By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Planning Commission worked on the city tourism master plan at a special session prior to Wednesday night’s regular commission meeting, deciding at the outset to change the name of the tourism plan.
Agreeing that the goal is to create a plan for the present and the years immediately ahead, the commission voted unanimously in favor of calling it the “Short-Term Tourism Plan” rather than the “Tourism Master Plan,” because of the latter title’s longer-term implications.
Planning Director Amy Ainslie went over a work schedule for creating the plan, which will begin with data collection and collaborator meetings later in the month.
The commission agreed to hold meetings on the plan every first and third Wednesday from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Harrigan Centennial Hall, beginning in June.
The change will also shift the start of the commission’s regular meetings. This change will be formally voted on at the commission’s May 19 meeting, which will be at 7 p.m. at Centennial Hall.
Chair Chris Spivey directed Ainslie to set up two meetings with tourism collaborators later this month. He said he’s also interested in reviewing past tourism plans to find ideas for how to navigate the plan.
Commissioner Katie Riley asked Ainslie to compile figures on how many local excursion tours will be needed to meet the demand of the record number of cruise passengers expected to visit Sitka in the 2022 season.
Riley said that in a conversation with the mayor of Skagway, she was told that every thousand tourists requires roughly 250 shoreside workers to operate excursions.
Riley also expressed interest in working with other Southeast communities that have dealt with a large influx in cruise passengers in years prior to the pandemic-related cruise shutdown beginning in 2020.
She asked for more information about charters that are cruise ship-related, and that could affect local access to fish resources. This includes data cruise ship companies may have regarding charters they are associated with.
During public comment, Hugh Bevan suggested that the commission contact the Department of Transportation as soon as possible.
“Perhaps we can get ahead of the curve by tapping into DOT’s strapping highway development department,” said Bevan, who is a former city administrator and Sitka Economic Development Commission director.
