WAILUKU, Maui — Maui would establish a cruise ship authority — the first of its kind in the state — and begin charging passenger fees or a ship tax to offset some of the industry's impacts on the island, under recommendations from a task force convened by Mayor Alan Arakawa.

While land-based resorts are scrutinized during the local planning process, Maui residents can only watch as cruise ships disgorge thousands of passengers from state-run port facilities. Business owners, environmentalists and community groups have different opinions about whether this growing segment of the tourism industry is a good thing, but they do agree that Maui should be given more control over how the industry operates at the island's limited harbor facilities.

It would take a radical change in state law to establish a county cruise ship authority with rule-making powers, but members of the Mayor's Cruise Ship Task Force said that in the meantime, such a body could monitor the needs of both the community and cruise ship passengers to ensure neither side is being abused.

Task force recommendations released last week also call for a limit to the number of cruise ship days at Lahaina and Kahului harbors, giving berthing priority to cargo shipping, providing the Moloka'i and Lana'i ferries better access to Lahaina Harbor when cruise ships are in port, and making sure the canoe clubs that have been based at Kahului Harbor for decades are not displaced.

ARRIVALS INCREASING

Estimates provided in the 145-page task force report predict there will be 345,500 cruise ship passenger arrivals on Maui this year, growing to 476,300 by 2007.

NCL Corp. is the only cruise line making regular stops at Kahului. Its Pride of Aloha and the Pride of America make weekly overnight port calls. The company's Norwegian Wind makes a Maui stop during its 10-day voyages.

Robert Kritzman, NCL executive vice president and managing director, said he agrees with task force recommendations calling for more direct communication with local officials and community agencies, and said further study of the industry's impact on Maui is a good idea.

"So far as conducting further studies, we agree with that wholeheartedly. We don't think any in-depth study has been done to date, and having somebody do a professional analysis dealing with the facts would be wonderful," he said.

But he took issue with comments indicating cruise ships were impeding other harbor activities. He said that NCL has a good relationship with cargo shippers and other port users and that there are no conflicts, although it all could change without improvements to create additional capacity, especially at Kahului Harbor.

Task force member Becky Lennon of Best Western Pioneer Inn, a small, historic hotel just steps from Lahaina Harbor, called cruise ships "a blessing and a curse." They inconvenience harbor users and strain roads and other infrastructure, while bringing welcome dollars to Lahaina businesses, she said.

'MANAGED GROWTH'

Lennon, who also represented the LahainaTown Action Committee on the task force, said she is for "managed growth" of the cruise industry that allows the community to plan for its impacts. "With the healthcare, parking and infrastructure (shortcomings) we deal with daily, it makes it worse when you add 2,000 more people to the mix ... ," she said. "I would hate to say, 'Go away,' but in the same sense we need to be sensitive to the needs of local ferry users and make sure it works for everyone."

The task force included representatives of government, the visitor industry, small towns, environmental and cultural organizations, law enforcement, and large and small businesses. The panel held 41 meetings over a 20-month period, interviewing cruise ship officials and others with a stake in harbor use and the island's economic development and quality of life.

"The work of the task force was not taken on as a technical study, but rather as a broad, informal survey of the cruise industry from a community perspective," Mayor Arakawa said in a statement. "Their report acknowledges that it is a 'starting point for further study and discussion' to inform decision-makers and our community about both the future benefits and potential impacts of the cruise ship industry on Maui."

The report said most of the task force felt there should be no more than one cruise ship per day in Lahaina Harbor and no more than one large or two small cruise ships per day at Kahului. There was no consensus on the appropriate number of days each week when a cruise ship should be in port, although there seemed to be some support for four days a week in Kahului and three per week at Lahaina.

Sean Lester of Maui Tomorrow, a citizens planning and environmental group, was the lone voice on the task force calling for no cruise ship days at all.

"I feel that we do not need cruise ships for our economic future at all," Lester said. "From what I've seen they take a lot more than they give."

'A DIVERSE GROUP'

Although he wished the report had taken a stronger tone and put more emphasis on environmental issues such as water pollution, Lester called the task force document "an exceptionally good piece of work" that he hoped would be used by state lawmakers in decision-making. He also praised fellow task force members, many of whom represent interests often opposed to positions taken by Maui Tomorrow.

"It was a diverse group and everybody in the room was there to do their best to see that Maui stays Maui," he said.

Kritzman was not as pleased with the task force process. He said he was disappointed that NCL was not allowed to place a member on the panel or attend all the meetings, and that many of the company's comments were left out of the final report.

"The report itself came across as a conclusion looking for substantiation," he said. "There was an awful lot of anecdotal evidence used as the basis for certain conclusions and very little fact. That's why we would welcome a scientific study."

Lennon said she's already seeing results from the task force's work. The hotel manager had met with police to develop voluntary traffic-control measures to deal with congestion caused by taxis and motorcoaches waiting to pick up cruise ship passengers on the narrow, one-way street that serves the Pioneer Inn and the harbor. The situation took on more weight as it was discussed by the task force, she said, and the county already is moving to change some of the bus parking into a loading zone for ferry users.

Reach Christie Wilson at cwilson@honoluluadvertiser.com.