Starting July 1, visitors to Bar Harbor can expect to pay more to park along downtown streets and in public parking lots.
But for the first time, residents of Mount Desert Island will be eligible to pay discounted rates if they park their cars in the downtown village.
With the increases — which include an expansion of the hours during which people will be expected to pay — Bar Harbor expects to nearly double its annual parking fee revenue from roughly $2 million to $4 million.
The town currently has two different rates for parking downtown depending where motorists park their cars. Spaces closer to the intersection of Main and Cottage streets now cost $2 an hour while spaces further away from that intersection cost $1.50 per hour.
The new rates will be $4 and $2 per hour, respectively. Chris Wharff, a lieutenant with the town’s police department who oversees the parking program, said that by having a $2 gap between the two hourly rates, some people will be more likely to opt for the cheaper parking spots, which should help to reduce parking congestion in the middle of downtown during the busy summer season. The town’s annual paid parking system runs from May 15 through Oct. 30 each year.
The town also will expand the daily time period during which people will be expected to pay for parking. Paid parking hours currently run from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., but will be extended by an hour earlier and later in the day, from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The town also, for the first time since it adopted the paid parking system in 2019, will offer parking discounts to Mount Desert Island residents, who will be able to buy pre-paid parking cards or tokens that will give them half off the new rates. Bar Harbor residents and people who work downtown already can get parking permits that allow them to park at no charge on residential side streets in the downtown village.
The Town Council discussed the changes Tuesday night before voting to implement them.
Newly elected councilor Earl Brechlin said that while he supports raising the rates, he was not keen on expanding the hours. He said savvy people who have errands to run downtown but don’t want to pay have learned that if they can get in and out before 9 a.m., it won’t cost them to park.
Brechlin also objected to a plan to increase the penalty for not paying for parking to $60, which would increase to $100 if not paid within 30 days. The current penalty for not paying to park — which includes not renewing your meter if your paid time expires — is $30.
“That seems a little usurious to me,” Brechlin said of the proposed $60 penalty. “I don’t think piling on the fine makes them any more likely to pay it. If anything, it makes it less likely.”
Wharff said that in order to encourage people to pay, the cost of the penalty should be higher than what it would cost to pay for the parking. Someone who parks for 13 hours in a $4 spot will run up a bill of $52.
Other councilors agreed with Brechlin that $60 was too much.
Councilor Gary Friedmann said that part of the intent of the program is to reduce summertime car congestion downtown. Imposing punitive penalties won’t have a significant impact on parking revenue, he said, but could cause accidental violators to have sour memories of their downtown visit.
“I just feel like it’s a friendlier way to be,” Friedmann said. “I think it’s still achieving our goal and not quite being as harsh.”
Councilor Matt Hochman argued in favor of imposing high penalties that would make it more expensive to pay later rather than up front. Thanks to a recent change in state law, the revenue the town makes from paid parking can be used to help pay for a new K-8 school, he said.
Earlier this month, Bar Harbor voters approved borrowing up to $58.5 million to replace the deteriorating Conners Emerson School.
“We do have some big projects coming up that this money can really help offset the tax burden on,” Hochman said.
The council settled on increasing the penalty from $30 to $40 which, if not paid within 30 days, will double to $80. If the penalty is paid within 14 days, the fine would be reduced by $5 to $35.