A charming coastal town in Maine is in uproar after being overrun by tourists.
The town of Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island has attracted increasing numbers of visitors in recent years, with crowds often arriving in huge cruise ships and flocking to see to the stunning Acadia National Park nearby.
Resident Charles Sidman, 74, who is among those leading the Bar Harbors anti-cruise movement, told AirMail he thought the first ship to arrive in the tiny town in the late 1980s was the coolest thing in the world.
But in the years since then, they just keep multiplying like bacteria. Do you want a McDonald’s in the Grand Canyon? he said.
As the new arrivals clog the roads on and around the isle and in neighboring Ellsworth, city officials are now desperately attempting to push back.
Bar Harbor, a charming town home to a host of wonderful shops and a lively public marina seen here, is being overrun by tourists, officials admitted this month
Increasing by the year, the influx of tourists bring with them an abnormal amount of traffic to the Maine city
Bar Harbors town council vice chair Gary Friedmann and others raised a series of complaints at a meeting at the end of last month, and discussed the idea of a temporary ban on new tourist lodgings.
Theres a lot of different things we could do about that, Friedmann declared at the October town meeting attended by The Bangor Daily News.
Its a regional problem, but I think any action that is done to address this needs to start at home, the town vice chair continued.
Im interested in seeing a discussion of a moratorium on transient accommodations at our next council meeting.
This is not the first time the idea of a temporary ban on tourist lodgings has been suggested over the past year.
Yet just days after the meeting, a proposal to build a 20-room hotel on one of the towns busiest arteries was obtained and leaked by The Quietside Journal, with schematics showing a three-story monstrosity that would loom over the village.
The bold concept, if approved, would be set on less than a half-an-acre located along Route 3, which serves the main road between Bar Harbor and Ellsworth.
It would join a plethora of other new hotels opened across both towns to address the surge in tourists.
These include the Hawthorne Extended Stay on High Street and a 72-unit suite hotel called Stone Park, both of which opened in Bar Harbor this year.
Tourism on and around the isle has affected the nearby city of Ellsworth (seen here), along with the few roads connecting the two communities
Many visitors arrive by boat, as the town has been a stopping point for cruise ships for decades
More recently, locals have complained that tourism has hurt the local quality of life - citing congestion and increased foot-traffic. Pictured, Bar Harbors overrun Main Street
The most pronounced growth in tourism was seen over the past three years during which time the number of annual visitors drawn to Bar Harbors national park swelled to around four million.
Meeting such a mark did not happened in the parks 105-year history until right after the pandemic. Now, it appears to be the new norm.
However, locals complain that the phenomenon has hurt the local quality of life, citing congestion and increased foot-traffic.
This fury resulted in a successful citizens referendum that demanded steep cuts in cruise visits, led by local business owner Sidman.
It insisted there should be a daily limit of no more than 1,000 passengers.
Bar Harbor vice chair Gary Friedmann warned onlookers about the phenomenon last week, conceding that action needs to be taken
The cap was upheld in March by a federal judge, but will not go into effect for at least another year.
The decision came after a now quashed lawsuit filed against Bar Harbor by several business owners seeking to welcome visitors with open arms.
However, with town officials yet to implement the approved guidance, Sidman accused the town of delaying the enforcement in an interview with the Bangor Daily News.
He claimed this was to allow cruise lines to honor pre-existing reservations before the caps go into effect.
They have resisted from the beginning, Sidman said of the seven-person council, claiming it had been too swayed by citizens and local businesses who would benefit from continued cruise ship visits.
These people think theyre rulers, not public servants, he continued, weeks after suing the town and all seven councilors as part of a failed attempt to get the enforcement into effect for this past summer.
He went on to state that he is not opposed to the cruise industry - just the rising number of visitors.
A former scientist who finances start-ups in-town, Sidman pointed to congestion seen across Bar Harbors once-quaint streets as one of the main reasons to take action.
