A conditional use permit for a short-term rental at 1972 Halibut Point Road was approved and a zoning variance to increase the maximum allowable structure height at Nancy Court was postponed by the Planning Commission at its regular meeting March 5.

Cruise ship-related zoning also was discussed, a continuation of the annual code review conducted by the Commission at the beginning of each year. 

All commission members were present, and all decisions were passed unanimously. 

Halibut Point Road Conditional Use Permit

Jill and James Lecrone filed for a short-term rental conditional use permit for their primary residence at 1972 Halibut Point Road. The maximum occupancy would be six guests, with quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. The building has two dwelling units, and the Lecrones will be living in either one of the apartments. 

The conditions of approval were amended to read that either unit may be used as a short-term rental, though only one may be rented out at any given time. 

Nancy Court Zoning Variance

The zoning variance at 112 and 116 Nancy Court, in the R1 single-family and duplex residential district,  would increase the maximum allowable height of structures from 35 feet to 120 feet in order to build a communication tower

Filed by Richard Peterson for Tlingit & Haida, the request states the tower would host Tidal Network, Tlingit & Haida’s internet broadband enterprise, and other local carriers. 

The director for Tidal Network, Chris Cropley, testified at the meeting that this development would reduce network congestion during the tourist season and help provide affordable internet access to Sitka’s unserved families. The project is funded by a $49.8 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which supports Tlingit & Haida’s mission to establish reliable broadband across Southeast Alaska — including building five additional communication towers in Sitka. 

Information provided by Tidal Network said the internet service would cost $90 per month, with an expected speed of 100/20 Mbps (100 megabits in download speed and 20 megabits in upload speed, defined as the minimum threshold for broadband internet by the Federal Communications Commission). Cropley also stated that 2%, or 169 households, are considered unserved in Sitka currently. 

Public comments from Nancy Court residents included concerns about the character of the neighborhood, decreasing property values, possible health effects because of prolonged exposure to radio frequency radiation, the impact on the environment, and the potential for landslides given the steepness of the terrain. 

Residents questioned the necessity of the communication tower in Sitka, where 98% of residents already have access to fast internet according to Cropley’s own estimates. Many also addressed the delay in receiving notice about the motion, giving them less than five days to prepare their statements. 

In addition to this call for more time to facilitate neighborhood discussions, the classification of primary versus accessory use of the lots contributed to the postponement. One letter argued that when two residential lots are used for commercial purposes, the lots should be classified under primary, not accessory, use. 

The planning department staff is to reach out to the municipal attorney for consultation on the code, and the Planning Commission will address it again at the April 2 meeting. 

Cruise-related Docks Zoning Changes

Planning Commission members reviewed item 23 in the report compiled by the Assembly’s Tourism Task Force, which recommended differentiating between different types and sizes of commercial use docks. 

Public comments emphasized the need for community input given the wide-ranging impact of cruise ship activities. Currently unzoned areas like Katlian Bay were mentioned as a point of concern, though staff said that the property owners are currently undergoing the process for acquiring a zoning designation, and will come before the Planning Commission later this year. 

No conclusive changes to the code were made during the meeting, but commissioners agreed that a potential solution is creating a separate zoning for commercial use docks, requiring owners to obtain a conditional use permit. However, the specifics of classifying different sized ships or activities with different levels of impact remain open for future discussions.