Establish sustainable land use and development practices across Bar Harbor.

Prioritize climate action throughout all Town land use planning efforts.

Integrate climate mitigation and adaptation as key priorities throughout the 2035 Bar Harbor Comprehensive Plan, and include a dedicated chapter on local climate change vulnerabilities, GHG mitigation strategies, and adaptation efforts.

Amend Article I, §125-3 of the LUO to add “W. Anticipating and responding to the impacts of climate change, including sea level rise, on the Town of Bar Harbor.” as a key purpose of the chapter.

Amend the Shoreland Zoning Ordinance and Floodplain maps to account for areas that will be inundated by sea level rise (~1.6 to 3.9 feet) and increased storm surge scenarios.

Support the development of walkable, accessible, and energy-efficient neighborhoods in order to minimize GHG emissions from employee commuting and building energy use.

Encourage medium-density, high-density, and mixed use residential and commercial development within downtown Bar Harbor, Hulls Cove, and Town Hill. 

Prioritize and streamline permitting processes for medium- and high-density housing within all Town of Bar Harbor neighborhood districts connected to public water and sewer services.

Prioritize and streamline permitting processes for medium- and high-density housing development within all Town of Bar Harbor neighborhood districts that list Two Family, Multifamily I, and Multifamily II dwellings as allowed uses, uses allowed by site plan, or uses allowed by planned use development.

Conduct a policy inventory of existing Town of Bar Harbor land use policies, planning efforts, and permitting processes, and identify additional opportunities to decrease GHG emissions through land use policies such as neighborhood districting, lot dimensional requirements, allowed uses, and permitting processes.

Protect and enhance the carbon sequestering capacity of local natural lands and waters.

Fully implement the 2014 Bar Harbor Open Space Plan goals and strategies for conserving natural habitats, water resources, and working lands.

Collaborate with Acadia National Park and other community stakeholders in order to develop local natural carbon sink conservation strategies.

Raise public awareness of projected climate impacts on the Bar Harbor community, including on key industries, critical infrastructure, and public and private property.

Pursue and support climate adaptation efforts as necessary to protect Town and community assets and investments.

Adopt the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit Steps to Resilience framework in order to publicly document and address current and future local climate risks and hazards.

Develop a public education campaign to educate community members about projected climate impacts across Bar Harbor, including sea level rise, storm surges, flooding, extreme weather, infrastructure damage, and biodiversity loss. 

Implement major climate resilience recommendations from the 2021 Bar Harbor Maine Flood Resilience Checklist. 

Conduct a community-wide vulnerability assessment to identify critical infrastructure at risk to climate change and extreme weather.

Prepare the Town’s electrical system and power supply for projected increased flooding and higher tides.

Incorporate resiliency criteria and future flood hazard information into the Town’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for municipal infrastructure and facilities.

Collaborate with MDI towns, local organizations, and regional and state agencies such as the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and the Maine Department of Transportation (DOT) to address climate vulnerabilities and develop a plan to address future flood hazards across the community.

Identify and pursue federal and state financial and technical resources to advance local climate adaptation efforts, such as through the Maine Coastal Communities Grant Program.

Integrate sustainability and climate considerations into all Town municipal planning, budgeting, decision-making, and regional collaboration efforts.

Establish a Town Sustainability Coordinator staff position with the remit of overseeing and implementing all Town climate and sustainability efforts, including the development and implementation of the Town of Bar Harbor Climate Action Plan. 

Regularly track and analyze greenhouse gas emissions sources and emission reduction efforts across Bar Harbor.

Conduct an annual greenhouse gas emissions audit across all municipal and school operations.

Conduct a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions audit every three years.

Utilize a dedicated municipal GHG accounting platform such as ICLEI ClearPath to streamline and communicate the greenhouse gas emissions tracking processes.

Align annual Town budgeting processes with the goals and strategies of the Town of Bar Harbor Climate Action Plan.

Ensure that all annual Town budget proposals include proposed funding for priority climate and energy initiatives related to the goals and strategies listed in the Town of Bar Harbor Climate Action Plan.

Identify opportunities to allocate funds from the Cruise Ship Fund and Parking Fund to CAP implementation efforts, as permitted by Maine State law.

Require that all major municipal purchasing and capital improvement project proposals  include an estimated greenhouse gas emissions impact and life-cycle assessment.

Modify all Town committee and task force bylaws so that each committee maintains a “climate steward” role whose responsibility is to research, identify, and monitor potential climate and environmental impacts of committee decisions and recommendations.

Collaborate and share best practices with local governments across Mount Desert Island, Maine, and worldwide towards local climate action.

Identify and pursue opportunities to align local climate action with the goals and strategies of Maine’s four-year state climate action plan, Maine Won't Wait.

Apply for local and regional funding for implementation of community climate action and outreach through the Maine Community Resilience Partnership and other public and philanthropic initiatives.

Join and actively participate in the ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability global network of local communities dedicated to climate action.

Revise the goals, strategies, and key actions listed within the Town of Bar Harbor Climate Action Plan at minimum every two years.

Provide an annual sustainability progress report, outline the current status of each strategy and the towns challenges and opportunities towards reaching the goals.