By ARIADNE WILL
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Planning Commission unanimously approved two conditional use permits for short-term rentals at their regular meeting Wednesday.
The first was issued to the property at 3416B Halibut Point Road – in the R-1 MH - Single-Family/Duplex/Manufactured Home District – owned by Nick and Kim Nekeferoff.
The second was issued to Jake Kirkness and Kerri O’Toole for their property at 210B Lakeview Drive in the R-1 - Single-Family/Duplex Residential District.
Both permits were issued to housing units that are located on the same properties as the owners’ primary residences.
Both applicants said they would continue to have their units available for long-term rentals, but wanted the flexibility of having them also available for short-term rentals.
The approvals were the first the commission has granted since the Assembly turned down a proposed ordinance for a year-long moratorium on short-term rentals while the city studies their effect on local housing availability. Some Assembly members said they would take on a study without a moratorium in place. A town meeting on short-term rentals is scheduled 7 p.m. April 18 at Harrigan Centennial Hall.
Commission member Katie Riley, who had been in favor of the moratorium, said the two short-term rentals approved Wednesday are the kind she feels good about as they don’t impact Sitka’s long-term housing and instead offer property owners options to help sustain their own housing situations.
Cell Tower
The panel gave unanimous approval to two requests for height variances for cell towers, one near the UAS-Sitka campus on Japonski Island, and the other near the city water tank off the Indian River bypass road.
New Horizons Telecom, Inc. — an arm of Verizon Wireless — needs the increase in the allowable height of principal structures from 40 feet to 110 feet for the tower planned at 1332 Seward Avenue in the Public Lands District. A temporary tower is presently located there.
The request previously came before the commission at its Feb. 2 meeting, but was postponed because of members’ concerns about cell signals disrupting flight operations at city airport nearby.
Staff contacted the Federal Aviation Administration, which issued a letter declaring that the tower would have no adverse impacts on flight schedules and activities.
Planning Director Amy Ainslie said the city contacted the U.S. Coast Guard, the airlines serving Sitka, and other users of the airport, but received no comments from those parties.
The second height variance was issued at the request of the City and Borough of Sitka, allowing a tower up to 90 feet high rather than the 35 feet allowed in the Single-Family/Duplex District along the rural bypass road.
The variance was filed as a part of a leasing process by the city to New Horizons for the construction of a new cell tower. The Assembly approved the land lease to Verizon Wireless subcontractors in Aug. 2020.
Other Business
A conditional use permit for an eating and drinking place at 4639 Sawmill Creek Road in the GP - Gary Paxton Special District was issued to Colin Flanagan by unanimous vote.
The permit will allow Flanagan to operate a small concession stand at Fortress of the Bear, a popular tourist attraction and located in a part of town without any food purchasing options.
A conditional use permit for a personal use dock to exceed 300 linear feet at 1401 and 1403 Halibut Point Road in the R-1 - Single-Family and Duplex Residential District was issued by unanimous vote to Kris Pearson, Ral West, and John Hardwick.
Proposed plans for the dock show it measuring a total of 328 linear feet, not including the aluminum gangway.
West and Hardwick told the commission that the dock will need to be a bit long given how shallow the tidelands are in the area. They added that construction of the dock is a collaboration with their neighbor, as the venture will be quite expensive. The dock will be used for the upland owners to dock their private boats.
Two platting variances and a preliminary plat for a minor subdivision to result in two lots at 525 Kramer Avenue — located in the R-1 MH - Single-Family/Duplex/Manufactured Home District — were passed by unanimous votes.
The platting variances allow for property owner Michael Tisher to use existing utility and access easements to serve five lots, rather than the maximum four allowed in the city code.
Tisher currently owns four lots adjacent to 525 Kramer Avenue. He recently acquired a portion of the lot at 525 Kramer Avenue, for which a preliminary plat for a minor subdivision was passed.
The preliminary plat divides the lot into two oversize lots, measuring 16,000 and 39,000 square feet. It is for these lots that the platting variances were requested.
Prior to Tisher’s acquisition of the property at 525 Kramer Avenue, the same access and utility easements were used for both Tisher’s adjacent property and the 525 Kramer property.
