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Cruise ships back on the ballot for Bar Harbor voters this November

A tender boat approaches alongside the Nieuw Statendum, a 2,666-passenger cruise ship, which anchored in Frenchman's Bay off Bar Harbor.
Nicole Ogrysko
/
Maine Public
A tender boat approaches alongside the Nieuw Statendum, a 2,666-passenger cruise ship, which anchored in Frenchman's Bay off Bar Harbor.

Cruise ships will be on the ballot once again in Bar Harbor this November.

The town council voted 6-1 to approve an ordinance that sets a new daily limit sets a new daily limit of 3,200 ship passengers a day. The town would also set a monthly cap that varies by season.

But it won't go into effect unless Bar Harbor residents vote to repeal the original 1,000-passenger limit in November.

Shawn Porter owns a gift shop in Bar Harbor and said she views the new ordinance as a compromise.

"Maybe we're not at the optimal number for either side, but it's a number that I can rely on to properly buy inventory, hire staff and make business plans year after year," Porter said at a public hearing last week.

But others, including Bar Harbor Jackie Levesque, said they've already made their voices clear, when a majority voted for a 1,000-passenger limit two years ago.

"I knew exactly what I was voting for," she said. "I voted for no big ships in our harbor to pollute the air and our harbor, and to further clog our downtown with people."

Other residents argued that the 3,200 daily cap on cruise ship passengers was too high.

The new measure would allow the town to negotiate visits directly with cruise lines, rather than having to count each cruise ship passenger entering town.