Planning Commission

CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Minutes - Final Planning Commission Wednesday, September 18, 2024 7:00 PM Harrigan Centennial Hall I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Present: Darrell Windsor (Chair), Katie Riley, Wendy Alderson, Robin Sherman, Stacy Mudry, Chris Ystad (Alternate Assembly liaison) Excused: Thor Christianson (Assembly liaison) Staff: Amy Ainslie, Kim Davis Public: Paddy Hansen, John Dembs, Sara Hadad-Dembs, Jack Boddy, Jennifer Vallion, Ann and Roger Vallion, Catherine Murphy Chair Windsor called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. II. CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA III. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES A PM 24-11 Approve the August 21, 2024 meeting minutes. M/Mudry-S/Alderson moved to approve the August 21, 2024 meeting minutes. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. IV. PERSONS TO BE HEARD V. PLANNING DIRECTOR’S REPORT Ainslie informed the commission no applications had been received for the October 2 meeting and it would likely be canceled. CUP 23-22, LaCatrina food truck at 110 Barracks Street had terminated their permit for that location. The commission had required an end of season review, which was no longer needed. Finally, the housing land study was moving forward as staff was currently in notations with the request for qualifications responder. VI. REPORTS VII. THE EVENING BUSINESS B P 24- 01 Public hearing and consideration of a preliminary plat for a minor subdivision resulting two lots at 201 Price Street in the C-2 general commercial mobile home district. The property is also known as Lot 1, Breedlove Subdivision. The request is filed by Paddy Hansen. The owner of record is Hansen and Hansen Enterprise, LLC. Davis introduced a preliminary plat for a minor subdivision resulting in two lots at 201 CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 1 Planning Commission Minutes - Final September 18, 2024 Price Street in the C-2 general commercial mobile home district. The applicant plans to develop one of the lots for future use as a mobile home park. The access easement would need to be adjusted to have 20 ft of access on Lot 1A per the manufactured home park code. The site was currently developed with a building used for boat repair and storage. The property was large enough to create two lots that exceed the districts minimums for development. The property was accessed and served with utilities via an easement crossing Lot 4 of Breedlove subdivision from Price Street. A new maintenance agreement will need to be signed and recorded. Staff recommended approval. Applicant Paddy Hansen was present. He had no additional comments. There was no public comment, Commissioners were in favor of the subdivision. M/Mudry-S/Alderson moved to approve the preliminary plat of a minor subdivision to result in two lots at 201 Price Street in the C-2 general commercial mobile home district subject to the attached conditions of approval. The property was also known as Lot 1, Breedlove Subdivision. The request was filed by Paddy Hansen. The owner of record was Hansen & Hansen Enterprise, LLC. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. M/Mudry-S/Alderson moved to adopt the following findings as listed in the staff report. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. C CUP 24-09 Public hearing and consideration of a conditional use permit for a short-term rental at 1729 Edgecumbe Drive in the R-1 single-family and duplex residential district. The property is also known as Lot Seven-B (7-B), Boddy Subdivision. The request is filed by Sara Hadad-Dembs. The owners of record are Sara Hadad-Dembs and John Dembs. Ainslie introduced a request for a conditional use permit for a short-term rental (STR) at 1729 Edgecumbe Drive in the R-1 single-family and duplex residential district. The property was 10,000 square feet (SF) with a single-family house of around 1,800 SF, an attached ADU (accessory dwelling unit) 600 SF one bed/one bath unit, and a 760 SF garage and office building. The applicants were requesting to rent the main house and live in the other unit. The house had three bedrooms, two full baths and 1/2 bath with kitchen, living, and dining space. The applicants had proposed six guests, two per room. Quiet hours were listed from 10pm to 7am. There was sufficient parking with four spaces in the driveway and two on the side of the house. There was no significant traffic increase expected outside of normal residential use. While there was a chance of increased noise and odors, the owners' presence aimed to mitigate issues. Garbage would be kept in the garage until trash day. No signage was proposed. The fence and vegetation provided buffers from the neighbors. Staff recommended approval. The applicants Sara Hadad-Dembs and John Dembs were present. They addressed concerns about noise, traffic, and committing to mitigating any concerns. They would be living in the ADU unit while the STR was in use. They also expected family to be visiting and using the STR unit as well. Public comment from Jack Boddy, Jennifer Vallion, Ann and Roger Vallion, and Catherine Murphy was in opposition citing the overall housing crisis, increasing traffic, and neighborhood character concerns. Commissioners discussed the complexities of the general code and housing issues. Sherman recognized the public input but stated the application met current criteria. Windsor stated the ADU should be considered a duplex since it was built before the ADU code went into effect and was attached. Staff acknowledge the staff report could have been clearer in its definition descriptions and interpretations. It was CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 2 Planning Commission Minutes - Final September 18, 2024 proposed to add an agenda item to the next meeting to discuss the lack of clarity in the code regarding zoning code definitions, STR's, accessory dwelling units and housing designations. M/Mudry-S/Sherman moved to approved the conditional use permit for a short-term rental at 1729 Edgecumbe Drive in the R-1 single-family and duplex residential district subject to the attached conditions of approval. The property was also known as Lot Seven-B (7-B), Boddy Subdivision. The request was filed by Sara Hadad-Dembs and John Dembs. The owners of record were Sara Hadad-Dembs and John Dembs. Motion passed 3-2 by voice vote. M/Mudry-S/Sherman moved to adopt and approve the required findings for conditional use permits as listed in the staff report. Motion passed 3-2 by voice vote. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Chair Windsor adjourned the meeting at 8:01 PM. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 3