Bar Harbor Town Council Issues Statement Regarding Cruise Ships

The Bar Harbor Town Council issued the following statement regarding cruise ships after their executive session meeting on Tuesday, May 19th. The executive session was held regarding the  recent decision by the US District Court related to cruise ship visitation:

The Town Council wants to be clear that they will not allow a return to the unsustainable levels of cruise ship visitations of past years. Nothing about the District Court’s decision to reverse its conclusion on one narrow part of the legal challenges to the cruise ship ordinance passed in 2022 changes this.

The Council must carefully consider the impact of this decision on related litigation as well as on the taxpayers. We appreciate the public’s patience and will be as transparent as we can.

This decision, even as revised, still clearly rejects the Plaintiffs’ position that the Town cannot regulate cruise ship disembarkations. It is a misreading of this decision to think the Town must return to prior cruise ship levels. Judge Walker affirmed that it is constitutional for the Town to regulate this, so long as it accounts for the fluctuation in intensity between the shoulder and summer seasons.

The decision affirms our long-held concern that the initiative process, and the legislative approach enacted by initiative in 2022, is too blunt a tool to effectively manage tourism in Bar Harbor.

Holding a clear mandate from the Bar Harbor voters to achieve an overall reduction in cruise ship visitations, the Town Council will immediately begin work on an approach to managing tourism from cruise ships. Substantial progress towards this goal has already been made with the work from the Sustainable Tourism Task Force. Building on that good work, we are confident we can arrive at a data-backed solution that is consistent with Judge Walker’s guidance and will welcome public input throughout that process.

In the meantime, the Town will not accept new advance cruise ship reservations until a regulatory tool to manage disembarkations is enacted and the ongoing litigation is resolved. The cruise ship ordinance, as well as Chapter 52, remains good law, except that the 1,000-passenger cap can only be enforced in July and August.

Get our free mobile app