Daily Sitka Sentinel

Planners Want to Prevent S-T 'Blackout Zones'

By ARIADNE WILL

Sentinel Staff Writer

The Planning Commission said at their regular meeting Wednesday that they want to look into short-term rental density parameters.

Planning Director Amy Ainslie suggested the commission work with Assembly members, who are drafting an ordinance that could change requirements for approval of short-term rentals.

The request came after a hearing on a conditional use permit request for a short-term rental on Finn Alley, where there are already two properties with three short-term rental units.

The permit was approved in a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Stacy Mudry, Darrell Windsor, and Chris Spivey voting in favor. Wendy Alderson and Katie Riley were opposed. Two other conditional use permits were passed unanimously: one for a temporary structure in downtown Sitka, and the other for an eating and drinking establishment near Fortress of the Bear.

Also Wednesday, commissioners received a report on a conceptual plat for a subdivision, which didn’t require a vote.

The conditional use permit for a short-term rental was requested by Richard Forst, who owns a single-family home at 101 Finn Alley, in an R-1 single-family and duplex residential district.

Forst told commissioners he had obtained a short-term rental permit for the property in 2019, but never activated it. Since the issuance of that permit, there has been a turnover of two members of the Planning Commission and a third short-term rental permit became active in the neighborhood.

Commission concerns regarding the permit were about traffic — Finn Alley is a one-way street — and the possibility of creating what commissioners called a “blackout neighborhood.” A blackout neighborhood is a neighborhood where a high percentage of homes are rented short-term. Blackout neighborhoods, commissioners said, can drastically change neighborhood character: effects can include a large percentage of homes left empty, or else can lead to degradation of a neighborhood caused by a shortage of year-long residents.

Two written public comments also were submitted. One, from neighbor Mike Trainor, voiced support for the short-term rental permit. The other, submitted by Rebecca Poulson and Eric Dow, who live nearby on Jeff Davis Street, was not in favor of the permit. 

In other business, a conditional use permit for a temporary structure at 104 Cathedral Way in the central business district was issued to Sherri Blankenship and Justin Peeler.

Blankenship said she and Peeler have invested in a retail trailer, which they plan to set up at the 911-square foot tract on Cathedral Way. There, they plan to sell health products, such as supplements.

Arrival of their trailer is about three months behind schedule, Blankenship said. The commission agreed to allow the applicants to set up a different temporary structure on the property in the meantime, so as not to miss out on summer vending opportunities.

A conditional use permit for an eating and drinking place was issued to Barbara Palacios for a food cart at Fortress of the Bear, 4639 Sawmill Creek Road, in the Gary Paxton special zone. Palacios owns a mobile food cart, Fresh Fish.

Planning Commissioners heard a report on a conceptual plat for a minor subdivision to result in two lots at 728 Indian River Road, in the R-2 MHP multifamily/mobile home district.

Ainslie told commissioners that the hearing of the conceptual plat was requested by applicant Brett Haavig so as to gauge whether developing the property would be a worthwhile investment.

Haavig said he plans to divide the lot into two and would like to build a single family home on each. No vote was taken, but all commissioners expressed support for the project.