ELLSWORTH — Tenants leasing private hangars at Bar Harbor Airport in Trenton do not have the right to use them for commercial activities of any kind, according to Hancock County Commissioners.

The unanimous decision, which was made at the commissioners’ monthly meeting on Tuesday, upholds a prior decision made by the airport’s manager, Robert Cossette. The appeal was brought to the commissioners’ attention in a letter from William Reiff, one of the lessees. Reiff wanted to rent space in his hangar to store two boats for Trenton Marine, said Cossette at the meeting.

Cossette said he denied Reiff’s request because the hangars were specifically set aside for private use, and any commercial usage would violate the terms of the lease. He added that he did not feel private commercial activities should take place on county-owned land. Hancock County owns Bar Harbor Airport and the land it is situated on.

“I don’t believe it’s a good business idea to use these private storage hangars to store boats for commercial purposes,” said Cossette.

He also said that using the hangars for purposes other than aircraft storage could hinder their future chances of getting federal grant money to repair the taxiways. He said he doubts that the Federal Aviation Administration would be likely to fund taxiways that are also being used as access routes for boat storage. But there are possible alternatives, Cossette said.

“There is land available to build boat storage at the airport,” he said. “If someone wants to do this, I’d be more than happy to talk with them.”

In a telephone conversation Tuesday afternoon, Reiff said he did not take the decision as a setback, but that he did not see what was wrong with using extra hangar space in this way. He said the hangar lessees frequently ask to borrow or rent space from each other. Cossette has objected to this in the past, he said, which is why he appealed to the commissioners before renting the space.

He also disagrees with the airport’s interpretation of commercial activity.

“If you rent out your house, that’s not commercial activity,” he said in comparison.

Reiff said he found the policy unfair, and that it seems to hinder the commercial growth the rest of the state seems to encourage. But he said the decision was “not a big deal,” and is happy overall with the airport and will continue to lease his hangar.

“Cossette’s done a great job running the airport,” he said. “This is just a rather restrictive interpretation of the lease.”