The Bar Harbor cruise debate was back in federal court today. Attorneys for local businesses, the town and ordinance author Charles Sidman made their arguments to the First Circuit Court of Appeals on the controversial 1,000-person disembarkation limit for cruise ship visitors.
Jonathan Hunter, attorney for the town of Bar Harbor, said the town has the right to regulate cruise ship traffic.
"Our constitution allows different communities to live with different standards," he said. "Appellants in this case were all local businesses who benefit from cruise traffic, (and) asked this court to deny Bar Harbor that constitutional prerogative, to preserve their own narrow interests."
But the panel of three judges pushed back, noting the possible impacts on the cruise industry if other parts of the country impose similar restrictions.
The local businesses that originally filed the lawsuit over the ordinance counter that it is unconstitutional and interferes with interstate commerce.
Jonathan Benner is attorney for the Penobscot Bay and River Pilots Association, one of the parties that filed the lawsuit. He argued the town isn't regulating the impacts of tourism, because cruise ships make up only a portion of visitors.
"We have testimony in the record that there is competition between the cruise vessels and other forms of leisure travel providers for access to the town of Bar Harbor," he said. "Clearly, what the town has done is put a big thumb on the scale."
But the panel of judges questioned what other recourse the town has to control tourism- comparing local and national parks around the country that are only open for certain hours and regulate some activities.
