Daily Sitka Sentinel

Public States Values for Comprehensive Plan

           Planning, planning why?
           We must think to the future,
           And love today now!
                  - Brinnen Carter

By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
    Tlingit street names, more trails and community gardens, and completing phase III of the sea walk were popular choices of those taking part in a recent Comprehensive Plan open house.
    The Planning Commission and city Planning Department hosted the open house to give citizens a chance to weigh in on action plans and goals for the city relating to historical, arts and cultural resources; parks, trails and recreation; and transportation.
    About 60 turned out to submit comments or let the planning department know their highest priorities for “actions.”
    Community Affairs Director Maegan Bosak has released the results of the open house, which will be incorporated into the draft Comprehensive Plan now being drafted.

Barbara Sheinberg, standing, teaches Sitkan Linda Blankenship methods for counting pedestrians during the recent comprehensive plan open house at Centennial Hall. (Sentinel Photo)

    “They’ll become a part of the comprehensive plan, and give direction for staff and policymakers as we undertake new projects and make funding choices,” Bosak said today. “It’s setting a vision for what we want our community to look like and those actions help us get to that end goal.”
    She also announced the winner of the open house haiku contest. The judge, Sitka writer John Straley, chose Brinnen Carter’s piece (above) from the dozens submitted, awarding him the $100 gift card grand prize.
     For more than a year, the commission and planning department have been making presentations, holding open houses, work sessions and meetings and collecting public comments at numerous locations, in the revision of the comprehensive plan. The new plan focuses on creating a vision for Sitka in the year 2030.
    Bosak said the department, public and commission are making good progress, with six sections already reviewed: housing, economic development and land use were up for review last year, followed by the three sections reviewed at the June 6 open house.
    “I think it’s going great,” she said. “We’ve finalized the majority of the chapters.”
    Participants at the June 6 open house were invited to place sticky dots next to their highest priorities for actions as listed on poster-size sheets showing options on the three sections of the plan being reviewed.
    The planning department tabulated the results and released the results over the weekend.

    The five transportation-related items receiving the highest number of votes were:
    1. When and where appropriate, name, co-name, and rename streets in Tlingit. Bosak noted this item had more support than any other item on any topic.
    2. Adopt a “Complete Streets” policy affirming that Sitka streets are used by public transit riders, pedestrians and bike riders as well as cars and trucks, and that improvements should take all users into consideration.
    3. Maintain quality harbor and port facilities and services to support marine commerce and accommodate the needs of the commercial and charter fleets, recreational vessels, transient boats, seaplanes, and cruise ship tenders.
    4. Improve gravel and snow removal on road shoulders, sidewalks and bike paths to permit safe use by pedestrians and bike riders. Keep painted lines and signs in good repair. One idea was to initiate a neighborhood-city partnership for “Spring Sidewalk Keepers.”
    5. The City and Borough of Sitka will regularly participate in coalition meetings to develop, manage and fund Sitka’s public transit system. This will ensure that Sitka receives its fair share of public transit operational and capital funding from state and federal agencies.
    The top five items for parks, trails and recreation were:
    1. Advocate for protection of remote areas for dispersed and wilderness recreation, subsistence access, and to maintain remote cabins, hiking trails and mooring buoys.
    2. Support Sitka Trail Works trail expansion.
    3. Use undeveloped municipal park space for community gardens.
    4. Advocate for State Parks to resume management of the three state parks and two marine state parks located in the City and Borough of Sitka.
    5. Collaborate and seek service efficiencies to keep parks, trails, and recreation sites safe, usable, and well-landscaped. Think creatively. The public offered several ideas under this topic, Bosak said.
    The final item was on historical, cultural and arts resources. The “actions” priorities were as follows:
    1. Develop a Katlian Avenue Master Plan in collaboration with Sitka Tribe of Alaska, Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood, and other interested parties. The planning department said that partners in this effort would be City and Borough of Sitka, STA, ANB/ANS, property owners,and local business owners. City staff said possible elements may include:
    – Recognition and celebration of area history
    – Interpretive signage
    – Promoting mixed-use development along Katlian Street (commercial on 1st floor, residential in 2nd and 3rd stories)
    – High value to walkability and enhancing pedestrian use while allowing slow-moving commercial and industrial vehicles
    – Phase III of the seawalk, from Totem Square to Siginaka Way
    2. Create historical zoning district or overlay for the Sheldon Jackson campus. Encourage year-round use of the campus through marketing and use for local meetings.                                    
    3. Market and promote the Performing Arts Center. Support agreements and public/private partnerships to diversify financial support and promote use to the highest degree.
    4. The City and Borough of Sitka supports, as appropriate, efforts to return any future tribal artifact discoveries to STA and support STA, BIHA, and property owners in the rehabilitation of clan houses.
    5. Encourage public art displays, when appropriate.
    One table at the June 6 open house was set aside for volunteers to sign up for one-hour shifts counting bicycle riders and pedestrians at two Sitka intersections on June 13. The project was focused on just one of the intersections – Lincoln Street at Katlian – when there were not enough volunteers for both.
    This week’s report on the open house results said the volunteers counted 1,235 pedestrians and 64 bicyclists moving through the intersection during the 11-hour continuous period from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Staff said this would be done several times during the year, if enough volunteers are available for the task.
    The next section of the comprehensive plan that will be up for public review is on municipal buildings.