Wrangell Sentinel -

Sitka’s municipal clerk has notified resident Larry Edwards that his application to circulate a petition for a ballot initiative to limit cruise ship visitors to Sitka has been turned down.

Clerk Sara Peterson notified Edwards that the proposal would be an “impermissible appropriation of a public asset,” which is prohibited by the state constitution’s provision for citizen initiatives.

Edwards filed the application on Sept. 15, with 43 other co-sponsors, in response to the growth in cruise ship visitation which reached record numbers in 2022 and again this summer.

If the municipality had appro...