They say a child never touches a hot stove twice.
Lacking the acute memory of a child, the Haines Borough is about to be burned again.
The borough is slowly gutting tourism regulations that kept the industry responsible here for 25 years. Changes to borough code regarding tourism have sailed through the assembly with little comment, including reducing review of tour permits by public officials, and eliminating language that has safeguarded our community from the industry’s ill effects.
Much of the existing code was written in the late 1990s by a balanced committee comprised of two representatives of the public at large, two business representatives not invested in tourism and two tour industry representatives.
Its work came at a time when the town saw at least four visits a week by large cruise ships, resulting in plenty of complaints.
Would-be tour operators parked at the cruise docks with station wagons and cardboard signs reading, “We Guarantee Bears.” Buses operated in residential neighborhoods and tours moved into beaches, trails and other favorite spots that had never seen commercial use. Even tour operators agreed, something needed to be done.
The highlight of the committee’s work was creation of a tour permit, a process that allowed people to hear about and comment on a proposed tour before it showed up out their front door.
The revised tour ordinance – written by the industry-lopsided Tourism Advisory Board (5 of its 7 members make their living from tourism) includes:
- Removing the manager’s authority for revoking a tour permit based on traffic disruptions;
- Eliminating the tour permit requirement for overnight tours;
- Reviving a heli-ski map committee previously fraught with problems; and
- Loosening the requirements for the heli-ski committee to consult with state and federal agencies.
This re-write of tourism regulations by the tourism industry has been under way for at least five years. It went nowhere for the past three years, in part because I and others on the assembly opposed it. With a new, more permissive borough assembly elected in October, it’s back.
There’s no good reason for any of the above changes, other than to appease industry. No disinterested members of the public have come forward asking the borough to loosen regulations on tourism and heli-ski activities.
This is special-interest legislation. It’s an example of our government surrendering its obligation to the public welfare and bowing to industry whims.
Being able to regulate tours for traffic disruptions was a response to two tours that, in fact, disrupted traffic and slowed the speed of business in town. One was a giant, flat-bed trailer, affixed with chairs and pulled by draft horses. Another was a small carriage pulled by llamas. Both traveled at the speed of a pedestrian and caused bottlenecks.
No permit is being required for overnight tours ostensibly because such tours, at this time, are new and involve only small numbers. But there’s no language in code to require a permit if numbers increase. That’s a giant loophole just waiting to be exploited.
In its most recent iteration, the heliski map committee became so fraught with conflicts-of-interest that Haines Borough attorneys were called in. Hilariously, assembly members couldn’t decipher their lawyer’s opinion on the matter, even after the lawyer explained it.
In its decade-long history, this committee has only muddied the waters for heli-ski decisions, which must ultimately be approved by the assembly. Years ago the committee should have been retired and its authority shifted to the assembly.
Finally, borough code previously required the heli-ski map committee to send all proposed map changes to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, seeking testimony, and to request from those two agencies comments on all the committee’s draft recommendations to the manager.
Now, the heli-ski committee need only “consult” with the agencies, which could be a phone call.
Rust never sleeps. Neither does the corrosion of public policy by special interests.
The Haines Borough has forgotten that industrial tourism can become a very hot topic in this valley. It’s now set itself up to be burned again.