The most pronounced growth in tourism has be seen over the past three years - with the number of annual visitors drawn to Acadia National Park swelling to around 4million
Many visitors are arriving by boat, as a recently upheld cap on arrivals remains in legal limbo
The cap was upheld in March by a federal judge, but will not go into effect for at least another year
Sidman said that while he at first viewed the side-effects of tourism such as noise and exhaust fume as just an annoyance, the situation has since worsened.
Yet some accuse residents of just turning their nose up at tourists.
Eben Salvatore, who is a Maine resident and the manager of a cruise business, told AirMail: It’s social class warfare. It’s not [about] congestion, and it’s not [about] capacity, it’s not [about] safety. It’s just [about] those dirty little cruise ship passengers in my town.
Thats not the case with locals like Charles Sidman who have less of a vested interest in the towns tourism industry
Developers have also started to turn to nearby Ellsworth some 20 miles away - which now has some of the strongest demand for short-term rentals in the country.
Slightly cheaper than increasingly costly Bar Harbor, it emerged the second-best place to start an AirBnB in the country this year, data tracker AirDNA reported.
Driving its popularity was the ever-increasing demand for vacation rentals and hotels around Bar Harbor leaving tourists looking elsewhere for lodging.
However, locals say that traffic between the towns has reached breaking point, calling attention to the regions stretched-thin infrastructure and the busiest summer season ever had on-record.
Seemingly going against other councilors who previously supported the sudden tourism injection, Friedmann demanded a moratorium on new lodgings to quell the clogs - a desire that was later echoed by fellow town council member Maya Caines.
In an interview with The Quietside Journal, the official elected last year claimed she is pressing Town Manager James Smith to make the suspension a priority.
No more hotels, no more campgrounds. Were done. she told the small-town paper after it broke news on yet another proposed hotel on High Street.
She added how she would be very disappointed if another hotel was erected during her term on the council, as roads like Route 3 and I-395 from Route 1A remain clogged perpetually.
They have resisted from the beginning, Sidman said of the seven-person council, claiming it had been too swayed by citizens and local businesses who would benefit from continued cruise ship visits
However, locals say that traffic between the towns has reached breaking point, calling attention to the regions stretched-thin infrastructure and the busiest summer season ever had on-record
Seemingly going against other councilors who previously supported the sudden tourism injection, Friedmann demanded a moratorium on new lodgings to quell the clogs
That desire, within days, was echoed by fellow town council member Maya Caines, she would be very disappointed if another hotel is erected during her term on the council,
The same remains the case for the cities set along both roads, spurring Friedmann to concede that houses in town and most of Acadia Park were now at carrying capacity.
Citizens in Ellsworth, meanwhile, are now starting to say the same, as tourists now make the trip there not only to find accommodations but to avoid Bar Harbors steeper prices.
You can have a whole place here for $200 a night, Christopher Jones, a local real estate agent, told the Bangor Daily News earlier this year.
In Bar Harbor, you get a room. You have to walk through somebody’s kitchen to get someplace.
Moguls hoping to open hotels in the area have seemingly had the same train of thought - demonstrated last week by news of yet another proposed creation near Route 3 in Ellsworth.
First reported by the Bangor Daily News last week, the proposal would lead to 16,000-square-feet and 83 rooms being constructed at a site that would bring even more blockage to the primary way into Mount Desert Island.
Bar Harbors next meeting surrounding town matters is slated for Wednesday, where proposed projects will be discussed.
Developers have turned to Ellsworth - a decision thats seemingly paid off as the town 20 miles away now has some of the strongest demand for short-term rentals in the entire country
Slightly cheaper than increasingly costly Bar Harbor, it emerged the second-best place to start an AirBnB in the country this year, data tracker AirDNA reported
Moguls looking to open hotels in the area have seemingly had the same train of thought - demonstrated last week by news of yet another proposed creation near Route 3 in Ellsworth, the main route to Bar Harbor (seen here)
As of writing, an online agenda does not list any new applications - despite the recent reports on the newly proposed one on Route 3.
Ellsworths town council has yet to take action, with investors - often the owners of other businesses in Bar Harbor - continue to open hotels.
The arrivals, meanwhile, continue to come, enthralled by the areas majesty.