Planning Commission

CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Minutes - Final Planning Commission Wednesday, December 20, 2023 7:00 PM Harrigan Centennial Hall I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Present: Darrell Windsor (Chair), Stacy Mudry, Wendy Alderson Absent: Katie Riley (Vice Chair - excused), Robin Sherman (excused), Thor Christianson (Assembly liaison - excused). Staff: Amy Ainslie Public: JJ Carlson, Ariadne Will (Sitka Sentinel) Chair Windsor called the meeting to order at 7:09 PM. II. CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA III. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES A PM 23-18 Approve the December 6, 2023 meeting minutes. M-Mudry/S-Alderson moved to approve the December 6, 2023 meeting minutes. Motion passed 3-0 by voice vote. IV. PERSONS TO BE HEARD V. PLANNING DIRECTOR’S REPORT Ainslie reported that the Planning Manager position was still vacant and being advertised. There was a tourism survey that would be open for the public to take before the end of the week - commissioners were encouraged to share the survey with their contacts. Ainslie reminded the Commission that there would not be a meeting on January 3rd, but would see them on January 17th. VI. REPORTS VII. THE EVENING BUSINESS B P 23- 05 Review of final replat at 1342-1414 Halibut Point Road in the R-2 multifamily residential district. The properties are also known as Lots 1-8 and Lot 10 in the Su's Heeni Shaak Subdivision. The request is filed by the Sitka Community Land Trust. The owner of record is the Sitka Community Land Trust. Ainslie stated that this was a follow-on from a conceptual review of the replat that took CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 1 Planning Commission Minutes - Final December 20, 2023 place on November 15th, and if approve would finalize the proposed replat. Ainslie reviewed the key elements of the replat including a boundary line adjustment of Lot 10, the relocation of parking spaces and reduction in parking requirement, redesignation of Lot 1 as a community space, the subdivision of Lot 5 into two lots, adjustments to the central access easement, lot orientation changes, and resdesignation of utility easements as access and utility easements. Ainslie noted that the replat would not change the density, level of traffic, or other anticipated impacts as had been approved in the original planned unit development, and that the replat would promote the efficient use of available space given the topography of the site. Staff recommended approval. Windsor inquired about the changes in lot orientation, and whether or not the lot fronts could be redesignated under code. Ainslie explained that as none of the lots abutted a street, there was no designated front under code and so an interpretation would need to be made, which provided some flexibility particularly in the context of a planned unit development. Mudry asked about some of the parking areas that were identified as potential, but not optimal, and maps were reviewed. JJ Carlson, Administrator for the Sitka Community Land Trust was present. In response to Mudry's question on the additional parking spaces, Carlson explained that they were not ideal because of reversing constraints that would be harder to manage or get accustomed to in a shared, communal parking lot. Ainslie also noted that the location of these spaces could create a bottleneck for emergency service vehicle access which was why she was hesitant about including them as required parking. Alderson asked whether any spaces would be designated as resident versus visitor spaces. Carlson said that the homeowner's association would be determining whether they would like signage for parking spaces. There was no other public comment. Commissioner discussion focused on the parking reduction, and while there was some hesitation, Commissioners ultimately agreed that the housing development lent itself to homeowners who may not have two vehicles, and that there was a homeowners association in place to work out any parking issues in the future. M-Alderson/S-Mudry moved to approve the final plat at 1342 - 1414 Halibut Point Road in the R-2 multifamily residential district subject to the attached conditions of approval. The properties were also known as Lots 1-8 and Lot 10, Su's Heeni Shaak Subdivision. The request was filed by the Sitka Community Land Trust. The owner of record was the Sitka Community Land Trust. Motion passed 3-0 by voice vote. M-Alderson/S-Mudry moved to adopt the findings as listed in the staff report. Motion passed 3-0 by voice vote. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Seeing no objections, Chair Windsor adjourned the meeting at 7:40 PM. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 2