This is a developing story.
Another effort to limit cruise tourism in Juneau with a voter initiative — this time capping total annual passengers at 1.5 million, and allowing ships with capacity for 250 or more passengers only between May and September — was filed with the municipal clerk’s office on Monday.
The initiative, similar to one Sitka is scheduled to vote on in a special election May 28, is by some of the same proponents of a “Ship-Free Saturday” ballot measure in Juneau last year that failed by a 61%-39% vote. The one filed Monday, titled “Cruise Ship Limits,” is under legal review and the clerk’s office has until April 28 to certify or deny the petition, according to the City and Borough of Juneau’s website.
Karla Hart, who drafted the Juneau petition and was a leader of last year’s measure, said Monday the new effort is largely to establish into law daily visitor limits the industry has voluntarily agreed to, and ensure the length and size of the cruise season doesn’t continue its long upward trend.
“We’re just asking for a limit that might allow us, let the town, catch up with the cruise ship passenger numbers and to level off, and not have all the stress and the conflict that we have,” she said.
Juneau set records for cruise passengers the past two years with 1.64 million in 2023 and 1.68 million in 2024, and a comparable number had been predicted this year before President Donald Trump imposed a number of policies that now have tourism and business officials significantly downgrading their economic forecasts.
A voluntary five-ship limit took effect last year and a similar agreement limiting daily passengers to 16,000 — and 12,000 on Saturdays — is set to also take effect next year.
If the petition is approved, supporters would have 30 days to get signatures from at least 2,720 registered voters — equal to at least 25% of the total cast in the most recent municipal election last October.
Banning larger ships before May and after September was based on conversations with tour operators and merchants who said it is difficult to staff and profitably operate during the shoulder season when vessels arrive sporadically and much less frequently, Hart said.
The specific provisions of “Cruise Ship Limits” impose:
• A daily limit of five large cruise ships (meaning those carrying more than 950 passengers).
• A daily limit of 16,000 lower-berth passengers Sundays through Fridays and 12,000 passengers on Saturdays.
• No ships with 250 or more passengers before May 1 or after Sept. 30.
• An annual limit of 1.5 million lower-berth passengers during the calendar year.
The initiative also would require a Juneau port call permit for ships of 250 passengers or more than is publicly posted at the city’s website. Penalties for violations of the initiative would include potential cancellations of future port calls by the company from public dock space and fines of up to $1,000 per gross ton per unpermitted port call.
The initiative in Sitka would set an annual cap of 300,000 cruise passengers, a daily cap of 4,500 passengers, and limit port calls to six days a week between May 1 and Sept. 30. A press release opposing that measure was issued last week by Thompson and Co. Public Relations, the same public relations company hired by Protect Juneau’s Future for its opposition to last year’s Ship-Free Saturday initiative.
“Cruise tourism keeps our community running — funding schools, supporting local jobs and keeping businesses open,” Chris McGraw, chair of Safeguard Sitka’s Future, said in the release issued this month. “If this passes, we’re looking at the reality of fewer jobs, higher taxes and a struggling local economy. We can’t afford to let that happen.”
Thompson PR did not immediately reply to a request by the Empire on Monday for comment about the new Juneau initiative.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
