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A new ordinance limiting the number of passengers who can disembark at Bar Harbor to 1,000 each day was passed early last month in response to complaints that more than 150 cruise ships overwhelmed the picturesque port during the cruise season. Enforced.
Local voters approved the cap with a vote of 1,780 to 1,273 last fall, despite the efforts of the town’s Planning Commission and Warrants Commission, prompting local voters to reject it.
Charles Seidman, a career biomedical researcher, spearheaded the efforts behind the citizens’ petition because the cruise ship industry is “doing great damage” to Bar Harbor.
“They have completely inappropriate monopolies granted by the town, and they want to protect them,” Sidman told me. companies are suffering.It’s like Times Square here on a busy cruise ship day.”
A group of local businesses are now suing.
Officials are pondering what this new economic situation will look like. Smaller ships carrying less than 1,000 guests account for only 5% of the annual schedule.
And residents are starting to think about what life will be like later this year when large ships will continue to sail across the Atlantic Ocean instead of docking in Bar Harbor.
Christie Bond, owner of Fishmain Restaurant Group and president of the Association for Preserving and Protecting Local Livelihoods, said:
“Our town’s economy is pumped with $20 million to $30 million from these people coming to our town,” she said. “They come in at eight in the morning and leave at five in the evening. I don’t understand how that makes sense for anyone.”
So does Kevin DesVeaux, owner of West Street Café. Here, clam chowder is his $7 a bowl and hamburgers are $13, and a few words of concern from the person in charge of balancing the books behind the counter.
DesVeaux recently said, “I’m afraid if the cruise ships don’t come back, there’s no way to make a profit.” In August alone, there are many day trippers and all hotels are fully booked.”
He paused and added: Fall cruise ships allow you to extend your season and increase your profits. ”
We spoke the other day at the front table of his restaurant overlooking the ship’s landing.
“I don’t like the way people portray people on cruise ships as bad guys,” he said. “It’s like they came out of a Stephen King novel or something. Most of these people who come here are seasoned travelers. They eat well. They spend well. They come and go quickly.” To do.
“As a restaurant business, we can’t ask for more customers. You can move people. They are task driven.”
And soon, those who can travel will have more space to enjoy the scenery and hike the trails along Frenchman Bay.
Kevin Sutherland, town manager of Bar Harbor, said local dissatisfaction with crowds was the main driving force behind the new ordinance, which went into effect on December 8.
“What was Yogi Berra’s statement?” Sutherland asked when I stopped by for a visit the other day. “There are too many people here. Nobody goes anymore?” ”
“It’s been a long and interesting municipal journey,” he said.
“Over the years, seeing cruise ship visits from the early 2000s, this community accepted and really went out and asked cruise ships to start their tours in the Northeast,” Sutherland said. said.
But over time, some residents say it all became overwhelming.
“It’s getting harder to get to the grocery store,” Sutherland said, voicing his dissenting opinion. “It’s hard to get to the post office. If you need something away from the main street or want to go out to dinner with your family, you may be waiting in line. A town of 5,000 people. If you live in
And many things are at stake. The town receives a passenger fee. If a 2,000-passenger boat shows up, the town charges about $5 per lower bunk capacity of the boat.
“So the town gets $10,000 on that boat,” he said, noting that it’s worth $1 million a year.
“The million dollars will have a big impact on our ability to hire harbor masters and their staff,” Sutherland said. Take on the job of, which takes care of some of our downtown aesthetics.
To say it was the talk of the town would be an understatement, he said.
“This is the only one I’ve dealt with for almost a year,” Sutherland told me. “I’ve done a lot for this town. , has done a lot to address the needs of the town, but this has reached the level of conversation and concern more than any other item.”
Christy Bond listened to those conversations and considered their concerns.
“Business is also pouring into these places, post offices, grocery stores, drug stores,” she said. We get business from, no matter how they come by car or bus.
“But what we know from the past is that shoulder season is the hardest time to attract guests. And then the cruise ships started coming here.”
All of which are now the subject of local agendas, dinner table conversations, and pressing debates.
“I’m not an infinite person,” West Street Café’s Kevin DesVeaux told me. “I don’t think he can have three cruise ships in port. It doesn’t work. I’m asking for a reasonable limit. Two she can have a 5,000-seat cruise ship in port.” Things don’t go well for everyone.
“But the numbers the cruise ship commission came up with were working well before this petition was filed. And the town was handling it well.”
But now the new rules are in the books.
People behind the counter and at local businesses’ cashiers say the future of Bar Harbor’s economy is in jeopardy.
Thomas Farragher is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at his thomas.farragher@globe.com.
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