Commercial Use Fees On City Land to Rise

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Category: News

Created on Tuesday, 26 November 2024 14:47

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By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    An ordinance amending the rules on commercial use of Sitka’s recreational lands is on the agenda for introduction at tonight’s Assembly meeting.
    The city Parks and Recreation division and Planning Department are recommending changes related to the rise in permit requests for commercial users in recent years.
    The Assembly meeting will start at 6 p.m. at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
    Parks and Rec coordinator Kevin Knox has called attention to increased numbers of people at areas covered by commercial use permits, including Baranof Warm Springs on the Chatham Strait side of Baranof Island, and trail systems closer to Sitka (Thimbleberry Lake, Herring Cove, Cross Trail).
    “In the current system the city isn’t able to adequately manage capacity limits, and therefore we aren’t able to manage the permits overall that are granted for any certain area,” says the memo on the ordinance from city administrator John Leach, planning director Amy Ainslie and Knox.
    The code revisions would establish carrying capacity for certain areas, and empower staff and administration to grant permits under the use plan and set permit duration and penalties. The stated purpose of the ordinance is also the desire to “establish regular public engagement ...in the recreational land policy.”
    If the ordinance passes on first reading tonight, a public hearing and final reading will be on Dec. 17. The ordinance calls for the plan to be reviewed once a year in the future.
The current code does not define how permits can be limited, Knox said.
    The process of reviewing and updating the recreational land use plan began some two years ago, as residents started approaching the Parks and Rec Committee with complaints about the rise in traffic on trails and at Baranof Warm Springs.     Participants at two open houses on visitors identified areas they valued and areas they felt had gotten too crowded.
    The Parks and Rec Committee reviewed the proposed ordinance at a recent meeting, and unanimously recommended approval by the Assembly. The ordinance calls for creation of a new land use plan with carrying capacity stated for the recreational properties and conditions for permits. The land use plan, now in progress, is intended to align with policies and rules in the U.S. Forest Service (Cross Trail, Thimbleberry, Herring Cove) and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (Baranof Warm Springs).
    The ordinance is one of two items on tonight’s Assembly agenda concerning the city’s recreational properties. The other is second reading of a supplemental budget ordinance on the Crescent Harbor Park tennis court improvement project, increasing funding by $250,000. Half will come from the a federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant, and the rest will come from in-kind volunteer hours and a $40,000 to $50,000 donation from the Sitka Recreation Foundation.
    The tennis court improvement will add lights and make it a multisport facility for tennis, pickleball, volleyball and basketball. Knox said he hopes the project will start next spring.
    In other business, the Assembly will hear updates about Sitka Tribe of Alaska from out-going council chairman Woody Widmark, and about the construction of the new Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center, presented by the hospital’s Administrator Bill Spivey.
    Early in the meeting are liquor and marijuana license applications and appointments, as well as service awards to be presented to Ted Laufenberg for his service on the city building department appeals board, and James Mellema, who was a member of the Police and Fire Commission.
    A number of budget ordinances are up for consideration:
    – final reading for funding for a new controller and temporary staff support.
    – final reading to accept $336,475 in salmon disaster relief funds from the 2020-21 season and dedicate the funds to the boat haulout. Later on is first reading of an ordinance to add funding to the project’s budget for a heated wash-down pad, using money available from the salmon relief fund, and $163,525 from the general fund. The Gary Paxton Industrial Park board recommended the concrete heated wash-down pad.
    – final reading to spend $20,000 out of the solid waste fund.
    – first reading to spend $12,000 on an uninterrupted power supply for the city IT department data center.