A neighborhood push to ban cruise ships from docking in Juneau, Alaska, on Saturdays has initially fallen brief. The “ship free Saturdays” marketing campaign has didn’t get the variety of required signatures to get the problem on a municipal poll.
Led by activist Karla Hart, the petition collected 2,069 validated signatures however wants 2,359 to get on the poll. It has one other week to seek out the extra 290 signatures. The Ship Free Saturdays marketing campaign is looking for a Saturday ban on cruise ships accommodating greater than 250 passengers. It might additionally ban ships on the July 4 vacation.
If the additional signatures are collected, the municipal poll will happen on October 1.
The community-led marketing campaign is an additional measure to limit cruise ship visitors. The Juneau metropolis authorities has already sealed an settlement with cruise traces to cap cruise ship passenger numbers, efficient from 2026.
Passenger Restrict already Agreed with Cruise Traces
This could restrict the variety of passengers in Juneau to 16,000 per day, Sunday via Friday. The cap for Saturdays is 12,000. Cruise traces have agreed to coordinate their schedules to realize this.
That is the primary collaborative settlement signed by the cruise business in Alaska. Moreover, a separate measure agreed final yr got here into pressure this present season. It limits the variety of massive cruise ships allowed into Juneau to 5 per day.
‘Present Guidelines Don’t Go Far Sufficient’
With the Alaska cruise season getting longer, Karla Hart says these agreed limitations don’t go far sufficient to deal with the issues of native residents. “It seems like we’re simply getting led alongside once more, and growth will proceed and extra time will go” and impacts will proceed, she mentioned.
Juneau’s customer business director Alexandra Pierce mentioned metropolis officers are “attempting to steadiness the wants of our residents, our financial system, and the wants of future alternatives for individuals to remain in our neighborhood.”
