BREAKING NEWS: citizens group seeks to limit cruise ship visitors to 1,000/day
BAR HARBOR, March 16, 2022 - The citizens group led by resident Charles Sidman today filed its anticipated petition for a townwide vote to change land-use ordinances so that cruise ships may not be permitted to disembark more than 1,000 passengers a day.
“Today we took a big step, thus initiating a voter-driven process of (hopefully) drastically reducing the scourge of excessive cruise ship visitors inundating our town and disfiguring the entire region,” Sidman wrote in an email.
“Anyone interested in signing the official form now or helping gather signatures is welcome to contact me at csidman@acadia.net,” he wrote after taking action which the town council did not have the political will to do. Sidman needs about 250 signatures to place the question on the November town meeting ballot.
Sidman said lawyers he hired suggested this method because the town has more power amending its own ordinance than to try to regulate cruise ships.
“As determined by the Harbor Master, no more than 1,000 passengers, in the aggregate, may disembark on a single calendar day from any cruise ship(s) and come to shore on, over, or across any property located within the Town of Bar Harbor,” the petition stated.
Even though the vote isn’t anticipated to occur until November, the petition applies retroactively to all bookings after March 16, 2022.
“The purpose of this amendment to the Code is to require a permit to be issued to any property owner wishing to allow for the discharge of cruise ship passengers in the Town of Bar Harbor from their property, and to establish a codified limit on the number of passengers who may disembark from cruise ships and be transported to the Town of Bar Harbor per day.
“Property owners in violation of this subsection shall be subject to such fines, penalties, actions and orders … resulting in a minimum $100 penalty per passenger.”
The petition takes square aim at Eben Salvatore, chair of the town cruise ship committee who operates the major tender service owned by his employer Ocean Properties.
It also challenges the town council and the town manager who opted for a meeker approach, with a small subcommittee of members Val Peacock and Jill Goldthwait along with town manager Kevin Sutherland to negotiate with the cruise ship industry after having already signaled that they would be willing to accept a 30 percent reduction of passengers in 2023. Sutherland failed in his singular attempts and sought reinforcement.
A total of 279 ships and 290,000 passengers are forecast to visit Bar Harbor this season. Without large cruise ships last season, the town reported records number of land-based visitors.
Sidman said the petition can only help the town council negotiate and that if it can achieve the same limit, he’d be willing to withdraw the petition.
Sidman is no stranger to asserting citizens power in the face of a timid town council and manager. In 2019 he led the fight to prohibit berthing piers for large cruise ships. The definition of large in the petition was “more than five hundred passengers.”
“Underlying this proposed amendment is the fact that, in recent years, the Town has been a popular port of call for cruise ships of varying sizes, from which passengers disembark via tender boats that offload passengers directly into the downtown area. The large numbers of passengers have overwhelmed the downtown area, resulting in excessive congestion and traffic on public streets and sidewalks, frequent overcrowding of parks and other public spaces, and inundating local amenities and attractions, all of which result in a diminished quality of life for Town residents,” the petition stated.
“The unchecked and continued influx of disembarking cruise ship passengers in the downtown area jeopardizes the Town’s ability to deliver municipal services to Town residents and visitors (for example, cruise ship passengers), including the provision of public safety services (police and fire), emergency medical services (EMS), in-patient and out-patient services at local hospitals, pandemic control measures, and public sanitation services, and also impacts the ability of local shops, restaurants, and other businesses to attract and serve customers. A town-wide survey was conducted in 2021, showing that a majority of respondents believe that the volume of disembarking cruise ship passengers is too high and has a negative impact on the Town and the health, safety and welfare of its residents.
“The Town’s existing, uncodified limits of 5,500 passengers per day (for May, June, September and October) and 3,500 passengers per day (for July and August) have proven to be insufficient to mitigate the impacts described above, and furthermore, are currently subject to adjustment at the discretion of the Harbor Master without further input from the voters of the Town. This discretion is removed, and the limits herewith are made absolute.
“By statute, 38 M.R.S. § 439-A, the Town is expressly authorized to regulate activities that occur within its own shoreland areas. Further, in accordance with the Town’s home rule authority under the Maine Constitution (Article VIII, Part Second, Section 1) and by statute (30-A M.R.S. § 3001) the Town may adopt ordinances to protect the health, safety and welfare of its residents, including Chapter 125 of the Town of Bar Harbor Code, which regulates the use of land and permitted structures in Bar Harbor.”