CITY and BOROUGH of SITKA Planning Commission Minutes of Meeting August 21, 2012
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CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Planning Commission Minutes of Meeting August 21, 2012 Present: Jeremy Twaddle (Chair), Tom Rogers (Member), Darrell Windsor (Member), Richard Parmelee (Member), Wells Williams (Planning Director), Melissa Henshaw (Planner I) Members of the Public: Randy Hitchcock, Kim Rickard, Lowell Frank, Bob Medinger, Ken Dinsmore, Connor Nelson, John Rennie, Lowell Frank, Ken Creamer, Marilyn Corruzi, Ted Wright (STA), Allen Bell (STA), William Ferguson, Paul McArthur, Michael Harmon (Public Works Director), Stephen Weatherman (Municipal Engineer) Shannon Haugland (Daily Sitka Sentinel) Chair Twaddle called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Consideration of the Minutes from the July 17, 2012 meeting: MOTION: M/S WINDSOR/ROGERS to approve the meeting minutes for July 17, 2012. ACTION: Motion PASSED unanimously on a voice vote. The evening business: NARROWING OF AN EASEMENT 204 JEFF DAVIS STREET RANDY HITCHCOCK Public hearing and consideration of a request to modify an existing easement that serves as a secondary access to the rear of Hames PE Center at 204 Jeff Davis Street. The request is to narrow the width of the easement from 40 feet to 20 feet. The property is also known as Lot 17 Sheldon Jackson Campus Subdivision. The request is filed by Randy Hitchcock. Planner Henshaw reviewed this request stating that the applicant would like to narrow the easement that aligns his property line the entire length of his property from 40 feet down to 20. The actual driveway does not extend past the 20 foot width. This easement is for Lot 17, Lot 12, and an emergency access for the Hames PE Center. Comments came in from Public Works due to the placement of the water line, they suggested a 30 foot width at Jeff Davis Street then taper down to 20 feet. The owner of Lot 12 has requested to narrow his easement down to 20 also. Letters in support from both the Fine Arts Camp and Dave Miller, Fire Chief came in. Applicant: Randy Hitchcock came forward. He had the City locate the water line previous to asking for a reduction. In which is seemed that the water line was within the driveway portion of the easement. However, this morning Mark Buggins, Environmental Superintendent for the City has determined that the water line goes through the section that he is asking to reduce. Mr. Hitchcock would like the option to pursue moving the water line. Public Comment: Stephen Weatherman, Municipal Engineer came forward. The water department looked at it once more since Lot 12 has applied for a reduction to this easement. Planning Commission Minutes August 21, 2012 Page 1 of 7 FINAL The water line is closer to the middle of the overall easement. The line is not up to City standards and it is privately owned. Public Works would ask that if the water lines is moved that it does need to meet City standards. Chair Twaddle received confirmation that the line would still stay privately owned. Mr. Weatherman answered Planning Director Williams question that Public Works would like to see 10 feet clearance on either side of the water line. Planning Director confirmed with Commissioner Windsor that the applicant will need to have the go ahead from the Alaska Arts Southeast, Inc. to move the water line. Kim Rickard owner of Lot 12 came forward. He would like to reduce his portion of the easement to 20 feet also. He has questions on where to move the water line, where it goes, and does it feed the Hames PE Center? Ted Laufenberg came forward. He lives in the area, is the Chair of the building committee for the Sheldon Jackson campus, and is president of the Sitka International Hostel. The original water line was installed in the 50’s. New water lines were ran in the 80’s. This line is 26 feet from the property line and feeds the Hames PE Center entirely. It used to feed the hydrant (though it has been taken out and capped) and the incinerator. This water lines will probably fail in the next 20 years. No motion was made this request will come back before the Commission at their next meeting on September 4th. