Less than a year after Juneau voters shot down a ballot initiative to ban large cruise ships on Saturdays, advocates are trying again to put hard limits on tourism’s growth.
On Monday, local advocates went to City Hall to file a petition that would impose a five-ship daily limit, cap the annual number of passengers at 1.5 million a year and impose a daily limit of 16,000 people on most days and 12,000 on Saturdays. The petition also seeks to shorten the season to only last between May and September.
Karla Hart filed the failed initiative last year and the new one this week. She’s an outspoken advocate against the growth of tourism. She called the new petition a compromise.
“I really want to win this year,” she said. “What prompted me to file this year was the complete lack of any indication that the borough Assembly has any plans or any intention of doing anything that relieves the impacts on the community as a whole.”
The City and Borough of Juneau has already signed agreements with cruise lines that put in place a five-ship limit, and limit the number of daily passengers that come to town beginning in 2026.
The difference is that those agreements are non-binding and voluntary. But if the initiative is passed by voters, those limits would become law. Hart says she wants the initiative to hold the city and cruise lines accountable.
“Negotiations mean nothing. My intent with this initiative is to simply say, ‘you the industry agreed on these limits, and so let’s put them in law so that they stick,’” she said.
Residents in nearby Sitka have also tried multiple times to limit cruise tourism. They’ll vote on the latest attempt in a special election in May.
Juneau had between 1.6 and 1.7 million cruise passengers visit during the past two summer seasons. The 2025 season – which begins next week – is expected to yield a similar number.
Hart filed the petition the same day the Juneau Assembly voted to approve a tidelands lease for a fifth cruise ship dock in downtown Juneau.
The petition still needs to be reviewed by the city’s law department and the city clerk. If approved, the group then has 30 days to collect just over 2,700 signatures to land a spot on the local election ballot this October.
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