Just days after the First Circuit allowed for Bar Harbor’s daily 1,000 passenger limit on cruise ships to remain in effect amidst ongoing litigation, a group of local businesses have now asked the Maine District Court to issue an injunction preventing the town from enforcing this regulation.
Filed Thursday, the request seeks to have the court prevent Bar Harbor from enforcing the ordinance or using it as the basis to deny cruise ship reservations while the nearly two year legal battle continues to unfold.
In November of 2022, Bar Harbor voters approved — with 58 percent support — a new law limiting the number of cruise ship passengers allowed to disembark into the town on any given day to 1,000.
About a month later, a group of businesses filed a complaint against the town, alleging that the ordinance was in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, suggesting that cruise ships fall under the category of interstate commerce.
The case went to trial in July 2023, and several months later, on March 1, Judge Lance E. Walker released a 61-page decision in favor of Bar Harbor, allowing for the 1,000-passenger limit to remain in place.
Led by the Association to Preserve and Protect Local Livelihoods (APPLL) — a nonprofit organization representing local business owners — the plaintiffs went on to appeal this decision at the end of March, bringing it before the United States First Circuit Court of Appeals.
The plaintiffs then requested that the court grant an injunction to prevent the Town of Bar Harbor from enforcing any restrictions on cruise ship passenger disembarkation while their appeal is pending.
The court denied this motion “without prejudice” last Friday, leaving the door open for the plaintiffs to submit a similar request in District Court, which they did Thursday.
According to the Mt. Desert Islander, APPLL is also asking the court for an expedited process, allowing for a total of just twelve days for the parties to submit briefs before turning the motion over to a judge to issue a ruling.
The Council has also recently found itself embroiled in a controversy with Charles Sidman, the man behind the original 2022 citizens initiative effort to implement these limitations.
In March, council members decided to allow ships with more than 1,000 passengers to dock in Bar Harbor this season if they were booked prior to the November 2022 vote.
The language incorporated into the town’s code required that the limitation be applied to “any and all applications for permits or approvals” that “were or have been pending…on or at any time after March 17, 2022.”
Sidman filed paperwork with the Bar Harbor Board of Appeals asking them to override the Council’s decision to allow for these larger ships to dock, but the Board ultimately found unanimously that it did not have jurisdiction to weigh in on this issue.
On Monday, Sidman submitted a request for reconsideration. The Appeals Board is scheduled to meet next on June 11, but an agenda has not yet been made public.
In early April, Sidman also took formal legal action against the town, filing a lawsuit with the Hancock County Superior Court.
This lawsuit seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to block the town from allowing cruise ship reservations accepted prior to the referendum vote to be honored if they would violate the 1,000 passenger limit.
According to an April 4 press release, the Council had decided to cease accepting reservations after November of 2022 because they felt that “local regulations were insufficient for the proper enforcement of the ordinance.”
This resulted in 94 visits being excluded from the 2024 season, as well as an additional 80 reservations for the 2025 season.
“While the appeal by APPLL, though disappointing, was not unexpected, Mr. Sidman’s unwarranted and spurious action only serves to demonstrate that neither side in this issue has the best interests of the people of the Town of Bar Harbor at heart,” said Council Chair Val Peacock in a statement.
“We will defend against both litigious parties vigorously as we work to implement the ordinance and continue to engage in dialogue with the community on ways to chart the proper course on this issue,” Chair Peacock said.
The Council reported that, as of April, Sidman’s actions had cost the town more than $300,000 in legal fees.
“It’s unfortunate that, especially in an extremely tight budget year, any individual or group would pursue frivolous litigation over healthy political dialogue. This only serves to divert attention and resources from other important issues while unfairly adding to the tax burden of their friends and neighbors,” Peacock said.
According to the Bar Harbor Story, the town moved on May 2 to dismiss Sidman’s lawsuit, arguing that he lacks standing because there is “no viable cause of action to which his request for injunctive relief could attach.”
At a meeting held this past Tuesday, the Bar Harbor Town Council voted to hold a June 18 public hearing on the ordinance and directed the Town Manager to gather public input on this issue.
I would be interested in knowing if the people who voted to limit ships are from away or locals who don’t own businesses.
Compromise, some days you have cruise ships, other days you have cars. How many who voted for this do not like cruise ships blocking their view?
Working our way to the bottom.