By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Sitka Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit, a minor replat, and the lease of city land for a cell tower at their July 2 meeting.
Also at the meeting, two members said they would be resigning from the commission. After Randy Hughey announced he would be resigning in the coming weeks to make time for other pursuits, Victor Weaver told the board he also planned to resign.
In other business, commission members looked over a dozen entries that have been submitted in the contest to design a new official seal for the City and Borough of Sitka, and chose its three favorites to recommend to the Assembly. The designs are being reviewed by all of the city’s boards and commissions before the Assembly makes the final choice. The contest opened in January and was scheduled to wrap up March 31, but the project was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Many of the designs submitted incorporate such Sitka staples as the O’Connell Bridge, Mt. Edgecumbe, totem poles, and fishing vessels.
Acting on the agenda items, the commission unanimously approved the three property-use requests.
Eugene Solovyov was granted a conditional use permit to convert a wing of his building at 419 Lincoln St. from commercial to residential use because he was unable to find another business to replace the one that moved out. Solovyov said this is, in part, the result of a drop in the number of tourists this year.
The commission granted approval of the preliminary replat requested by Shee Atika Holdings Alice Island, LLC, at 601 Alice Loop. The minor subdivision will create four lots from Lots 1 and 2 in the Dr. Walter Soboloff Subdivision. The replat will not drastically affect Lot 1, which is the site of the former Mt. Edgecumbe Elementary School, but will subdivide Lot 2 into three lots for housing development.
The commission voted to recommend approval of the request by New Horizons Telecom Inc. on behalf of Verizon Wireless, for the lease of 2,500 square feet of city land on Harbor Mountain Bypass for construction of a cell tower.
