BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 21, 2023
Having taken steps to reduce cruise ship traffic and limit weekly vacation rentals, Bar Harbor now has another part of the tourism sector in its sights. Town councilors are considering whether to temporarily ban lodging development while it gets a handle on how tourism is affecting the town. As Bar Harbor’s tourism industry has grown over the past few decades, other nearby towns such as Tremont and Lamoine have adopted similar temporary development bans in recent years to keep increased tourist traffic at bay. They are not tourism centers like Bar Harbor. Such a ban would target a legacy industry in a way that no other major Maine town has tried.