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On June 18, a group of Sitka residents submitted a ballot measure to city officials regarding cruise ship restrictions for legal review.
Two days later in Juneau, another Alaska group submitted the final signatures needed to place different restrictions on local ballots this fall.
Up to 1.6 million cruise ship tourists are expected to visit Southeast Alaska this year, prompting a growing number of local residents to push for stricter restrictions on the cruise industry.
This comes as Juneau prepares to become the first Alaska state to impose looser voluntary restrictions.
This is the third time local residents have tried to restrict voting in Sitka, with the previous two attempts rejected by city attorneys.
After those failures, organizers formed a nonprofit, raised funds, hired their own lawyers and are trying again with a new draft bill.
Claudia Recces, president of a new nonprofit called Small Town Soul, thinks Sitka residents are tired of overcrowding.
“I’m not normally an agitator. I’m a retired social worker,” she said.
On the busiest day this year, as many as 9,300 cruise ship passengers visited Sitka, outnumbering the town’s population of about 8,400 — more than half the population in any 75-day period.
Sitka has only 14 miles of paved roads, and traffic congestion from tour boats and buses has become unmanageable, Recches said. Lincoln Street in the heart of downtown sometimes gets closed because it becomes too crowded.
Tour buses run the length of the town’s road network, shuttling visitors between the cruise ship dock and Bear Fort, where the animals are kept.
She said she and her husband often take short trips along the coast in a small boat, and even there they are woken by the thuds of tourist boats passing by.
“I think there are a few too many wildlife viewing and fishing charter tours,” she says.
The newly drafted Sitka proposal would limit cruise ship passenger numbers to 300,000 per year, or 4,500 per day. Sitka is expected to receive about 600,000 cruise tourists this year.
Small ships carrying fewer than 250 passengers would not be included in the restrictions, which would protect locally owned companies such as Sitka-based Alaskan Dream Cruises.
Large ships will not be allowed in the port before May 1 or after September 30, and the city council may shorten that period.
“Some businesses are nervous about cruise ships leaving in April,” Recches said, because high school and college students, who make up many of the seasonal workers, are not yet able to work.
Sitka City Council said city officials are reviewing the legality of the proposed measure and are expected to respond by July 2. If the measure passes legally, supporters would need to gather 334 signatures to place it on the local ballot in October. To call for a special election, 556 signatures would be needed.
In Juneau, a proposed ballot measure would create a “ship-free Saturday,” prohibiting large ships from calling on that day.
Carla Hart, one of the bill’s sponsors, said a preliminary vetting showed supporters needed 290 more signatures on their petition, so on Thursday she drove to City Hall to deliver 427 more signatures.
If the signatures are certified, the proposal will be placed on the Juneau City Council ballot on October 1st.
“It’s OK,” Hart said.
Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization covering Alaska state government.
