I and a handful of others have been writing opinion pieces to the Empire, testifying to the Juneau Assembly, gathering signatures on petitions, and trying to put a stop to the explosive growth of the foreign-flagged, non-U.S. tax-paying Panamax cruise ships (965 feet in length to 1,200 feet in length) for years with little more than yawns from our local government. But there may be hope. From recent conversations I’ve had, I believe we may have finally reached a tipping point. More Juneau residents are beginning to see the light — or hear the noise, experience heavy traffic, can’t get on a bus, must spend hours in the emergency room, or have just had it with the thousands of cruise ship tourists who are destroying our quality of life.
We’re told we need the revenue brought by these ships and the nearly 2 million passengers they will bring this year. Yes — we need a diversified economy, but are the cruise ship dollars making our economic lives better? Like so many other property owners, I received notice of an over $800 increase in my annual property taxes due to a $91,400 increase in the assessed value of my 119-year-old downtown home (and $150,000 of the taxable value is exempt because of the senior property tax exemption!). My assessment went up over 10% last year and over 20% this year. Why this huge increase when we have a multi-billion-dollar industry tied up to our docks and anchored in our harbor? Why does the city need a huge influx of cash from those of us who actually live here when we have an industry that has raked in billions in profits by selling Southeast Alaska? If cruise corporations are so good for our economy, why are we paying so much more to live here? And why is the Assembly catering to them rather than to us?
I also reflect on the absurdity of the U.S. Forest Service catering to corporations that pay nothing in U.S. taxes. Cruise ships spew tons of heavy diesel smoke and particulates into our atmosphere. Millions of U.S. tax dollars — our tax dollars — are being spent to build new facilities for the very corporations whose carbon emissions are causing our planet to warm and our glaciers to recede at an alarming rate. Will the tourists who fill the diesel-belching buses (that are dumped here because other cities have emissions testing) even be able to see our glacier in ten years?
For years my focus has been the degradation of my residentially zoned, downtown Basin Road neighborhood. All day, every day, the cars, tour buses and taxis, Jeeps, and vans, and chattering hordes of cruise ship pedestrians begin streaming by my house as early as 7:30 a.m. I used to welcome the walkers, but now they come by the dozens. The vehicular traffic roars around blind corners, ignorant and uncaring of the 10 mph speed limits on Basin Road.
There have been reasonable solutions suggested by residents over the years including the one I like best — zoning. We zone for business and industrial uses. Why not designate certain areas of town as tourism-free zones?
A friend who keeps tabs on the cruise lines better than I do reports that the Norwegian Cruise Lines/Huna Totem dock permit was approved by the Planning Commission on July 8. She said that notice was buried in the Community Development home page even though the Assembly pledged to keep the public informed. Further consideration of the lease of CBJ land for the project is on their Aug. 8 agenda. Why do we not trust our local government?
We must limit Panamax ships to two a day (five is way too many), zone residential areas of town as off-limits to cruise ship tourism and start catering to residents instead of foreign-flagged, non-U.S. tax-paying corporate polluters.
If residents want change the only way is to demand the Assembly and city manager stop the growth, say no to another dock, and admit that we have a problem. Email boroughassembly@juneau.gov to reach the Assembly and city manager, and tell them to stop the madness.
• Kimberly Metcalfe is a lifelong Juneau resident who has advocated for strict controls on cruise ship traffic since the late 1990s.
