Planning Commission

CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Minutes - Final Planning Commission Wednesday, July 1, 2020 7:00 PM Harrigan Centennial Hall I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Present: Darrell Windsor (acting chair), Randy Hughey, Victor Weaver, Stacy Mudry Absent: Chris Spivey (excused), Kevin Mosher (assembly liaison) Staff: Amy Ainslie Public: Jim Way, Eugene Solovyov, Ariadne Will, Ptarmica McConnell, Sherrie Greenshields Acting Chair Windsor called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. II. CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA III. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES M-Weaver/S-Mudry moved to approve the June 17, 2020 minutes. Motion passed 4-0 by voice vote. A PM 20-11 Approve the June 17, 2020 minutes. Attachments: 10-June 17 2020 DRAFT IV. PERSONS TO BE HEARD V. PLANNING DIRECTOR’S REPORT Ainslie reminded the Commission and the public that City Hall would be closed on Friday, July 3rd in observance of Independence Day. Ainslie updated the Commission on a land sale request for a portion of Tract A11 of Whitcomb Heights Subdivision (on Kramer Avenue) the Commission had reviewed several weeks earlier had been considered by the Assembly on June 23rd. The Assembly had greater interest in selling the whole tract rather than subdividing it, and had directed staff to develop an RFP for its sale and development. On the No Name Mountain/Granite Creek Master Plan, staff would be bringing a discussion/direction item to the Assembly on July 14th to consider moving forward with plan recommendations for the 17 acre waterfront parcel referred to as Harbor Point in the plan. Staff's recommendation to the Assembly would be to issue an RFI to gauge market and community interest in the land. A Planner I had been hired, and would be starting at the end of July. Hughey reported that he would be leaving the Commission in the near future to enjoy retirement; Hughey expressed that he had enjoyed being on the Commission and working with his fellow Commissioners. Hughey would stay on for a few more months in the hopes of finding a replacement for his seat. Weaver stated that July 15th would CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 1 Planning Commission Minutes - Final July 1, 2020 be his last meeting as he had accepted a position out of state and would be leaving Sitka. Weaver stated he was sad to be leaving Sitka and the Commission but had also enjoyed his time. Ainslie thanked both Hughey and Weaver for their service, and noted that other Commissioners should reach out to friends, neighbors, and others in the community about serving on the Commission; the work done by the Commission was critically important to the functioning of the city and being on the Planning Commission was a great way to be involved. VI. REPORTS VII. THE EVENING BUSINESS B CUP 20-11 Public hearing and consideration of a conditional use permit for a dwelling unit on the first floor within the Central Business District located at 419 Lincoln Street. The property is also known as a Portion of Tract F, USS 404/Portion of Lot 6, Block 11, USS 1474 Tract A. The request is filed by Eugene Solovyov. The owner of record is Sitka Art Realty Association, LLC. Attachments: CUP 20-11 Solovyov 419 Lincoln St. 1st Floor Dwelling_Staff Report CUP 20-11 Solovyov 419 Lincoln St. 1st Floor Dwelling_Aerial CUP 20-11 Solovyov 419 Lincoln St. 1st Floor Dwelling_Floor Plan CUP 20-11 Solovyov 419 Lincoln St. 1st Floor Dwelling_Photos CUP 20-11 Solovyov 419 Lincoln St. 1st Floor Dwelling_Applicant Materials Ainslie described the physical location of the property at the corner of Lincoln and Monastery streets. There was an Art Gallery accessible from Lincoln Street and an addition/wing of the building that was under consideration as becoming a dwelling unit on the side of the building that had vehicular access only from Monastery. The dwelling unit would be approximately 350 - 400 square feet with a one bedroom apartment. It had previously been utilized as retail space. Ainslie cited Footnote 12 of Table 22.16.015-1 Residential Land Uses in the zoning code stated that apartments shall only be permitted on the first floor of a structure in the Central Business District through the conditional use process. Ainslie believed this space was a good candidate for conversion to residential space for a few reasons. First, it would have low visual impact on the "shopping drag" of downtown because the space was set far back from Lincoln Street, did not have large shop windows, had a garden and hedges as buffering from the street, and only had vehicular access from Monastery Street. Further, it was a small space, likely only to be able to accommodate 1 or 2 adults. It was not a large space taken out of the commercial market and its small size gave it more flexibility to