Planning Commission

CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Minutes - Final Planning Commission Wednesday, November 6, 2024 7:00 PM Harrigan Centennial Hall I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Present: Darrell Windsor (Chair), Katie Riley, Wendy Alderson, Stacy Mudry, Robin Sherman, Thor Christianson (Assembly liaison). Staff: Amy Ainslie, Kim Davis. Public: Paddy Hansen, Marty Martin, Sidney Kinney, Chance Gray, Arleigh Reynolds, Rob Allen. Chair Windsor called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM. II. CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA III. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES A PM 24-13 Approve the October 2, 2024 meeting minutes. M/Mudry-S/Alderson moved to approve the October 2, 2024 meeting minutes. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. IV. PERSONS TO BE HEARD V. PLANNING DIRECTOR’S REPORT Ainslie reported the Planner I position had been hired and Ariadne Will would be starting in the beginning of December. The Land Suitability and Feasibility Study had been contracted to PND Engineers, INC. to analyze and report on opportunities for housing development on municipal lands. PND would be providing scoping and preliminary site selection services. The budget for the project was $750,000. VI. REPORTS Chair Windsor asked to have a standing item on the agenda for code review discussions. VII. THE EVENING BUSINESS B P 24- 01 Public hearing and consideration of a final 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. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 1 Planning Commission Minutes - Final November 6, 2024 Davis introduced a final plat for a minor subdivision in the C-2 general commercial mobile home district resulting in two lots at 201 Price Street. The current lot was 35,895 sq. ft., with a boat repair building at 6,000 sq, ft. Lot 1A was 15,444 sq. ft. and Lot 1B was 20,461 sq. ft. Access and utilities were from Price Street via an easement. The final plat had added a 20 ft. wide access, drainage, and utility easement on Lot 1A. This was required for the future mobile home park that was in development. Both of these lots meet development standards. There was also 10 ft. of access on Lot 1B and a 10 ft. utility easement along the east side of Lot 1B. A maintenance agreement had also been prepared. This was in line with comprehensive plan action H1.1e to encourage higher density development and staff recommended approval. The applicant Paddy Hansen was present and had no additional information to add. Commissioners had no discussion and there was no public comment. M/Alderson-S/Riley moved to approve the final 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/Alderson-S/Riley moved to adopt the following findings as listed in the staff report. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. C P 24- 03 Public hearing and consideration of a final plat for a minor subdivision resulting two lots at 2030 Halibut Point Road in the R-1 MH single-family, duplex and manufactured home zoning district. The property is also know as Lot Three (3) and the southeast one-half of Lot Four (4), Subdivision of Lot 6A, U.S. Survey 2747. The request is filed by Marty Martin. The owners of record are Martin Revocable Living Trust. Davis introduced a preliminary plat for a minor subdivision resulting in two lots at 2030 Halibut Point Road in the R-1 MH single-family, duplex, and manufactured home district. The applicant had proposed two lots; Lot 3A at 11,595, 11,544 net of the access easement and Lot 3B at 28,760. The property was access and served with utilities from Halibut Point Road. Lot 3A was partially developed with a 1,400 sq. ft. single-family home with attached garage that was currently occupied. This lot was relatively flat and then slopes towards the rear. The preliminary plat had an 27' wide access and utility easement over Lot 3A to Lot 3B. Lot 3B was undeveloped with downed trees and some visible bedrock. There were some wetlands and an Army Corps permit may be required. There was an substantial creek running along the southeast side. The applicant was working with Engineering to capture the existing natural drainage in an easement. The applicant was planning to use the existing approved driveway in the current location and drive parallel to the property line over the wide Department of Transportation (DOT) right-of-way to utilize the access easement. Staff had some concerns about the sizeable rock face that the easement aligned to but found it could be addressed in the final plat. Staff recommended approval. The applicant Marty Martin was present. He was in the process of aligning the drainage into an easement. He stated they would not be disturbing the natural drainage and would be developing the easement to Lot 3B. Commissioners had no additional discussion and there was no public comment. