Daily Sitka Sentinel

Short-Term Rental on Boat Wins Approval

By HENRY COLT
Sentinel Staff Writer
    The Sitka Planning Commission Wednesday evening approved a conditional use permit for a short-term rental aboard the F/V Equinox, a 52-foot excursion boat.
    Planning Director Amy Ainslie said today that short-term rental requests for boats are infrequent.
    “I don’t think we’ve had one since 2018,” she said.
    She said short-term rentals on boats are managed by a joint plan between the harbors and the planning department, which caps the number at two per harbor.
    Cameo Padilla and Brooks Areson currently live aboard the F/V Equinox, located in stall T3-08 of Eliason Harbor.
    Padilla told the planning commission that she and Areson used to run a short-term rental on a “slightly smaller” boat, the Morning Glass, in the same harbor, but they have since sold that boat and purchased the Equinox to live on and also use for long-range charters in the summer.
    “But in the gaps between when we have charters, we want to be able to rent some of the rooms out, or the whole boat out – to a max of six people,” she said
    The boat has a living space, three guestrooms, and two heads. It is hooked up to municipal water and electricity, and has a Type 1 septic system.
    Commission members were interested in hearing more about the septic system.
    “There’s no holding tank on the boat,” Padilla explained. “It’s basically a little box that mixes everything up with a specialized tablet. You can pump it directly over. It’s a Coast Guard-approved system that you can basically pump anywhere.”
    BoatUS.org describes a Type 1 septic system as “an onboard treatment device using a physical/chemical based system that relies on maceration and chlorination.”
    All five members of the commission voted in favor of Padilla and Areson’s request.
    In other agenda items, the commission:
    – approved a variance to increase maximum building coverage above 50% and a reduction in front, side, and rear setbacks at 3603 Halibut Point Road in the R-1 MH Single-Family/Duplex/Manufactured Home zoning district. The request was filed by Larry Trani and Ann Walter.
    – received an update from Ainslie on the No Name Mountain/Granite Creek Master Plan for the 830-acre tract of mountainside city land between Granite Creek Road and Starrigavan.
    Ainslie said that to gather community opinion on development options the commission has distributed stakeholder surveys at more than 20 businesses. They will host a “public engagement meeting” sometime in April.
    She said a public works employee flew his drone over much of the study area, and that the imagery from the drone camera will soon be available on the city’s website.