Fighting the common enemy

STONINGTON—Town officials are trying to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from spreading while frightened residents clamor for more action—such as banning short-term rentals, as Bar Harbor did recently.

- LESLIE LANDRIGAN

But Bar Harbor has a charter. Deer Isle and Stonington do not. They can only put a moratorium on such rentals with Town Meeting approval or a referendum, wrote Deer Isle Town Manager Jim Fisher in an email. But Town Meetings are banned and a referendum requires 60 days, too much time to flatten the curve, he wrote.

So in the run-up to Gov. Janet Mills’ March 31 stay-at-home order, the towns resorted to persuasion.

Deer Isle and Stonington paid for Healthy Island Project’s three banners that say, “Be Safe. Shelter in Place.”