Daily Sitka Sentinel

Planners Set Policy on Rentals in Harbors

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Marijuana complaints, the first boat short-term rental permit and parking plans for the new downtown hotel were among items up for discussion at Tuesday’s regular Planning Commission meeting, planning staff said today.
    Planning and Community Development Director Mike Scarcelli updated the Sentinel on actions at the meeting, which was attended by a bare quorum of three: Darrell Windsor, Randy Hughey and Chairman Chris Spivey.
Boat Airbnb
    The commission approved on a 3-0 vote the city’s first conditional use permit for a short-term rental on a boat.
    The permit will allow owners Bruce and Ann-Marie Parker to rent out their vessel Alaskan Harvest on Float 1 in Crescent Harbor. Under the permit, the boat may accommodate up to eight guests in five guest rooms.
    But the Port and Harbors Commission, and Planning Commission, have agreed in past discussions that they needed to keep an eye on the issue. The two panels in a joint work session recommended limiting short-term rentals on boats to no more than two per harbor, Scarcelli said.
    The permit comes with a number of conditions designed to mitigate concerns of neighbors, the fire department and Coast Guard related to safety, sanitation and “neighborhood harmony.” That includes following waste disposal protocol and general consideration of fellow harbor users.
    The staff report says: “The applicants state that smoking is not permitted and that excessive drinking will not be tolerated. Pets, onboard fishing, fish cleaning and jumping from the vessel are not permitted. The applicants state that they will provide airport pickup and boat orientation for guests.”
    The commission will review the permit in six months.
    There is one other boat operating as a short-term rental in the harbors, but no permit was required under the Waterfront zoning when the operation started.
New Parking Lot
    On a 3-0 vote the commission approved a replat that will allow Aspen Hotels to expand its property to add a parking lot at 404 Oja Way. The replat will combine four lots into one 21,290 square foot lot in the Central Business District. Aspen Hotels plans to demolish a single-family structure and create onsite parking and a loading zone for the 71-room hotel.
    Scarcelli said neighbors had asked that a fence be constructed to mitigate noise and glare from headlights in the parking lot, a position that staff and commission members supported at Tuesday’s meeting.
Marijuana Concerns
    Under an item, “Report on marijuana business,” Scarcelli said he told the commission he had received a petition with 70 signatures protesting an application for an onsite marijuana consumption license.
    Those who collected signatures were raising concerns about odor, traffic, hours of operation and safety. Residents said the onsite consumption businesses would be incompatible with the residential character of the neighborhood, which is in a Commercial zone.
    The application was submitted by Weed Dudes, which already has a permit to sell marijuana at its store in the Sawmill Creek Plaza. The state is scheduled to consider regulations for commercial onsite consumption licenses in July, after which it will consider applications. But for now, on-site consumption is not allowed.
    The planning department said Sawmill Creek Plaza, the home for two marijuana businesses, is in a general commercial zone.
    “The purpose and intent of general commercial zones is for commercial use though they allow for residential uses,” Scarcelli said this week. “Because of that, when they’re mixed with commercial, they have to be tolerant and expect impacts. At the same time, marijuana use is a conditional use, and marijuana businesses are subject to conditions of approval that include traffic, safety, odor and noise.”
    Scarcelli said the planning department found some merit with the odor complaint, with a “noticeable, detectable odor” in mid May attributable to Northern Lights, a cultivation business in the plaza. Scarcelli said part of the cause of the odor was due to a power outage. When the filtration system restarted, it did so in reverse. Also, carbon filters for the system were back ordered, he said.
    “Both of these have been remedied,” Scarcelli said. “The business has taken steps to make sure they don’t happen in the future. In addition, staff will do future research to see if there are additional mitigation measures needed for odor control.”
    He said the planning staff will make sure that hours of operation are included in the permit for onsite consumption, by Weed Dudes.

Other Business
    In other business, the commission:
    – reviewed a conditional use permit for an education facility at 213 Harbor Drive, without issues raised.
    – approved on a 3-0 vote a variance to allow a fourplex on a parcel at 720 Indian River Road, as requested by Timothy Bernard. The parcel is 9,791 square feet, which is 209 square feet less than the 10,000 required for a fourplex. A similar variance had been granted for 728 Indian River Road in 2011. The planning staff recommended against approval, saying it didn’t meet the standards for a variance. It passed 3-0. The proposal meets other requirements.
    – discussed changing the zoning code to reduce the number of published notices in the Sentinel from two to one, and using other forms of advertising to reach out to members of the public, such as posting notices onsite, emailing notices and posting online, Scarcelli said. Staff believes it will increase information the public gets while decreasing costs by $5,000 to $10,000 a year, he said.