By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
City planning staff will present development concepts – from rock quarries to building houses – for the city’s No Name Mountain subdivision Wednesday night.
The presentation will be made at a joint work session of the Assembly and the Planning Commission 6 p.m. at Centennial Hall.
The draft Master Plan for the project details possible uses for different areas of the 830-acre parcel situated between the Starrigavan boat launch and Granite Creek.
It calls for recreational tourism or high-end housing at Harbor Point, housing development on a ridge in the center of the area, and rock quarrying near existing quarries on Granite Creek Road.
The Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday, immediately after the joint work session.
The master plan and city planning staff highlighted the high costs of developing this land.
“Challenging site conditions (lots of muskegs, wetlands, and streams) throughout the study area will complicate the construction of roads, utilities, building foundations and other structures, thereby increasing development costs. High development costs will limit the ability to develop affordable housing within the study area,” the plan reads.
“There is a need in Sitka for more affordable housing options, and there was interest in this site providing that opportunity. But once the team researched the various costs involved and took into consideration current demographic and housing trends, we realized it would be a very tall order. The cost of housing, utilities, and site prep would place the cost of homes well out of the affordable range,” Planning Director Amy Ainslie said.
A plastic chair is set up in a clearing along No Name Creek this afternoon. A draft master plan for the Granite Creek to No Name Mountain area was released recently. The Assembly is scheduled to discuss the plan Wednesday. (Sentinel Photo by James Poulson)
City Special Projects Manager Scott Brylinsky, who is in charge of the no name planning, emphasized the high development costs.
“We would like the community to understand that one of the desires by a lot of people who responded to the survey is to open up land to affordable housing, but… Sitka’s housing costs are due primarily to the cost of infrastructure and construction, not lack of available land,” Brylinsky said.
“So it’s going to contribute to housing, but not affordable housing, because development costs are high,” he told the Sentinel.
Ainslie said that even properties such as dry cabins would not be a low-cost option in the area.
“Even if you did a dry cabin, just land prep and road infrastructure are going to be really large costs,” Ainslee said.
“And to go through all of those costs and still have a residential development that doesn’t provide all the basic amenities that Sitkans are used to may not be a feasible option,” she said.
For example, the plan cites a $10.7 million development cost to prepare the land for housing on Sound View Ridge, a low ridge running north-south through the center of the property. This figure does not include the possible costs of wetland mitigation.
With low-cost housing unlikely in the area, the Master Plan states that on the waterfront Harbor Point, one option is the development of high end housing.
“High-end view-homes could be built on larger lots along and near the shoreline, while perhaps more affordable smaller homes on smaller lots, condominiums, or apartments could be developed on the property’s interior,” the plan reads.
Another option for that seaside parcel was recreational tourism development.
“Harbor Point’s beautiful forested shoreline setting overlooking Sitka Sound could host various recreational tourism activities that are being sought by cruise ship visitors and independent travelers,” the plan continues.
Ainslee noted that the pandemic-related decline of the tourism industry may impact possible short- and medium-term development of the Harbor Point area.
“We don’t know how long it is going to take for the tour industry to recover, and so the appetite for investing in new properties or lease development, we don’t know what the appetite for that is going to be,” she said.
As for industrial use of the land, the plan suggests continued quarrying on the south end of the property, where quarries already exist.
“Rock quarrying in the Granite Creek Industrial Area should continue and expand into Saddle Mountain to meet Sitka’s ongoing needs for structural fill material for construction projects,” states the plan.
The eastern edge of the land is mostly muskeg, which is difficult and expensive to develop.
Wednesday’s joint meeting will only involve discussion, with no voting on any plans, officials said. The Planning Commission will review the Draft Master Plan and formulate recommendations for the Assembly to consider.