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NATURAL RESOURCE EXTRACTION PORTION OF LOT 1 USS3670 SUBDIVISION CITY AND BOROUGH OF SITKA Public hearing and consideration of a conditional use permit request for natural resource extraction (rock quarry) and mining support facilities on a Portion of Lot 1 USS 3670 Subdivision. The request is filed by the City and Borough of Sitka. The property is at the end of Granite Creek Road south of Granite Creek Subdivision. Planning Director Williams stated that this item may take several meetings with at least two being at the Planning Commission level with recommendations and conditions before it moves on to the Assembly. Applicant: Stephen Weatherman, Municipal Engineer came forward. The Granite Creek Quarry Subdivision that has been previously brought forward and gone through the approval process has almost 100 percent wetlands and will take more time to go through mitigation plans in order to develop. Public Works started looking at other locations that has very little wetlands. In return for an access to this new proposed quarry site, the current quarry will extend further. At this new location the vegetation will be left along the outside property line as a buffer and there will be hours of operations. Mr. Weatherman confirmed that the quarry will not be visible from Halibut Point Road; the mountaintop may disappear, the life of the quarry is approximately 20 years; a minimum of a 50 foot buffer will remain along the property line; the site is approximately 10 acres; that there will be storm water pollution ponds since Granite Creek is in the area. Planning Commission Minutes August 21, 2012 Page 2 of 7 FINAL Public Comment: Bob Medinger came forward. He owns 4270 Halibut Point Road. All the owners have put a lot of money into their private road and it gets saturated with water. His biggest concern is possible landslides. He wants to know why the property line can’t be moved back. Chair Twaddle stated that they will take questions and then Mr. Weatherman can come back up to answer them. This is starting to take away the top of the mountain. Then he has concerns with a blow down. He suggested that Public Works should do mitigations and study this project He would like to know how much the City makes off this. Marilyn Corruzi came forward. She lives at 4260 Halibut Point Road. She feels like this is almost in her back yard. She has the same concerns with regards to landslides and drainage. She would like to know what the implications will be. Lowell Frank came forward on behalf of the Sitka Golf Association with concerns on the impacts of the golf course. He would like to know how this project will affect the course. Ken Dinsmore came forward. He lives at 4274 Halibut Point Road. He stated that he sent in an email and would like to echo Mr. Medinger’s concerns. Mr. Dinsmore has worked for the Forrest Service for 35 years with his main interest in timber sales and road construction. He has been involved with hundreds of quarries and quarry development. Even with the best buffer there are accidents that will occur and natural incidents. To say that this will not be viewed from Halibut Point Road or from the water, is premature. The 50 foot buffer will cause wind throw. Prevailing winds come from the W and SW. Trees are rooted to resist wind from that direction, however when you remove the back side, it will create a different wind pattern. There is then concern with wind thrown timber which in turn would expose the site. This is in his back yard. He has concerns with the impacts with the drainage pattern. Why not pull the line and leave the knob alone? His questions also include: What analysis has been done. Impacts to property values, noise/visual, eagle nests, study of the soil. Planning Director Williams received an answer with regards to blow downs: When the golf course was developed, the winds has an area to get a start. There were two and three buffer strips that were privately owned, those have disappeared. There is not much of a buffer there any longer with a few trees going down every year. You can build the best of buffers, but it is just a matter of time before the trees blow down once you expose timber to wind that it is not resistant to in a natural state. Chair Twaddle confirmed also to as how far they will continue to blow down. To which Mr. Dinsmore replied that they will stabilize eventually. How far depends on the type of soil, the shallowness of the roots, this is an old growth area that will be prone to disease and breaking off and uprooting and then when it does uproot it creates mineral layer on the ground then drainage become a concern. He told of his neighbor’s tree falling onto his property because there are dead and dying trees in that area. John Rennie came forward with concerns to the impacts of the golf course specifically with hole #2 and #1 fairway. Confirmation come from Mr. Weatherman that the access will come from Dormand MGraw’s pit and not next to the golf course and confirmed that there will be a buffer of a minimum of 50 feet from all property lines. Michael Harmon, Public Works Director came forward showing the distance of Dormand McGraw’s pit and this one stating that Dormand’s is more likely to affect the golf course.