The “Cora” houseboat, owned by the White Barn Inn. Contributed / White Barn Inn

The Kennebunk River Commission is calling for the removal of houseboats from the river. At a Feb. 27 Kennebunkport Select Board meeting, the commission proposed an amended houseboat ordinance that would outlaw houseboats.

Currently, the only houseboat on the Kennebunk River is owned by the White Barn Inn and is used as an extension of the hotel. The inn has held marina status at Doanes Wharf since 2001, allowing for the use of sailboats and houseboats.

The Boathouse Hotel previously operated a houseboat on the river, but it was removed.

Robert Danzilo, chair of the Kennebunk River Commission, said Lower Village residents are “deeply concerned” about the White Barn Inn houseboat.

“What’s happening is all of the traffic that’s going down to this houseboat is cluttering the roads,” Danzilo said.

Residents are also concerned about issues with parking, local resident access, and EMS and fire response, he said.

According to Danzilo, houseboats also add to the danger of overdevelopment on the river. The hotel industry is competitive, he said, and there is a palpable risk that other hotels might follow suit and build their own houseboats.

More houseboats would also mean less dock space for regular boats, officials said.

A view of the Kennebunk River from the White Barn Inn houseboat. Contributed / White Barn Inn

“Cluttering the river with an influx of houseboats could potentially alter the river’s character and compromise its natural beauty and safety,” Danzilo said.

One of the biggest concerns from the commission is that the White Barn Inn houseboat is simply “not a boat.”

“It’s a room sitting on a barge,” Danzilo said.

While the houseboat does have a motor and a steering station, the commission does not consider it to be an actual boat.

In order to combat this, the commission proposed adding a definition of the word “houseboat” to the Kennebunkport town ordinance.

As proposed by the commission, the word “houseboat” would be defined as “a vessel designed for use primarily as a dwelling or domicile for human occupancy in protected waters whether self propelled or not. Offshore safety and navigational resources would be secondary or non-existent.”

Kennebunkport Select Board member Allen Daggett said he was “not happy” with this definition.

“This could be any boat,” Daggett said.

The amended ordinance would not affect those who choose to sleep on their boats or live on their boats in the summer, Danzilo said. It is also likely that the houseboat owned by the White Barn Inn would be grandfathered into the ordinance, allowing it to stay on the river.

The Kennebunk River Commission plans to change the definition of “houseboat” in the coming months. They will also meet with the town of Kennebunk in April.