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 2 Planning Commission Minutes - Final November 6, 2024 M/Mudry-S/Riley moved to approve the preliminary plat of a minor subdivision at 2030 Halibut Point Road resulting in two lots in the R-1 MH single-family, duplex, and manufactured home district subject to the attached conditions of approval. The property was also known as Lot Three (3) and Southeast One-Half of Lot Four (4), Subdivision of Lot 6A, U.S. Survey 2747. The request was filed by Marty Martin. The owner of record was Martin Revocable Living Trust. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. M/Mudry-S/Riley moved to adopt the following findings as listed in the staff report. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. D CUP 24-10 Public hearing and consideration of a conditional use permit for a short-term rental at 103 Kramer Avenue in the R-1 MH single-family, duplex, and manufactured home zoning district. The property is also known as Lot A, Horvath Subdivision. The request is filed by Sidney and Matthew Kinney. The owners of record are Kinney Living Trust. Ainslie introduced a request for a conditional use permit in the R-1 MH single-family, duplex, and manufactured home district for a short-term rental (STR) at 103 Kramer Avenue. This was a single-family home with three bedrooms and two and one-half baths. The applicants were requesting a maximum capacity of six guests, two per room and planned to rent the house seasonally June - August. This property was located on a private easement off Kramer Avenue and was buffered by vegetation and trees. There was adequate parking in the driveway for four vehicles. Staff recommended approval. The applicant Sidney Kinney was present and had no additional information add. Riley asked if seafood processing and disposal be added to the renters handout to prevent bear activity. Kinney agreed and there was no further discussion or public comment. M/Mudry-S/Alderson moved to approve the conditional use permit for a short-term rental at 103 Kramer Avenue in the R-1 MH single-family, duplex, and manufactured home zoning district subject to the attached conditions of approval. The property was also known as Lot A, Horvath Subdivision. The request was filed by Sidney and Matthew Kinney. The owners of records were Kinney Living Trust. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. M/Mudry-S/Alderson moved to adopt and approve the required findings for conditional use permits in the staff report. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. E CUP 24-11 Public hearing and consideration of a conditional use permit for a eating and drinking place at 834 Lincoln Street in the R-2 multifamily residential district. This property is also known as Lot 7, Sheldon Jackson Campus Subdivision. The request is filed by Chance Gray. The owner of record is Sitka Sound Science Center. Sherman disclosed her husband Rob Allen was on the board of directors of the Sitka Sound Science Center (SSSC) but there was no financial interest. Commission agreed she didn't need to recuse herself from discussions or voting. Davis introduced a request for a conditional use permit for a eating and drinking place at 834 Lincoln Street in the R-2 multifamily residential district. The applicant SSSC would like to partner with Our Town Catering and Alaska Coach Tours to enhance visitor services. This proposal would allow food to be served on site by Own Town Catering to visitors on pre-booked tours through Alaska Coach Tours seasonally May CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 3 Planning Commission Minutes - Final November 6, 2024 through September from 9 AM - 4 PM. This was to be located behind the Sage building and would occupy an area of 30' by 40' square feet. Out Town Catering would be utilizing their food cart to cook salmon on-site and would also prepare food in their commercial kitchen. This service would not be available to all visitors. Temporary tents may be erected on rainy days but no permanent structures were proposed. Bus traffic was expected to decrease and bus parking would remain unchanged with the one designated bus drop of in the Lincoln Street right-of-way. Staff recommended approval. The applicant Chance Gray and executive director Arleigh Reynolds were present. They explained this would shift their tourism operation from a volume based model to a smaller, longer tour model. This would reduce the number of buses but still maintain walk-up traffic. The bus would be stopped and not idle. Public comment from Rob Allen was in support of the plan. Commissioners confirmed with staff that if the model changed or if they wanted to expand, the permit would come back before the commission. M/Riley-S/Alderson moved to approve the conditional use permit for a eating and drinking place at 834 Lincoln Street in the R-2 multifamily residential district subject to the attached conditions of approval. The property was also known as Lot 7, Sheldon Jackson Campus Subdivision. The request was filed by Chance Gray. The owner of record was Sitka Sound Science Center. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. M/Riley-S/Alderson moved to adopt and approve the required findings for conditional use permits as listed in the staff report. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Chair Windsor adjourned the meeting at 7:46 PM. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 4