Juneau Assembly committee moves five-ship cruise limit ordinance toward full Assembly

Juneau's five-large-ship-a-day cruise limit would become enforceable city law, not a negotiated agreement, under an ordinance an Assembly committee moved Monday to send to the full Assembly.

The Assembly Committee of the Whole was called to order at 6:11 p.m. Assembly member Alicia Hughes-Skandijs moved to forward Ordinance 2026-39 and asked unanimous consent. The mayor objected for purposes of amendment, and the committee voted to advance the measure.

The ordinance would cap large cruise ships over 950 passengers at five per day inside city boundaries. That matches the number set by the 2023 memorandum of agreement between the city and cruise lines, which took effect with the 2024 season and grew out of the 2020 Visitor Industry Task Force report. Juneau handled roughly 1.7 million cruise passengers in the 2025 season.

Assembly member Christine Woll, a sponsor, said the ordinance changes nothing about current policy but reframes control. "I think that question is really about who gets to set the limits on tourism in our community. Is it Juneau? Or is it the industry?" she said. She added that an agreement requires both sides while "this legislation would require only one party, to, to make a decision." She cited community distrust: "The community does not trust that the industry does not want to grow beyond 5 ships." Assembly member Ella Atkinson said the task force had left the code question to the Assembly.

Hughes-Skandijs said the ship cap, unlike a passenger limit, tracks the city's hard berthing capacity, making it easier to agree on and to defend, though future assemblies could take up passenger limits. Asked about timing given the collaborative process so far, she said Juneau is a home-rule government that sets conditions by ordinance. "I think for a government to do an ordinance, if that sours a relationship, then I would question personally how good the relationship was in the first place," she said. Assembly member Nano Brooks asked whether a limit written into municipal code could be used against the city if infrastructure could not support five ships.

City Attorney Wright said litigation is likely either way, with roughly even odds for the city. She said Juneau has spent years gathering congestion and transportation data but lacks good data on impacts to fire and emergency medical services, hospital responsiveness, and water and sewer infrastructure. Bar Harbor spent about $1 million over three years defending its cap, she said, and a Juneau case could run $1 million to $4 million. Woll said staff advised that Bar Harbor case law put Juneau in a good position to legislate limits. A May 2026 federal ruling limited Bar Harbor to enforcing its caps only in July and August.

The ordinance has not yet gone to public hearing, tentatively scheduled for Sept. 14.