measure, known as Article 12, to create a new Shoreland Maritime Activities District where the ferry terminal used to be, and use it for both cruise and ferry activities.
That would help the town, already Maine’s top cruise destination, lure even more vessels, which would no longer have to tender in as they currently do from three anchor points.
Voters separately rejected a citizens initiative, known as Article 13, that would have restricted the length of cruise ships that could tie up at a town pier and that could have derailed the town’s ambitions to attract more cruise liners.
Article 13 was defeated by a vote of 925 to 679.
The vote results mean the town can proceed with its plan to buy the former ferry property. It has the exclusive right to do so for $2.5 million. The price would drop to $2 million with an approved business plan and a developer lined up by closing.
Martha Searchfield, executive director of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce, said the passage of Article 12 “is great for the town.”
She added: “Now we can work together on the next step in the process, which is creating a development plan for the old ferry terminal that will work best for the citizens of Bar Harbor.”
Some 163 cruise ships are expected to visit Bar Harbor this year, up from 105 last year. That compares to 90 expected in Portland, up from 77 in 2016. Maine as a whole is growing in prominence as a cruise destination, with 410 ship visits expected this year and a season that’s longer on both ends.
A total of 1,634 Bar Harbor residents cast ballots on Tuesday out of 4,495 registered voters, for a voter turnout of 36%.
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