It is the policy of the Town of Bar Harbor to
guide public and private land use decisions in accordance with state
law and the wishes of the citizens of Bar Harbor as set forth in the
Bar Harbor Comprehensive Plan, to preserve, enhance and protect the
character of the Town, the social way of life desired for the next
20 years and the cultural, historic and natural resources of Bar Harbor.
To implement this policy, the Town of Bar Harbor is hereby divided
into districts of such number and character as are necessary to achieve
compatibility of uses within each district. Each district is intended
to preserve the character of existing neighborhoods and developments
under construction at the time of the adoption of this chapter in
order to prevent these neighborhoods from becoming nonconforming under
the terms of this chapter. It is also intended to provide for limited
development of existing neighborhoods consistent with their zoning
and character at the time of enactment of this chapter. Such neighborhoods
are relatively uniform in character and stable. The regulations permit
future development consistent with the existing character. Areas identified
as having a stable and fixed character will be allowed to continue
to exist and develop under the general regulations governing their
design and construction or the actual plot plans previously approved.
The general classifications of districts shall be as follows:
A. Residential district. The residential district is
intended to provide an area that restricts intensive uses so that
residents may enjoy a measure of quietness and privacy in their homes.
B. Corridor district. The corridor district is intended
to provide landscaped transportation linkages between neighborhood
districts and to accommodate part of the future growth in the commercial/business
sector. This district provides regulations which permit development
of a generally suburban character. It provides for moderate-density
residential development and for highway-oriented commercial, institutional
and light industrial uses. Excluded from this district are uses of
higher density or intensity, or major industrial activities.
C. Business district. The business district is intended
to serve as the community focal point for cultural, business and service
activities. In general, the district provides for uses of regional
importance. This district is intended to be an area of high-intensity
use on which a full range of public facilities, including water, sewer,
schools, police and fire protection, will be focused. The standards
and high densities prescribed for this district are designed to optimize
utilization of in-place facilities and thus to reduce the fiscal burden
of new infrastructure construction on all citizens of Bar Harbor.
D. Shoreland general development district.
[Amended 11-5-1991; 5-4-1992]
(1) The purpose of the shoreland general development district
is to promote and encourage the maintenance of the established commercial
activities which have traditionally been associated with the Bar Harbor
and Hulls Cove waterfronts. These districts are designed to accommodate
a variety of tourist-oriented and waterfront recreational opportunities
in close proximity to the downtown and Hulls Cove areas.
(2) The shoreland general development district includes
the following types of areas:
(a)
Areas of two or more contiguous acres devoted
to commercial, industrial or intensive recreational activities, or
a mix of such activities, including but not limited to the following:
[1]
Areas devoted to manufacturing, fabricating
or other industrial activities;
[2]
Areas devoted to wholesaling, warehousing, retail
trade and service activities, or other commercial activities;
[3]
Areas devoted to intensive recreational development
and activities, such as, but not limited to, amusement parks, racetracks
and fairgrounds.
(b)
Areas otherwise discernible as having patterns
of intensive commercial, industrial or recreational uses.
(3) Portions of the shoreland general development district
may also include residential development. However, no area shall be
designated as a shoreland general development district based solely
on residential use.
(4) In areas adjacent to great ponds classified GPA and
adjacent to rivers flowing to great ponds classified GPA, the designation
of an area as a shoreland general development district shall be based
upon uses existing at the time of the adoption of this chapter. There
shall be no newly established shoreland general development districts
or expansions in area of existing shoreland general development districts
adjacent to great ponds classified GPA or adjacent to rivers which
flow into ponds classified GPA.
E. Historic and historic corridor districts. The purpose
of the historic and historic corridor districts is to promote, encourage
and assist the educational, cultural, economic and general welfare
and amenity of Bar Harbor through the preservation and protection
of historic sites, buildings, corridors and neighborhoods through
their maintenance as landmarks in the history and architecture of
Bar Harbor, and through the protection and development of appropriate
settings for such buildings, places and neighborhoods.