return to commercial use if there was change in market conditions. The impacts on noise, odor, and traffic was anticipated to be far less than most other allowable uses in the Central Business District. Staff recommended approval. Eugene Solovyov, one of the owners of the building, came forward. Solovyov explained that he and his ex-spouse co-owned the building. When the last commercial tenant moved out, they tried to market the space for commercial use but were not able to find an interested tenant. Solovyov's ex-spouse was in need of an apartment, and therefore they decided this would be the best use of the space. Commissioners had no further questions for the applicant. M-Mudry/S-Weaver moved to approve the conditional use permit application for a dwelling unit on the first floor of a structure in the Central Business CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 2 Planning Commission Minutes - Final July 1, 2020 District located at 419 Lincoln Street. The property was also known as a Portion of Tract F, USS 404/Portion of Lot 6, Block 11, USS 1474, Tract A. The request was filed by Eugene Solovyov. The owner of record was Sitka Art Realty Association, LLC. Motion passed 4-0 by voice vote. M-Mudry/S-Weaver moved to adopt the findings as listed in the staff report. Motion passed 4-0 by voice vote. C P 20- 03 Public hearing and consideration of a final plat for minor subdivision to result in four lots at 601 Alice Loop in the Waterfront District. The property is also known as Lots 1 and 2, Dr. Walter Soboleff Subdivision. The request is filed by Shee Atika Holdings Alice Island, LLC. The owner of record is Shee Atika Holdings Alice Island, LLC. Attachments: P 20-03 Shee Atika 601 Alice Loop Subdivision_Staff Report P 20-03 Shee Atika 601 Alice Loop Minor Subdivision_Aerial P 20-03 Shee Atika 601 Alice Loop Minor Subdivision_Current Plat P 20-03 Shee Atika 601 Alice Loop Subdivision_Proposed Plat P 20-03 Shee Atika 601 Alice Loop Minor Subdivision_Photos P 20-03 Shee Atika 601 Alice Loop Minor Subdivision_Applicant Materials Ainslie reminded the Commission that this property had undergone subdivision in 2019, turning the single large lot into two lots. The new minor subdivision before them was to create 4 lots. The property was in the Waterfront district in which the minimum lot size was 6,000 square feet. All the of the resulting lots in the proposed plat exceeded this minimum. Lot 1 of previous subdivision remained relatively unchanged in the new proposal. The use of the lot centered around the Sealing Cove Business Center (formerly known as the Mt. Edgecumbe School Building). Some adjustments had been made to the lot lines to accommodate changes to Lot two, but the overall size of Lot 1 would be decreasing by less than 1,000 square feet, resulting in a total size of 59,778 square feet. Lot 2 was the focus of change in the new proposal, being subdivided into three lots. Lot 2A would be 32,230 square feet, Lot 2B would be 20,303 square feet, and Lot 2C would be 26,367 square feet. Plans were still being worked on, but the applicants were seeking this subdivision to enable future multifamily development. Ainslie felt this area was well suited for subdivision and development as the lots were large, flat, waterfront, accessed by a developed city right-of-way, and had close proximity to city utilities. Staff recommended approval. Ptarmica McConnell was present, representing Shee Atika Holdings Alice Island, LLC. Commissioners had no further questions of the applicant. Windsor asked staff how each lot would be served for utilities, and Ainslie pointed out some of the easements on the plat that would be able to accommodate utility infrastructure. Ainslie noted one easement needed to be relabeled as "Access and Utility" on the plat. Weaver asked if there was adequate utility capacity to meet the demand of a multifamily development. Ainslie stated that though the plans were still preliminary at this point, city engineering and utilities had been consulted and it was indicated that there was sufficient capacity. M- Mudry/S-Weaver moved to approve the preliminary plat for a minor subdivision to result in four two lots at 601 Alice Loop in the Waterfront zoning district. The property was also known as Lots 1 and 2, Dr. Walter Soboleff Subdivision. The request was filed by Shee Atika Holdings Alice Island, LLC. