BAR HARBOR — Kevin DesVeaux, a local restaurant owner, is working to get 100 Bar Harbor registered voters to sign a recount request form on Wednesday, so that he can turn it in by 4 p.m.
The recount would be for Question 4, which would have relaxed the town’s current cruise ship restrictions and was narrowly rejected by voters at the Nov. 5 election and town meeting. The form for a recount was taken out by DesVeaux yesterday.
DesVeaux is asking that Bar Harbor voters who would like to sign the recount request stop by the West Street Cafe.
“The vote on Question 4, the Chapter 50 cruise ship proposal, was a virtual tie and reflected strong citizen interest in this important issue,” DesVeaux wrote. “With the vote so close, we will be filing a request for a recount of the vote on Question 4. This request is intended to determine that the voter intent for every ballot is considered and that a manual review of every ballot is undertaken.”
Bar Harbor voters upheld the current 1,000-per-day disembarkation 1,776 to 1,713 at the Nov. 5 election.
Article Four on the town’s warrant had asked if voters would like to repeal the current set of cruise ship disembarkation rules. That repeal would have allowed the town council to put in place a new set of rules, with fewer disembarkations than in the recent past, but more than the current rules.
In 2022, voters approved the 1,000-a-day cruise ship disembarkation limit. After the approval, the changes were subject to a federal lawsuit, an ongoing federal appeal of the decision of that case, and then lawsuits over the enforcement.
“We know how important it is to find the right solution,” DesVeaux said. “Once we have collected enough signatures, we will file this request with the town clerk.”
The plan proposed by the town council if the current 1,000-daily cap had been repealed by voters would have created a 3,200-daily cap (based on lower berth capacity), and monthly caps of 55,000 in September and October, as well as 20,000 monthly caps from May through August. It also created 10 cruise-ship-free days in September and October, and the town council has said it anticipated even more cruise-ship-free days each month in the spring and summer season. That plan had been agreed to by the tendering facility as well as the cruise lines.
The town council plan involved contracts already agreed to by cruise lines and the tendering facility. The town’s planning board had recommended its passage, 4-2. The warrant committee had recommended it, 11-2. DesVeaux is an elected member of the warrant committee.
This story was originally published by The Bar Harbor Story. To receive regular coverage from the Bar Harbor Story, sign up for a free subscription here.
Disclosure: Shaun Farrar of The Bar Harbor Story is a member of the town’s warrant committee, which is mentioned in the last paragraph of this article.
