BAR HARBOR, Maine — During the summer, finding a spot to park in downtown Bar Harbor can be a challenge. Tourists flock to the town from across the county, making the roughly 6,000 feel like a major city.
"We have a significant parking problem," said Bar Harbor Town Manager Cornell Knight.
To try and alleviate the stress of finding parking, the town is unveiling a new paid parking system throughout the downtown area. The kiosks and meters will be turned on Wednesday.
"With the meters and kiosks, we'll get better turnover, and more spaces for tourists and visitors to town," said Knight.
The main objective of paid parking is to prevent drivers from parking their cars in coveted parking spots for hours. The rates will range from $1.50 to $2 per hour.
There are also some parking spots that have a four hour maximum time limit.
A full map of parking rates can be found here.
With a new changes coming however, some local businesses are wondering how they and their customers will navigate parking.
"We have a lot of people that rent bikes from us and they can't bring their car into the parks. Getting them where they want to be is going to be a bit of a different technique than it was before," said Brett Phinney, who's an employee at Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop.
Overall, Phinney says he's not opposed to the paid parking system, it's just something his business has to work out, as well as local residents.
"It's a big change for Bar Harbor," said Phinney.
Cornell Knight tells NEWS CENTER Maine, that over five years, the estimated cost of the meters and kiosks along maintenance and monitoring will be $600,000. Knight added that he estimates revenue from the first year to be around $500,000. That will be used as town funds.