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 3 Planning Commission Minutes - Final July 1, 2020 The owner of record was Shee Atika Holdings Alice Island, LLC. Motion passed 4-0 by voice vote. M-Mudry/S-Weaver moved to adopt the findings as listed in the staff report. Motion passed 4-0 by voice vote. D LM 20-04 Public hearing and consideration of a request to lease municipal property; an approximately 2,500 square foot sized portion of Tract C, ASLS 79-4 located on Harbor Mountain Bypass. The request is filed by New Horizons Telecom, Inc. on behalf of Verizon Wireless. The owner of record is the City and Borough of Sitka. Attachments: LM 20-04 New Horizon - Verizon_Staff Report LM 20-04 New Horizon - Verizon_Aerial LM 20-04 New Horizon - Verizon_Applicant Materials Ainslie explained that New Horizons, LLC (on behalf of Verizon Wireless) had requested a lease of municipal property on Harbor Mountain Bypass Road for cell tower development. The minimum space needed would be 50 feet by 50 feet (2500 square feet) and up to 100 feet by 100 feet (10,000 square feet). The area in question was zoned as R-1, which did allow for cellular/communication antennas or towers but restricted the height to the maximum building height of the zone which was 35 feet. If the proposal moved forward, staff would initiate a variance request for the height needed which was anticipated to be 95 feet. Ainslie would defer to the applicants to speak to the desirability of the location in terms of its desirability for providing cellular service from a technical standpoint, but thought that there were some advantages of this location from the municipality's standpoint. The location was away from homes and other residential development, minimizing visual or other disturbances. It was out of mapped wetlands in the area, it was next to other utility/public infrastructure (the water tower), and was on a maintained road which enabled safe access. The process moving forward would be to obtain a recommendation from the Commission, seek Assembly approval to move forward, simultaneously complete a valuation of the lease area, commission a survey, and obtain a height variance. An RFP would then be developed and published, a proposal selected, and a lease executed. Staff recommended approval. Sherrie Greenshields of New Horizons was present on the call. Greenshields elaborated that Verizon was looking for a location for a cell tower in the Granite Creek area, and this was one of the few locations that was not in a mapped wetlands area. Further, it was next to the water tower, so there was electrical service in the area which was all that was needed for the tower. Greenshields also confirmed that the total height needed would be 95 feet. Greenshields stated that this was one of several projects Verizon was working on in Sitka and they were ready to bring a new service provider to Sitka. Hughey asked if the tower would be able to, or have to, accommodate the co-location of other providers. Ainslie stated that she was not familiar with any regulations that would obligate the cell tower owner to allow co-location, but that it was the stated intention of New Horizons/Verizon to allow co-location on this particular tower. Greenshields stated that the tower intended for this location was designed to allow for co-location of three service providers. Windsor stated general concern about the unknowns of 5G development. Greenshields stated that the development was primarily focused on 4G/LTE development at this time. Commissioners concluded that enabling competition of service providers in Sitka would be a good thing. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 4 Planning Commission Minutes - Final July 1, 2020 M-Weaver/S-Mudry moved to recommend approval for a lease of municipal property of no less than 2,500 square feet and no greater than 10,000 square feet within Tract C, ASLS 79-4 located on Harbor Mountain Bypass road for the purpose of a cell tower site. Motion passed 4-0 by voice vote. E MISC 20-12 Commission survey on the City Seal Redesign Project. Attachments: Board & Commission Survey Sheet Contest Entries Ainslie explained that the City Seal Redesign project had been initiated by 2 Assembly sponsors and approved the Assembly in January. There was contest for artists to submit designs to become the new official seal of the city open from mid-February to the end of March. With the Covid pandemic, the project was put on hold for a few months but re-started in early June. The next step in the project was to have city boards and commissions review the entries, pick 1st through 3rd place preferences, and provide any other general feedback. Commissioners looked through the entries and felt strongly about entries #5 and #10, feeling both were well done and representative of Sitka. Commissioners also liked entry #12, but thought that it was perhaps too detailed for a seal. Ultimately, the Commission decided that their first choice was #5, their second choice was #10, and their third choice was #12. Commissioners expressed appreciation for all the artists who had clearly put a lot of work into the designs and all had good ideas and elements. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Seeing no objections, Acting Chair Windsor adjourned the meeting at 7:48 pm. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 5