Cruise ship limits are back on the ballot in Bar Harbor, Maine. Two years ago, the town’s residents voted to limit the number of ship passengers who could come ashore.
A majority voted to cap it at 1,000 passengers a day.
Bar Harbor ship limit is back on the ballot
Now, Bar Harbor is set to vote again on the issue in November. This time, a Yes vote could reverse the 2022 ordinance. Bar Harbor Town Council has proposed a new system that it thinks would better balance the needs of residents and cruise tourism-reliant businesses.
A new licensing system proposal would impose a daily cruise ship passenger cap of 3,200 but also require monthly and seasonal limits. For example, during the busy May-August cruise season, there would be a monthly limit of 20,000. It would also call for some days to be designated ship-free.
Read: Bar Harbor Passenger Limit Partially Waived for 2024 Cruise Season
“Part of this is about having the tools that we need to really be able to manage visitation into the future,” said town council Chair, Valerie Peacock. “Our approach has a daily passenger cap of 3,200 but it also includes monthly caps and annual and seasonal caps as well and contracted days off.”
“It does give the town total control over how much visitation and how many ships and how many passengers come in the future, but the town council and the people have to work together to do that,” Peacock added.
Mixed reactions to new cruise ship limit proposal
The new ballot question is garnering mixed views among residents. Charles Sidman, who was instrumental in getting the original cruise ship passenger cap on the ballot in 2022, says the new option would potentially diminish residents’ power.
“The town is simply overtaken with cruise ship visitors, and they’re visitors like anybody else, but it’s simply too many people in too short a time,” Sidman said.
Town officials say the current system is too rigid to enforce effectively, leading to many legal challenges.