F. Industrial district. The purpose of the industrial
district is to provide land which is conveniently located with respect
to transportation corridors and where municipal services are available
and other conditions are favorable to the development of industry,
and which at the same time is so located as to prevent undesirable
conflict with residential and other types of business uses. Processing,
manufacturing, warehousing and other industrial uses which are not
injurious or noxious by reason of noise, smoke, vibration, gas, fumes,
odor, dust, fire or explosion hazard are typical permitted uses with
site plan approval, but not residential uses.
G. Resource protection district. The purpose of the resource
protection district is to preserve wetlands, stream corridors and
areas subject to flooding, and other areas in which development would
adversely impact water quality, productive habitat, biological ecosystems,
or scenic or natural values, and to provide a minimum setback from
these significant natural areas. This district shall include the following
areas when they occur within the limits of the shoreland zone, exclusive
of the stream protection district, except that areas which are currently
developed and areas which meet the criteria for the shoreland general
development district need not be included within the resource protection
district:
[Amended 11-5-1991]
(1) Areas within 250 feet, horizontal distance, of the
upland edge of freshwater wetlands, salt marshes and salt meadows,
and wetlands associated with great ponds and rivers, which are rated
"moderate" or "high" value waterfowl and wading bird habitats, including
nesting and feeding areas, by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries
and Wildlife that are depicted on a geographic information system
(GIS) data layer maintained by either the Maine Department of Inland
Fisheries and Wildlife or the Department as of May 1, 2006. For the
purposes of this subsection, "wetlands associated with great ponds
and rivers" shall mean areas characterized by nonforested wetland
vegetation and hydric soils that are contiguous with a great pond
or river and have surface elevation at or below the water level of
the great pond or river during the period of normal high water. Wetlands
associated with great ponds or rivers are considered to be part of
that great pond or river.
[Amended 11-4-2008]
(2) Floodplains along rivers and floodplains along artificially
formed great ponds along rivers, defined by the one-hundred-year floodplain
as designated on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA)
Flood Insurance Rate Maps or Flood Hazard Boundary Maps, or the flood
of record, or in the absence of these, by soil types identified as
recent floodplain soils. This district shall also include one-hundred-year
floodplains adjacent to tidal waters as shown on FEMA's Flood Insurance
Rate Maps or Flood Hazard Boundary Maps.
(3) Areas of two or more contiguous acres with sustained
slopes of 20% or greater.
(4) Areas of two or more contiguous acres supporting wetland
vegetation and hydric soils, which are not part of a freshwater or
coastal wetland as defined, and which are not surficially connected
to a water body during the period of normal high water. (Inasmuch
as these types of areas are not adequately mapped by any federal,
state or local agency, it may not be possible to identify them prior
to the detailed evaluation of a specific site.)
[Amended 11-4-2008]
(5) Land areas along rivers subject to severe bank erosion,
undercutting, or river bed movement, and lands adjacent to tidal waters
which are subject to severe erosion or mass movement, such as steep
coastal bluffs.
H. Rural district. The rural district is intended to
preserve areas which are presently rural or agricultural in character
and use. This district is designed to accommodate a variety of residential
development opportunities for those who desire low-density living
and are willing to live in more remote locations and to assume the
costs of providing many of their own services and amenities.
I. Shoreland limited residential district. The shoreland
limited residential district includes those areas suitable for residential
and recreational development. It includes areas other than those in
the resource protection or stream protection districts and areas which
are used less intensively than those in the shoreland general development
district.
[Amended 11-5-1991]
J. District for scientific research and eleemosynary
purposes. The purpose of this district is to promote and encourage
the continuation of scientific research and development activities
on land owned by eleemosynary and charitable entities and/or used
solely for nonprofit purposes, or, if used for profit purposes, then
said profits are in turn devoted to eleemosynary and charitable purposes.
