Town Hopes for Millions in Fines From Golden Anchor
The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by Window Panes Home and Garden.
BAR HARBOR—The town of Bar Harbor hopes to receive millions in fines from the Golden Anchor, alleging that the business is operating an unlicensed cruise ship disembarkation facility.
“Having completed the local administrative appeal of the code enforcement officer’s notice of violation, this is the next step in recovering fines and asking the court to order the pier owner to follow the law concerning cruise ship disembarkation,” the town wrote in a press release on Friday.
The case is expected to be heard April 7 at 1:30 p.m. in Ellsworth District Court.
Golden Anchor LC owns Bar Harbor property that has hosted cruise ship disembarkation at its West Street pier (aka Harborside pier aka Golden Anchor pier).
According to legal documents previously submitted by the Golden Anchor, the site has been used since 1998 to disembark thousands of cruise ship passengers. The company has owned it since 2000.
Multiple court cases have derived from daily cruise ship disembarkation limits of 1,000 or less, which was voted in by residents in 2022 and narrowly upheld on the November 2024 ballot and the town’s disembarkation ordinance and processes meant to enforce those limits.
The Golden Anchor has already filed against the town in Maine’s Business and Consumer Court about the August 5 notice of violation it issued and is appealing the town’s appeals board decision upholding that notice.
The March 10 filing in Maine District Court states that the business disembarked passengers to its West Street location 47 times without a permit for each day, each day holds a maximum penalty of $5,000 for a total of $235,000 as well as the $100 penalty for each unauthorized disembarkation on each day, an estimated total of 23,016 people, for a total of $2,301,600. It requests that the business stop disembarking passengers until it has a permit.
The complaint also alleges that the Golden Anchor allowed 12,742 passengers, total, off cruise ships and onto its property on six different days for a sum of $1,274,200 at $100 per passenger. Each day has a maximum penalty of $5,000 (totaling $30,000). It also requests a reimbursement of attorneys’ fees.
The press release sent out by the town on Friday states, “The Town of Bar Harbor continues to navigate multiple lawsuits rooted in competing grievances over cruise ship management, while moving forward to responsibly implement and enforce the ordinance and rules concerning cruise ship disembarkation, and serve the best interest of the entire community.”
The town also released two court filings, Friday. One is opposing Charles Sidman’s motion to specify complaints as moot in a February 24 filing concerning the board of appeals’ decisions related to the Golden Anchor notice of violation and also dismiss one of the counts in the filings. The other released brief “opposes plaintiff Golden Anchor L.C.’s motion to specify future course of proceedings, and moves to dismiss Counts II-XIII of Golden Anchor’s complaint.”
RECENT LINKS:
Town's opposition to motion to specify and motion to dismiss Counts II-XIII filed February 24, 2025
Town's opposition to motion to specify and motion to dismiss Count II filed February 24, 2025
Citation and complaint pursuant to Rule 80K filed March 10, 2025
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Interesting to know Golden Anchor's dollar amount cost benefit analysis. Open the books. All sets.
And how much Golden Anchor specifically (separate from rotten APPL) has cost the town in legal fees.
Whew. What bad neighbors.
*Golden* Anchor for them, not for our community.
Great news! As my relatives in Scotland might say, "It couldna have happened to a more deserving company!" Perhaps the Golden Anchor may now have to be painted red?