By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Sitka Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a conditional use permit to AKO Farms for marijuana cultivation, at 213 Price Street.
Planning Director Amy Ainslie told the Sentinel Thursday the vote was 5-0 to approve the permit for the new operation, on property adjacent to AKO’s retail, concentrate and cultivation business at 1210 Beardslee Way. Both are in the I - Industrial zone.
Justin Brown, the property owner, was the applicant.
AKO’s plans call for a new 5,264-square-foot marijuana cultivation facility, including four grow rooms, a veg room, clone room, three bathrooms, storage room and kitchenette at 213 Price Street, the staff report says.
There was one written comment from the public, requesting speed limit and stop signs; and asking the company to put in fans, heat pumps and anything generating noise at the back of the building, “away from Price and Beardslee Way.” Ainslie responded in writing about how each issue would be addressed.
Otherwise, the conditional use permit was approved with the usual conditions of marijuana permits. The fact findings also were OK’d. Those include findings that granting the permit wouldn’t be detrimental to health, safety and general welfare; or adversely affect the established character of the surrounding vicinity.
Marijuana operations of any type are conditional uses in Central Business District (CBD), Gary Paxton Special District, Industrial zoning districts (I), General Commercial (C-1), General Commercial Mobile Home (C-2), Waterfront (WD), Large Island (LI), and General Island (GI) zoning districts.
As part of its state license application, AKO submitted a number of documents to meet requirements related to security, safety and overall operation of the facility, Ainslie said in her staff report. The Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office is the state agency that grants permits to operate.
After approving the conditional use permit, Ainslie said, the panel briefly discussed ideas for reviewing conditional use permits for the marijuana industry.
She noted the work the department started in 2017 to track similar information on short-term rentals, through an annual report by permit holders, instead of a review by the commission at a regular meeting.
She asked for the panel’s feedback on whether members were interested in starting a similar process for permit holders for marijuana businesses, with an annual review cycle.
Ainslie also was interested in what types of information the panel would ask for from the businesses, without creating a burden on the owners.
Numbers of jobs, utility expenses, number of permits, the types of permits, and tax revenue generated could help paint a clearer picture on the economic impact the industry is having in Sitka, Ainslie said in an interview Thursday.
Since voters in 2014 passed the state law to legalize recreational marijuana use, about a dozen permits have been granted in Sitka.
Ainslie said she’s hoping some of the information could be tracked internally through the city or the Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office.
“We don’t want to place any more burdens on the businesses – we don’t want to add to their paperwork,” she said Thursday.
No decisions were made on the item.
“It was a purely informational item,” Ainslie said. “We’ll do a little more research on our end to see what information we can get.”
All five Planning Commission members were present: Stacy Mudry, Darrell Windsor, Wendy Alderson, Randy Hughey and Chairman Chris Spivey. It was Hughey’s last meeting after five years, and Alderson’s first. The Assembly on Tuesday is set to consider two candidates for the vacancy left by Hughey.