This district provides for a diversity of uses associated with comprehensive
scientific and educational institutions and/or activities.
K. Stream protection district. The stream protection
district includes all land areas within 75 feet, horizontal distance,
of the normal high water line of a stream, exclusive of those areas
within 250 feet, horizontal distance, of the normal high water line
of a great pond or river or within 250 feet, horizontal distance,
or the upland edge of a freshwater or coastal wetland. Where a stream
and its associated shoreland area are located within 250 feet, horizontal
distance, of the above water bodies or wetlands, that land area shall
be regulated under the terms of the shoreland district associated
with that water body or wetland.
[Added 11-5-1991; amended 11-4-2008]
[Amended 11-5-1991; 5-1-1995; 11-4-2003; 5-3-2004; 6-8-2010; 11-2-2010; 11-8-2011]
For the purposes of this chapter, all land and
water areas in the Town of Bar Harbor are hereby divided into the
following districts:
Bar Harbor Gateway District
|
Downtown Village I
|
Downtown Village II
|
Downtown Residential
|
Educational Institution
|
Emery
|
Hulls Cove Business
|
Hulls Cove Residential Corridor
|
Hulls Cove Rural
|
Indian Point Residential
|
Indian Point Rural
|
Industrial
|
Ireson Hill Corridor
|
Ireson Hill Residential
|
Marine Research
|
McFarland Hill Residential
|
McFarland Hill Rural
|
Mount Desert Street Corridor District
|
Otter Creek
|
Resource Protection
|
Salisbury Cove Corridor
|
Salisbury Cove Residential
|
Salisbury Cove Rural
|
Salisbury Cove Village
|
Schooner Head
|
Scientific Research for Eleemosynary Purposes
|
Shoreland General Development I
|
Shoreland General Development II
|
Shoreland General Development III
|
Shoreland General Development IV
|
Shoreland Limited Residential
|
Stream Protection
|
Town Hill Business
|
Town Hill Residential Corridor
|
Town Hill Residential
|
Town Hill Rural
|
Village Historic
|
Village Residential
|
Village Transitional
|
Neighborhood districts established by this chapter
are bounded and defined as shown on the Official Neighborhood Districts
Map of Bar Harbor, which, together with all explanatory materials
contained thereon, is hereby made a part of this chapter. The official
map shall be signed by the Town Clerk and Chairman of the Planning
Board at the time of adoption or amendment of this chapter, certifying
the date of such adoption or amendment, and shall be filed in the
office of the Town Clerk.
Where uncertainty exists as to boundary lines
of districts as shown on the Official Neighborhood Districts Map of
Bar Harbor the following rules shall apply:
A. Boundaries indicated as approximately following the
center lines of streets, highways, public utilities or rights-of-way
shall be construed as following such center lines.
B. Boundaries indicated as approximately following established
lot lines or Town boundaries shall be construed as following such
lines.
C. Boundaries indicated as approximately following shorelines
of any water body or wetland shall be construed as following the normal
high-water line or upland edge of a wetland.
[Amended 11-3-2009; 6-8-2010]
D. Boundaries indicated as being parallel to or extensions
of features listed above shall be so construed.
E. Distances not specifically indicated on the official
map shall be determined by the scale of the map.
F. Where physical or natural features existing on the
ground are at variance with those shown on the official map, or in
other circumstances where uncertainty exists with respect to the location
of a boundary, the Board of Appeals shall interpret the district boundaries;
provided, however, that in all cases the determination of any shoreline
setback shall be determined by actual site measurement.
[Amended 11-5-1991; 11-3-2009]
When a lot is transected by a district boundary,
the regulations set forth in this chapter applying to the larger part
by area of such lot may also be deemed to govern in the smaller part
beyond such district boundary, but only to an extent of not more than
50 linear feet in depth beyond said district boundary, except that
no such encroachment shall be permitted into a shoreland district
or a resource protection district.