Planning Commission

CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Minutes - Final Planning Commission Wednesday, June 18, 2025 7:00 PM Harrigan Centennial Hall I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Present: Darrell Windsor (Chair), Katie Riley, Stacy Mudry, Wendy Alderson, Robin Sherman, Thor Christianson (Assembly Liaison) Staff: Amy Ainslie, Kim Davis, Ariadne Will Public: Randy Hughey (SCLT), Larry Edwards, Carol Voisin, Taylor Vieira, Cathy Li (Sitka Sentinel) Chair Windsor called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. CONSIDERATION OF THE AGENDA III. CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES A PM 25-11 Approve the June 4, 2025 meeting minutes. Commissioner Sherman requested a section of the minutes related to the conditions of approval for CUP 25-09 be amended from stating a site visit by staff was "allowed for" to stating the visit as "required." M/Mudry-S/Alderson moved to approve the June 4, 2025 meeting minutes. Motion passed 5-0 by voice vote. IV. PERSONS TO BE HEARD V. PLANNING DIRECTOR’S REPORT Ainslie said that the July 2 Planning Commission was to be canceled, and that it was soon to be Davis' third anniversary working at the city. Ainslie said staff was continuing to work on code change research for the zoning of Katlian Bay and for other unzoned lands within the city and borough. VI. REPORTS VII. THE EVENING BUSINESS B MISC 25-09 Update from Sitka Community Land Trust. Randy Hughey, representing the Sitka Community Land Trust, provided an update to the commission on SCLT's projects and goals. He said the land trust expected to CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 1 Planning Commission Minutes - Final June 18, 2025 finish construction of three duplexes at its Halibut Point Road property in about a year. He said the land trust was searching for additional parcels to develop, and that he had identified three potential parcels on the city's GIS: one between Osprey Street and the Blachley ball fields, one up Granite Creek Road, and one between the Kimsham ball fields and the Cross Trail. All parcels identified were owned by the city. Hughey said all three parcels had the potential to pose significant challenges. He also said that a land trust house had sold in 2024 for a price below market rate, and that the seller had made a profit on the sale. Hughey said the sale had been a significant milestone for the land trust and proved the land trust's effort to keep costs low was sustainable. In response to commission questions, Hughey said the land trust was uncertain about its funding beyond the next year. C ZA 25-01 Discussion of zoning code changes for cruise related docks. Ainslie provided the commission with an overview of past commission discussions regarding zoning code changes for cruise-related docks, including an overview of definitions, zoning districts, level of approval, and submission requirements for cruise-related docks. The commission briefly discussed whether Assembly review of conditional use permits for cruise-related docks was beneficial and determined that it was. Ainslie then presented recommended criteria for permit requests for cruise-related docks. This included new proposed criteria for evaluating the capacity of the community to accommodate additional cruise passenger visitation, which was to be measured by the impacts to resident access to critical sites and services, public services and infrastructure, ability of industry-related merchants to accommodate additional visitation, and other impacts surfacing through the public review process. The commission discussed application fees that would allow the city to conduct an outside review of impacts and suggested that the conceptual review of the development could be required instead of optional, and that need for outside review could be determined at that time. Ainslie also presented recommendations for required findings. Larry Edwards--who submitted a written public comment to commissioners--spoke under public comment, specifically in regard to the need for a marine casualty plan. He also advocated for further conversation regarding whether future development of cruise-related docks should be allowed. Commissioner Sherman asked, in response to Edwards' letter, if land had to be zoned for a use to be prohibited. Staff said it did. Ainslie said at the end of discussion that the next step was to create a draft ordinance for commission review. No motion was made. D ZA 25-03 Discussion of zoning changes regarding telecommunications. Ainslie presented the commission with information regarding the regulation of telecommunications towers in four Alaska communities: Juneau, Fairbanks, Kodiak, and Ketchikan. This overview included information about the zones in which towers were permitted, conditional, and prohibited; allowable height and development standards; and purpose statements. The presentation included potential language regarding exemptions from code requirements and definitions of "telecommunications." Ainslie also provided potential conditional use permit application requirements, including demonstration of existing coverage and service, visual impact analysis, and alternative site analysis. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 2 Planning Commission Minutes - Final June 18, 2025 The commission commented on potential criteria for approval, including the "balloon test" in Juneau's code. Ainslie said other criteria of potential interest were geotechnical studies and third party review of service area for verification. The commission agreed third party review could be beneficial. Additional criteria for approval under consideration was that towers be designed to accommodate additional antennas equal in number to the applicant's present and reasonably foreseeable future requirements, and that a permit require the applicant to make the tower available for use by other carriers. Under public comment, Carol Voisin asked that staff look at telecommunications ordinances and code from outside of Alaska. She also said she supported verifying service statistics presented by applicants with a third party. No motion was made. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Chair Windsor adjourned the meeting at 9:28 p.m. CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Page 3