Updated: Council Will Hold Special Meeting Wednesday About Cruise Ship Limits Next Steps
Pilots Association deciding whether or not to join APPLL in appeal
BAR HARBOR—Last night at the end of its regular meeting, the Bar Harbor Town Council met with the town attorney in executive session to discuss its legal rights and duties after Judge Lance Walker ruled for the town in a federal case about cruise ship disembarkation limits. The rules, passed by voters in November 2022, limit the amount of disembarkations to 1,000 each day before fines are imposed. Bar Harbor’s voters passed the restrictions 1,780 to 1,273.
According to a release posted by the town at 6 a.m., March 5, “These are complex issues that need to be promptly and thoroughly addressed. As such, the Council has requested the town manager to draft a statement outlining the town’s next steps. Council will meet and vote on this matter at a special Council meeting to be held on Wednesday March 6, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. in Suite 321.”
Judge Walker’s decision arrived February 29 and was lauded by supporters of the ordinance change.
Penobscot Bay Pilot’s Association, one of the plaintiffs in the law suit released a statement early March 5, saying it was disappointed in the findings and is contemplating an appeal. If the association does appeal, it will join the original complainants.
The Association to Protect and Preserve Local Livelihoods (APPLL) said Saturday that it will appeal Judge Lance Walker’s ruling after learning he ruled in favor of the Town of Bar Harbor. It had contended that the new rules that were placed within the town’s land use ordinance were unconstitutional. The town and defender intervenor Charles Sidman, the lead petitioner that brought the restrictions before the voters disagreed, stating that it was within the town’s “Home Rule” rights to do so.
In its statement Saturday, APPLL said,
"The Bar Harbor ordinance was designed to bar a whole category of the transportation sector—traditional cruise ships—from coming to Bar Harbor. Plaintiffs contend, and continue to contend, that this sweeping ban violates the U.S. Constitution. Plaintiffs disagree that Bar Harbor’s exercise of this authority is only a matter of ‘home rule’ under Maine law.
"Accordingly, Plaintiffs will appeal Judge Walker’s decision to the US First Circuit Court of Appeals.
“'The ordinance reaches well beyond the town limits of Bar Harbor to effectively prohibit these cruise ships from coming to Bar Harbor at all. We remain confident that the exercise of this kind of wide-ranging power—severely limiting the numbers of persons who can disembark from a cruise ship in a single day—by local governments is limited by constitutional restraints,' Timothy Woodcock, Eaton Peabody attorney for APPLL said.
The pilots association said on Wednesday morning,
“The members of the Penobscot Bay and River Pilots Association are disappointed in the Court’s decision. The ruling will accelerate the alarming trend of coastal communities restricting maritime access to Maine destinations exclusively to those with the financial means to afford high-end “boutique” cruise ships, while shunning middle-class tourists who travel on more affordably-priced vessels. In a state which bills itself as “Vacationland,” individual port town decisions to wall themselves off from the interstate and foreign commerce of the United States by virtue of how visitors choose to travel is hardly encouraging to inclusive tourism. We are examining the decision closely and intend to make a prompt decision about appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit following consultation with counsel and other affected parties.”
That petition restricted cruise ship passengers coming ashore each day to no more than 1,000 without fines. Some businesses involved with the cruise ship industry and the Penobscot Bay Pilot’s Association objected to the decision and brought the case to federal court in December 2022. It went to trial in July 2023. BH Piers and Golden Anchor, Bar Harbor Whale Watch; and the Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods, a nonprofit of Bar Harbor business owners were a part of the suit.
Federal Judge Lance Walker wrote in the February 29 ruling,
“Based on my consideration of the evidentiary record, the arguments of counsel, and the law, judgment will enter in favor of the Defendant Town of Bar Harbor on every count but one, and even as to that one count, judgment will enter partially for the Town, as only limited declaratory relief is awarded in recognition of a partial preemption problem, without affording Plaintiffs and Plaintiff-Intervenor the relief they are seeking.”
UPDATES:
We have included an image of the Council’s special meeting agenda now that it has been released.
Charles Sidman has directed us to an op-ed in the Mount Desert Islander as his statement. We appreciate that. We also appreciate Faith DeAmbrose, Islander editor, for her permission to use it. The direct link is here.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
We have reached out to the town for statements about the potential appeal and had not received any as of press time or as of Monday.
For more information, you can visit the APPLL website at www.appll.me.
To read Walker’s decision in full
