Yurt campground proposed in Bar Harbor
Courtesy / Coplon Associates
Yurts would be rented seasonally in a new campground on Bar Harbor’s outskirts, if a proposal is approved.
A small commercial campground proposed in Bar Harbor would feature yurts — a type of circular dwelling that's becoming trendy in Maine.
At the Planning Board’s review last week, applicants Joshua and Kaitlin Hodgkins said the proposal, called Evergreen Yurts, involves the development of eight one-bedroom yurts with bathrooms, a common building with laundry, recreational amenities, and associated access improvements.
The total property size is 21.7 acres and is owned by the couple.
The project area would be approximately five acres, located within a rural district of a village on Bar Harbor’s outskirts called Salisbury Cove.
The proposed site is mostly wooded and with roads that would serve as corridors for new access roads. Access to the site would be via an existing driveway that would be upgraded to private road standards. A one-way loop road would serve the yurts and connect to an improved driveway. There would be two private wells and on-site septic system serving the development.
The address of the proposal is 0 State Highway 3.
Kaitlin Hodgkins said the goal is to rent yurts seasonally. The yurts would be completely plumbed for bathroom and small-kitchen use. The interiors would be open concept.
The proposal includes a small area for a common fire pit, along with picnic tables, trash receptacles, lights and parking spots.
Sam Coplon of Coplon Associates in Mount Desert, who is the project representative, said a minimal amount of clearing would have to be done. The land already has open pockets and an existing network of woods roads, and those have driven the design of the site plan.
“In terms of impact on the existing landscape, most of it is located in previously disturbed or cleared areas,” Coplon said.
Although there would be internal directional signs, there would not be a commercial road sign, Hodgkins said.
Planning Board members expressed concern about maintaining the integrity of footpaths that have long been in place along a nearby stream called Northeast Creek. They suggested that the paths should be surveyed and memorialized.
The creek is popular among local paddlers.
Joshua Hodgkins noted his relatives several generations back once used the paths to get hay from the surrounding meadows. The couple said the proposed development wouldn’t disturb the paths.
“Those footpaths have been on the land for a very long time,” said Kaitlin Hodgkins.
Bar Harbor’s planning director, Michele Gagnon, said the board could include a provision requiring that the paths remain undisturbed.
The board also asked for a buffering plan for a portion of the land that’s not shielded by existing woods from a neighbor. The board scheduled a public hearing on the proposal for April 6, with certain required materials to be submitted by then.
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