In March of 2013, the Town of Bar Harbor issued an RFP inviting qualified firms to submit proposals to execute a feasibility study. The objective of this engagement was to determine if the area known at the ‘backyard parking lot’ could support the development of a parking structure. This study was divided into four phases:

• Phase 1: Site Feasibility.
• Phase 2: Existing Conditions Assessment.
• Phase 3: Future Conditions and Alternatives Analysis.
• Phase 4: Financial Feasibility Assessment.

The initial assessment demonstrated the Town was subject to substantial parking shortages during the summer months. The project team developed a number of options for addressing these issues, including scenarios for introducing structured parking, expanding existing parking, developing a satellite parking facility with shuttle service and developing infrastructure to better support bicycle travel and walking. The project team hosted a number of public forums and workshops to vet the options and identify a final scenario, which was the subject of the financial feasibility analysis. Feasibility of the project rested upon the Town converting from a ‘free’ to ‘fee for use’ parking environment and DESMAN prepared an analysis detailing how the Town to accomplish this in a step-by-step format which preserved the fiscal viability of the project while acknowledging the political ramifications of such a conversion.

The Town executed Phase 1 of the plan in May of 2019 and report earned parking revenues to date are 150% of DESMAN’s original projections, which allow the Town to move in Phase 2 in Spring 2020.