High Court Upholds Bar Harbor’s STR Restrictions

4/3/2024

Voter-approved restrictions on short-term rentals (STRs) in Bar Harbor, Maine, will remain in place after the state's highest court ruled in favor of them on March 26. A local real estate agent had sued the town over the rules, which were first passed in 2021 and banned some weekly rental licenses from being transferred to new owners after a property is sold. On Tuesday, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that those rules were fairly passed by voters at the time. Bar Harbor residents originally voted for the restrictions, which are meant to preserve long-term housing in Bar Harbor by reducing the number of non-owner occupied rentals.

Bangor Daily News (Maine) (03/26/24) Charles Eichacker

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