Enough signatures have been gathered to put a cruise limit ballot out to Sitka voters in a special election this spring.
If approved by the voters, the ordinance would set an annual cap of 300,000 cruise passengers, a daily cap of 4,500 passengers, and limit port calls to six days a week. It would also require permits for cruise ships and require the city to administer permits and fine cruise ships for violating the new rules.
Municipal Clerk Sara Peterson said her office certified the petition on Thursday afternoon. The city’s charter says that if enough signatures are gathered, a special election must be called within 40 to 90 days.
“So the 40- to 90-day clock starts as of yesterday,” she said. “In order to have that special election according to the charter, 613 valid signatures were required, and they did get more than 613.”
The special election will be similar to a typical municipal election, with both precincts voting at Harrigan Centennial Hall and the same early and absentee voting options available.
Peterson has tentatively set the date for the election for Friday, May 30, pending assembly approval. She said she chose that date because it works for code, and she worked with building staff to find a day when Harrigan Centennial Hall would be less busy. The building also serves as the delivery point for cruise ship passengers in the summer months.
“Both of our voting precincts are at Harrigan Centennial Hall, and in looking at all of this, I was looking at voter accessibility — where our voters are used to voting in Sitka,” she said. “Obviously, for the regular election each year, I’m reserving those rooms and everything. As soon as we’ve certified the October election, I’m already planning for the next one. So obviously, with this, we didn’t have any rooms reserved at Harrigan, and so I worked with staff there, we determined some dates that might work, and ultimately, the driving force behind choosing May 30 was to ensure that we could have the greatest voter accessibility at Harrigan Centennial Hall.”
In a press release Friday, the petition organizers said they were unclear whether the May 30 date aligned with charter requirements and said they were “looking to clarify” the city’s interpretation of code.
The initiative to limit cruise tourism was the fourth proposed by a local advocacy group, Small Town SOUL, in December. The first three failed to make it through the city’s legal review process. Sitka has seen record numbers of cruise passengers over the last three years. With the unprecedented growth have come community frustrations over congestion, safety, and environmental impact.
The industry growth also brought an economic boom – new businesses have cropped up in response to the growth, and the city’s sales tax revenue is up. In response to the initiative, a pro-tourism group, Safeguard Sitka’s Future, formed, ran a “Decline to Sign” campaign, and hosted information sessions throughout the signature-gathering process.
Until now, those groups have been advocating without the requirement to register with the state. Now that the election is certified, any advocacy group must register with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.
The assembly will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, March 18 to consider approving the ballot ordinance, which will require two readings.
