Advocates for limiting cruise visitation have submitted a fourth petition in less than two years to get a cruise limit question before Sitka voters this winter.
The new initiative is similar to the third cruise cap initiative that was filed over the summer and denied by the city. If approved by the voters, it would establish an annual limit of 300,000 passengers and a daily cap of 4500 passengers, and would limit the cruise season from May to September. It would enforce these limits by requiring ships to secure an annual permit from the city.
Unlike previous initiatives to limit cruise traffic, it would not include cruise ship crew members in the caps. And it would not require port facilities to count and report the number of passengers and crew disembarking or the bus trips shuttling passengers six miles from the privately owned dock to downtown Sitka.
Since 2021, Sitka has experienced a rapid increase in cruise tourism, with just under 600,000 visitors in 2024, more than double pre-pandemic levels. In response the Sitka Assembly created a tourism task force to guide the city’s response to the unprecedented growth, and recently established a permanent commission to address. Last month, the assembly narrowly approved an agreement with the local cruise dock company which established quiet days and a mutually agreed upon daily ceiling of 7000 passengers.
But Sitkans from the advocacy group Small Town SOUL still want voters to have a say in how many cruise tourists visit the community. The previous three initiatives proposed by the group to limit cruise traffic were denied by the city, with the city’s attorneys arguing that the ballot measures were legally unenforceable.
In a letter included with the initiative, SOUL president Klaudia Leccese wrote, “We are aware that citizens have a constitutional right to file and bring a citizen initiative to the vote of the people. We have carefully perused previous denials of our past petitions and with legal guidance, strongly believe we have cured all previous legal concerns.”
In a statement to KCAW, Sitka Dock Company owner Chris McGraw said he strongly opposes the ordinance to cut cruise tourism in half, noting the MOU he’d recently signed with the city as “a step to responsibily manage visitation and minimize impacts in response to a long public process.”
“Rather than imposing harmful restrictions on private businesses, we should continue working together on balanced solutions that allow for Sitka to remain a great place to live and work,” McGraw wrote.
Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson confirmed that her office received the petition on November 29. The city has until December 13 to issue a response either accepting or rejecting the petition. If it’s accepted, the sponsors have three months to collect enough signatures to put the question before Sitka voters in a special election.
View the proposed initiative here or a list of frequently asked questions
