BAR HARBOR, Aug. 3, 2022 - The Town Council voted 6-1 Tuesday night to place on the November ballot the citizen petition to cap cruise ship visitors to 1,000 a day and then heard Town Manager’s Kevin Sutherland unveil his agreement with the industry to limit visitors at 130,000 for the fall months. That is more than double the citizens’ version.
A previous council plan which was rejected by the industry would have capped visitors at 72,600 for September and October for 2023 and beyond. The citizens petition is calling for 61,000 for those months, considered the busiest season for cruise ships here.
Earlier in the evening, Jeff Dobbs was the only member to vote against placing the citizens petition on the ballot, saying the petition “totally undermines what the council has been working on separately to try to reduce cruise ships.”
Lawyers for Ocean Properties, which operates restaurants, hotels and the tender service which ferries the passengers to its dock, said at a public hearing two weeks ago that the petition was unconstitutional, prompting the council to delay what should have been an automatic placement of the petition on the ballot.
Member Matt Hochman, the primary force to delay the vote, said Tuesday, “A lot of people assumed that because it did not immediately go on the warrant that there was some orchestrated effort to keep it off the warrant. We need to make sure that what we're putting on the warrant that we have a at least an inkling that it is going to be legal and is going to be upheld. So that is why we chose to wait till tonight to consult with with the town's attorney.”
Member Gary Friedmann said, “I've always believed that this is this should have been forwarded directly to the voters.
“It was a year and a half ago that I made a motion to do a cruise ship survey and then to put a question to the voters about reducing cruise ship visitation. This may not be a perfect initiative. The council's duty is just to put it on the ballot and then to make sure that we have vigorous and thorough and respectful debate about the best way to reduce cruise ship visitation.
“There's no question in my mind that most people in Bar Harbor want to see a reduction in cruise ship passengers and it's now up to the voters to weigh whether this initiative is the best way to do that or whether through negotiations that the town manager is leading with the support of council whether that is a better way to do it.”
Sutherland asked the council to approve his plan which is likely to happen on Aug. 16. His plan appeared to include non ship days in September and October, although it wasn’t clear from his slides how many days were agreed upon.
He is planning to post his plan (below) on the town’s website this morning.
this is confusing;
Does the ballot vote in the fall determine the number
or the township managers deal?
Did they vote on his proposal?
thanks for reporting this
Finally the citizens will have a voice !