SIGNS – ABOVE: Signs in the hallway at Harrigan Centennial Hall for and against a citizen initiative petition to limit cruise ship visits to Sitka are pictured this morning. The Save Our Unique Lifestyle group was in one room gathering signatures for the petition, which would place the issue on a ballot. In the adjacent room, members of the Safeguard Sitka’s Future were offering information, including new survey information, on the importance of cruise ship visitor spending to the local economy, encouraging Sitkans not to sign the petition. TOP LEFT: Ann Walter, left, and Klaudia Leccese collect signatures for the petition. TOP RIGHT: Jeremy Plank talks with Stephanie Brenner in the Safeguard Sitka’s Future room. As of today, Small Town SOUL members say they have about 600 of the 613 signatures needed to place the issue on the ballot. On February 26 Safeguard Sitka’s Future is hosting a town hall-style meeting to discuss the issue. (Sentinel Photos by James Poulson)

Sport Fishing Share Of Chinook Increased
07 Feb 2025 15:28

By ANNA LAFFREY
Ketchikan Daily News
Some of the commercial, hook-and-line troll fishery’s allocatio [ ... ]

Commission Calls for More Senior Services
07 Feb 2025 15:27

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Sitka Health Needs and Human Services Commission has  [ ... ]

Planning Panel Okays Two Short-term Rentals
07 Feb 2025 15:25

By CATHY LI
For the Sentinel
The Planning Commission Wednesday approved two conditional use permits fo [ ... ]

State Chamber Testifies Child Care Aids Business
07 Feb 2025 15:23

By Sentinel Staff
    The director of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce urged lawmakers Wednesday to  [ ... ]

Hunter: Headless Seals Part of Marine Life
07 Feb 2025 15:21

By Rashah McChesney
Chilkat Valley News
On a windswept beach near Haines, Tim Ackerman walks down a hi [ ... ]

Deal Reached to Build Gas Terminal on Kenai
07 Feb 2025 15:20

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
An energy firm affiliated with Hilcorp Alaska will buy an unused natural [ ... ]

Thursday's City League Volleyball
07 Feb 2025 15:19

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing Thursday evening at the Blatchley gymnasium, How I Set Your Mother [ ... ]

February 7, 2025, Police Blotter
07 Feb 2025 15:17

Sitka Police received the following calls as of midnight last night.
February 5
At 7:09 a.m. a truck w [ ... ]

February 7, 2025, Community Happenings
07 Feb 2025 15:11

Carl Dominicks
Dies at Age 88
Longtime Sitkan Carl Theodore Dominicks died Thursday. He was 88.
An obit [ ... ]

Assembly Hears Call for Child Care Action
06 Feb 2025 14:58

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The lack of affordable child care affects employers l [ ... ]

Fish Groups Debate Chinook Proposals
06 Feb 2025 12:32

By ANNA LAFFREY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Ted Ferry Civic Center buzzed around 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday  [ ... ]

Board Adopts Resolution for School Funding
06 Feb 2025 12:30

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Budgetary discussion dominated the Sitka School Board [ ... ]

City League VB Continues
06 Feb 2025 12:29

By Sentinel Staff
    In the first competitive division City League volleyball matches of the seas [ ... ]

Dunleavy Wants to Limit Recording Conversations
06 Feb 2025 12:28

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    A new proposal from Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy would require all s [ ... ]

Anti-Trump Protesters Gather at State Capitol
06 Feb 2025 12:27

By JAMES BROOKS
and CORINNE SMITH
Alaska Beacon
    More than 100 Alaskans gathered Wednesday in fro [ ... ]

February 6, 2025, Police Blotter
06 Feb 2025 12:25

Police Blotter

February 6, 2025, Community Happenings
06 Feb 2025 12:20

Peratrovich Day
Activities Feb. 16
A parade, dinner and dance performances are being planned by Alaska [ ... ]

Higher Rates Approved for FY26 Utility Bills
05 Feb 2025 15:06

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Assembly reviewed proposed increases in monthly u [ ... ]

F&G Seeks Regulation Reducing Herring GHL
05 Feb 2025 13:48

By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
    With about a month to go until the return of herring t [ ... ]

City League Volleyball Begins
05 Feb 2025 13:39

By Sentinel Staff
    Competing in the first City League volleyball games of the season Tuesday ev [ ... ]

Fishery Board Hears Proposals on Finfish
05 Feb 2025 13:06

By ANNA LAFFREY
Ketchikan Daily News
Southeast Alaska fishermen filled the Ted Ferry Civic Center in K [ ... ]

Student Test Scores Fuel Alaska Schools Debate
05 Feb 2025 13:04

By CORINNE SMITH
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska’s public school test scores remaining near the bottom o [ ... ]

Gov Names Binkley To P.F. Board
05 Feb 2025 13:02

By JAMES BROOKS
Alaska Beacon
    Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has named longtime Republican politicia [ ... ]

UAF: Microplastic Now Found in Alaska Seals
05 Feb 2025 13:01

By YERETH ROSEN
Alaska Beacon
Microplastics, tiny bits of plastic that can be too small to see with th [ ... ]

