Daily Sitka Sentinel

Panel Gives Approval to 19-Lot Subdivision

The Sitka Planning Commission gave initial approval to a major subdivision on 19.84 acres of Benchlands property Tuesday.  (Sentinel Photo)

By TOM HESSE

Sentinel Staff Writer

A tract of privately-owned land in the Benchland area above Halibut Point Road moved closer to development Tuesday night when the Planning Commission gave initial approval to a major subdivision creating 19 new lots for housing.

Sound Development LLC purchased 19.84 acres of Benchlands property from the city in 2013 for $344,000. Since then, owners Jeremy Twaddle and Todd Fleming have been working to develop the land for housing.

The Planning Commission gave unanimous approval to the subdivision of nearly 280,000 square feet of land between Kramer Avenue and the Sand Dollar Drive neighborhood. The lots range in size from around 4,000 square feet to more than 14,000 square feet. Twaddle, one of the Sound Development partners, said the 4,000-square-foot lots are intended for “tiny homes” of about 1,000 square feet plus a 400-square-foot garage. The small lots were created by dividing two larger lots into three of the smaller size.

“People should be able to accommodate a two-bedroom house or a big one-bedroom in that 1,000 square feet pretty easily,” Twaddle said. 

Fleming said the original plans called for just 18 lots, but recent interest in tiny homes encouraged them to put three smaller lots in the plans to “see how the market reacts.” 

One of the concerns that’s held up the subdivision process relates to surface water runoff. Residents of the Sand Dollar Drive neighborhood, which lies downhill of the future development, have expressed concern about existing drainage from the uphill property, and what could happen if the area is developed.

In the 11 months since the first minor subdivision of the area was granted, Sound Development has been working on the drainage issue as well as other concerns, and Twaddle said the proposed layout would reduce the amount of flow going downhill toward Sand Dollar Drive. 

All of the houses in the neighborhood would be accessed by a new road that ends at a cul-de-sac. Lots on both the uphill and downhill sides of the road will drain toward the new road, and the flow will be toward Kramer Avenue, rather than directly downhill, Twaddle said.

 “The sheet flow that’s currently coming down should be reduced,” he said. 

The plans call for a 20-foot greenbelt between the new lots and the Sand Dollar Drive neighborhood below. The developers said house size would be limited to 1,500 square feet on the single-family lots, except for the smaller size on the tiny home lots and larger structures on some multi-family lots. Planning Director Maegan Bosak said she was happy with the plan, particularly because it allows for everything from tiny homes to multi-family structures. 

“This really fits what we are looking for,” she said. 

As a major subdivision, the plan will need to go before the Planning Commission again, likely during the next meeting. In the meantime the  developers are to meet with city staff to sort out minor concerns. After final commission approval the plan will go to the Assembly.

The subdivision includes one parcel of about 105,000 square feet, and Twaddle said there are as of yet no concrete plans for creating individual lots in that tract. 

Food Truck

On a 5-0 vote the Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit to Ashley Moore to station a food truck in front of the Coliseum Theater in downtown Sitka this summer. 

The city allows mobile stands on private property as long as its operation is consistent with the nearby business. Because food service fell somewhat outside the purview of the movie theater, Bosak said the request is going through a conditional use process. 

Moore said she intends to serve locally caught fish between May and September, and would be open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and possibly till 1 a.m. on weekends. 

ADUs

The commission granted a conditional use permit for an Accessory Dwelling Unit proposed by George and Tamara Eliason at 2134 Halibut Point Road.

It was the first time an ADU has been approved since the city broadened the zoning code within the past year to permit more than one dwelling unit on a residential lot.

Access will be from an easement, not a city street, making it necessary for the project to have a conditional use permit. The city code requires an ADU to be accessed from a municipally-maintained street or road, but the Assembly recently voted to permit ADUs as a conditional use.

 Bosak said the Eliason property has adequate parking that won’t obstruct traffic on the easement, making it a good candidate for approval via the conditional use process. The conditional use passed by unanimous vote.

“I feel like this is exactly why we set it up as a conditional use,” commission member Darrell Windsor said. 

Another ADU request was back before the board because of a procedural error at the last meeting when the Commission had voted to recommend the Assembly not approve an ADU request by Phyllis Hackett at 500 Lincoln St. The procedural error was that the commission failed to approve findings of fact, as to ADU regulations, for denying the application. The commission   again voted to recommend that the request not be granted.  

BIHA

A plat subdivision of land at 100 Indian River Road was approved for the Baranof Island Housing Authority. 

The subdivision allows for two four-plexes to be considered as separate plots. The change doesn’t affect construction plans and was needed only to align with rules for government loans, a BIHA representative said. 

Short-term Rentals

Two short-term rental permits were approved Tuesday night. One was for the owners of 413 Baranof Street who are planning to rent out their house during the summer, and the other was for a property at 1601 Davidoff Street.