Reducing driving speed in a school zone protects children. Restricting the catch of king salmon helps manage a fishery, while a prescription drug dosage is clearly defined to insure the patient’s long-term health.
From these examples, it is obvious that limits are a fact of life.
So why aren’t limits a standard feature in managing Juneau’s high-volume tourism industry?
The number of visitors our city can safely accommodate daily must be an integral part of managing high-volume, industrial tourism.
If the CBJ Assembly focuses instead on head taxes or other revenue-generating schemes, Juneau will become just another major tourist destination for corporate giants to exploit. And in the process, our unique character as Alaska’s capital city will be lost and sold to the highest bidder.
To put this issue in perspective, every Assembly person should visit Seward Street and ask small, locally owned retail business owners if they are benefiting from high-volume, industrial-grade tourism. Their answers may surprise and help guide thinking as our city struggles to manage this mushrooming seasonal phenomenon.
But the bottom line is this: unless/until our elected officials set a maximum daily limit on the number of cruise ship passengers, this beast, that current and past Assembly members help create, will continue to devour our city.
Greg Capito
Juneau