Bangor planning board backs asking council to study short‑term rentals in tiny‑home parks and to reclassify Ohio Street as major arterial

The City of Bangor Planning Board on Nov. 18 discussed two nonbinding workshop items: whether to recommend that city council consider allowing limited short‑term rentals in tiny‑home parks, and whether to revise the code’s major/minor arterial designations for Ohio Street and State Street.

Short‑term rentals in tiny‑home and manufactured‑home parks: Planning staff (Anya Colette) summarized a prior proposal to allow short‑term rentals in tiny‑home parks while capping them (examples discussed: five units or 50% of park homes, whichever is less) to align rules with existing manufactured‑home rules. Owners/operators (identified in the record as Luke and Louie Morrison) said they support parity with manufactured‑home parks and floated the idea of 'floating units' — allowing a large portfolio to designate any set of units up to a cap rather than locking specific unit addresses as short‑term rentals.

Board members were receptive to exploring the change and asked staff to research the implications. Staff noted current code requires identifying which units are designated for short‑term rental and that the city has limited enforcement capacity while working to register noncompliant listings. "If it's fine for manufactured parks, then I think this is very similar," Member Boucher said; Member Jonas and others voiced support for bringing a recommendation to council. The board did not vote; members asked staff to return with draft language and an analysis of impacts, including how affordable housing or density bonuses might interact with park classifications.

Arterial reclassification: Staff proposed moving Ohio Street from the minor to the major arterial category and removing the duplicate minor listing for State Street because Ohio meets major‑arterial characteristics: near 10,000 average daily traffic, multi‑lane segments and service to a broad area. Reclassification would bring some currently nonconforming uses (churches, nursing homes) into conformity or into a conditional‑use review path. Board members generally supported staff returning with a list quantifying how many properties would shift into conformity if the change moved forward to council.

Takeaway: The board gave direction to staff to pursue further research and potential language for city council consideration on both short‑term rental rules for tiny‑home/manufactured‑home parks and the arterial classification changes; no formal code amendments were adopted at this meeting.