Other Articles

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sitka Leads the Way With Tiny Home Law

By HENRY COLT
Sentinel Staff Writer
    After four months, three Planning Commission sessions, three first readings by the Assembly and nearly one hundred phone calls made by Planning Department Special Projects Manager Scott Brylinsky, the Assembly Tuesday night passed the ordinance that makes tiny homes a viable living option in Sitka.
    Janet Thome, Tiny Home Industry Association liaison and media coordinator based in Washington, told the Sentinel today that this may be the first of its kind in local codes regarding tiny homes.
    “The (Sitka) ordinance will be a template that other jurisdictions can follow across the country,” Thome wrote Tuesday night in a THIA blog post headlined “Groundbreaking Sitka, Alaska Tiny House Ordinance.”
    “Almost every day, we are seeing a battle with homeowners and municipalities: is it a structure, or is it a vehicle? Perhaps it is both; I applaud Sitka for forging a way for others,” she wrote in the blog post.
    Tiny homes are a global trend, and local jurisdictions have been hurriedly trying to fold them into their local building and zoning codes. And they’ve been succeeding, says Thome – but only “from the floor joists up.”
    Where they get stumped, she says, is the movable, wheeled chassis on which many tiny home owners want to build their dwellings.
    “Everybody is wanting to live in a tiny home on wheels,” Thome told the Sentinel in an interview today. “It’s the rage all across the country; I mean, it’s huge! They’re great for mobility, for avoiding natural disasters, and they can be rapidly built and factory controlled.”
     “But the jurisdictions immediately say ‘No,’ or the insurance companies say, ‘No,’” she added. “They haven’t figured out how to check that box.”
    Sitka found a way to check that box.
    Rather than shoehorning them into previously existing categories like RV’s, self-propelled vehicles, fifth wheel trailers or second family dwellings, Sitka’s ordinance – a joint effort between the city’s planning, zoning, and legal departments – provides tiny homes on chassis their very own definition and legal classification.
    Thome says she plans to send the Sitka ordinance to a number of cities, including ones in Washington, Colorado, Missouri, and New Zealand.
    In addition to providing a legal status for tiny homes on chassis, the Sitka ordinance has three features:
    -It adopts Appendix Q from the International Residential Code (IRC), which allows certain construction breaks to homes less than 400 square feet.
    -It allows tiny homes on permanent foundations to be built in Mobile/Manufactured home parks.
    -It conditionally allows tiny houses on chassis to be placed in individual lots in the same zoning districts that currently allow manufactured homes to be placed in individual lots.
    The Sentinel spoke with building official Pat Swedeen about the steps needed to comply with the new regulations.
    To ship a previously-built tiny home from out of town to Sitka, Swedeen said, the builder has to provide proof that the structure meets IRC standards. The new owner must apply for a conditional use permit through the Planning Commission.
    Those seeking to build a tiny home for themselves would have to apply for both a conditional use permit and a building permit, the building officials said.
    Swedeen says he is here to help. “Emails, phone calls, meetings here in the office – we’ll do everything we can to help people come to a design that’s approvable,” he said.
    “While the home is being built, we’ll do inspections,” Swedeen says. “We’ll inspect the framing, the electrical installation, the plumbing installation, and then at the end we’ll come through and do a final inspection to make sure everything was done right and wired correctly, at which point we’ll provide what has been termed a ‘certificate of approval,’ which is an adaptation of a certificate of occupancy.”
    Approvable tiny homes must have a “habitable room” (excluding kitchen area) whose length and width are both greater than 7 feet. The total square footage of the structure, excluding lofts, must be less than 400 square feet. The homes must have skirted bottoms and ventilated crawl spaces, and be hooked up to city sewer and water.
    Sitka High students in the Career and Technical Education program have built the Tongass Tiny Home, a version of a tiny home that is currently for sale at $65,000
    Unfortunately, said Swedeen, the Tongass Tiny Home is too tiny to be approvable. He says its longest habitable room dimension is closer to 5 feet than 7 feet.
    Swedeen encourages those with building questions to contact him at 747-1832  or pat.swedeen@cityofsitka.org.
    Those with zoning questions should reach out to Planning Director Amy Ainslie at 747-1815 or amy.ainslie@cityofsitka.org.

You have no rights to post comments

Login Form

 

20 YEARS AGO

February 2005

Photo caption: Baranof Barracuda swimmers pose with their awards won at the Speedo Great Alaska Open in Homer. From left are Ben Adams, Alex Dailey, Ben Campen, Andrew Vallion, Jamie Gorman, Gavin McGowan, Caitlin Way, Mallory Kempton-Hein, Alexandra Broschat and Alex Weissberg.

50 YEARS AGO

February 1975

Arrowhead Bowling League’s Dave Pearson, Al Aitken, Stumpy Baughn, Frank Brush and John D. Abbott Jr. bowled 200s. High series were bowled by Aitken, Baughn and Abbott.

Calendar

Local Events

Instagram

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Instagram!

Facebook

Daily Sitka Sentinel on Facebook!