The town of Bar Harbor, Maine has fined the owner of two major cruise ship piers for $4 million dollars.
Local officials are saying that the reason for the fines is based on a policy that limits the number of cruise passengers allowed in the region.
The multi-million-dollar fine against Goden Anchor LC, which owns Bar Harbor’s piers, comes after thousands of cruise passengers were allowed off the piers “without the proper permits”, according to local news reports.
Golden Anchor has already challenged the decision that upheld the town’s notice of violation against it earlier in January this year.
The rules put in place do not allow more than 1,000 cruise passengers to disembark at the pier without facing hefty fines.
In November 2024, Bar Harbor residents passed a land-use ordinance that required pier owners to hold permits before allowing passengers to get off the cruise ships.
Golden Anchor has argued that the town of Bar Harbor’s disembarkation ordinance is an unconstitutional overreach that unlawfully infringes on their established property rights and business operations.
In 2024, approximately 98,000 cruise passengers disembarked at the Bar Harbor piers. Town officials say they had been tracking those numbers from last year with the code enforcement officer seeing the violations first-hand.
Numbers are expected to much lower in 2025, and local residents are mixed in their reaction to the throttling of cruise ship traffic.
