BAR HARBOR — The town has issued a notice of violation to the Golden Anchor, LC, owners of 55 West St. — where the Harborside Hotel, Spa and Marina is located — for allegedly violating the town’s new cruise ship disembarkation ordinance, which went into effect July 18, and was approved by voters after a citizen initiative back in November 2022.
The ordinance limits disembarkations to 1,000 a day without fines.
According to the notice of violation, which was issued Aug. 5, the disembarkation facility must obtain a permit from Code Enforcement Officer Angela Chamberlain prior to receiving “persons” who are disembarking the cruise ship. The ordinance, the violation says, defines persons as passengers, not personnel.
On July 25, the violation reads, “it was observed that individuals meeting the definition of ‘person’” disembarked the cruise ship to the property.
The notice orders that within 30 days of receiving the letter, the business must “submit an application to allow for disembarkation of individuals meeting the definition of person under the CSD ordinance.”
If the business does not do so within 30 days, there will be “further enforcement action.” That action was not specified.
“As we have outlined several times in writing to the town,” said Eben Salvatore, director of operations for Bar Harbor Resorts (which Harborside Hotel is part of), “we will not accept this new ordinance, and any permits issued thereunder, as a replacement for our underlying permits that have been in place for years. We have been issued numerous permits and approvals by the [U.S] Coast Guard, the code enforcement officer, the Planning Board, and the Town Council (including a Weirs and Wharves Act Permit) to disembark cruise ship passengers at our facilities.”
Also this week, the lead petitioner of the citizen petition for cruise ship limits, Charles Sidman, set forth a list of interrogatory statements — basically questions — via his court case against the town of Bar Harbor over the Town Council’s March statement about the new ordinance’s enforcement. That statement came after the federal case decision by Judge Lance Walker and prior to the finalized rulemaking about this year’s cruise ship season.
Most of the questions involved communication and interaction between council members and staff after the Walker decision and prior to the March 6 statement. It also asks the “basis for the assertion” in the statement that “the council will honor reservations made before the town voted.”
In another filing, Sidman asked for documentation about the March 6 press statement.
On Aug. 1, Sidman asked Harbormaster Chris Whaff via a request for information about the CSD’s implementation and enforcement. He asked for all permit requests and the process for asking for permits that have been received and granted. Sidman alleges that only one ship that visited between July 18 and July 31 was approved prior to March 17, 2022. The council has stated that Nov. 8 is the date of the cutoff. Sidman says this is unlawful.
Using Maine’s Freedom of Access Act, Sidman is asking for “all public records and communications” that involve requests for disembarkation permits, the counted/reported numbers of disembarkations from July 18 to when the request is fulfilled, any violations of the ordinance, and all public records and communications of any enforcement actions by town employees.
At its meeting on Tuesday night, the Town Council was set to publicly unveil Chapter 50, which is the second potential track for the town’s cruise ship disembarkation rules.
Since this spring, the town has been on a “dual track” approach, enacting and creating the rules to enforce those 2022 changes, but also creating a second option, which was unveiled in the Town Council packet on Saturday, Aug. 3, and will be presented at the meeting.
The multi-page ordinance is summarized in the packet by an Aug. 2 memo from Town Manager James Smith, which said that the potential new policy would establish cruise-ship-free days, daily disembarkation caps, monthly maximums, annual disembarkation limits, regulatory control and enforcement through licenses and contracts, and reduce future litigation risk.
Smith also added that the framework is “contingent upon a voter decision this November” and there will be “voter and resident input into future adjustments.”
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.
BDN writer Charles Eichacker contributed reporting.
