BAR HARBOR — A tour company planning to run multiple daily tours of the downtown next summer is asking the town for use of three parking spots near the village green.
Larry Sweet, the owner of Oli’s Trolley tour bus company, told town councilors last month that by providing the tours, his company would be promoting downtown merchants, boosting Bar Harbor’s branding and even easing street congestion. Those aspects of public good, he said, should serve as sufficient reason for councilors to consider leasing or providing public space to his business.
From a long-term perspective, Sweet said, councilors should look at the village green as a transportation hub for more than just the Island Explorer bus.
Councilors, however, were not as keen to embrace the idea of turning the village green into an intermodal hub, nor the idea of giving a private company exclusive use of town space.
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Robert Levin
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