BATH
A proposed change to Bath’s ordinance governing bed and breakfasts could give more flexibility to the city’s innkeepers.
“The way it’s worded now, the person who is the owner of the property has to be the innkeeper. Most of the time that’s what happens now,” said Elizabeth Knowlton, who has owned The Inn at Bath since 2004. “But for instance, if I had a daughter and wanted to retire and have her take over, I couldn’t do that because it has to be the owner.”
Knowlton has led an effort in the city to change the ordinance, while trying to stay within the spirit of bed and breakfasts. If approved by the city council, the new language would allow someone other than the owner be an innkeeper as long as they reside on the premises.
“This has been in the works for the last couple of months,” said City Planner Ben Averill. “There was a bed and breakfast owner concerned that the language that we currently have restricts they to be the only manager or person who’s in charge of the bed and breakfast — theoretically meaning that the owner of the property who’s also managing the property has to be on site at all times in order to have a bed and breakfast.”
Averill said the change brings Bath into line with several other communities, including Portland and South Portland.
Knowlton said she first became aware of the limitation when she first looked into selling the Inn at Bath a year ago. A potential buyer was looking into purchasing the property as an investment and hiring someone to run the bed and breakfast, but discovered that wasn’t possible according to the city’s ordinance.
Averill said the change has the support of a number of bed and breakfast owners who have spoken about the language in past meetings.
“Throughout the planning process we’ve had several bed and breakfast owners that spoke about similar experiences where they realized that the way our ordinance is structured right now they just don’t have the ability to put someone else in charge,” he said.
The council will vote on the change at its next meeting on Wednesday.
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