Chena panel's July minutes show RV park bank stabilization waited on property sale

Bank stabilization work and an Army Corps of Engineers site visit at a planned Chena River RV park were waiting on the property sale when the Chena Riverfront Commission voted on its rezone in July, draft minutes on the commission's consent agenda Wednesday show.

The commission voted 5-2 on July 22 to recommend rezoning three lots on the south side of Horner Court off Phillips Field Road. Dollhouse LLC plans to buy two of the lots for an RV campground and cabins.

As reported Aug. 13, the commission backed stricter riverbank protection than the developers sought. It recommended replacing a 50-foot Outdoor Recreation strip, which bars new buildings, with a 25-foot Waterways Protection overlay measured from the ordinary high-water mark. Under that overlay, the only permitted use is preserving natural vegetation; clearing vegetation, stabilizing the bank or building a dock would need a conditional use permit.

Applicant representative Heather Richard told the commission Dollhouse is a leasing and rental company that remodels old structures. The cabins would have water and sewer service, and an existing shop would become a laundry and shower facility, she said.

Asked about scour along the bank, Richard said bank stabilization applications could not go through until the property purchase was complete, and the Corps would not visit until the buyers were owners of record. Root wads were proposed as an option, she said, but the owners would follow all professional recommendations.

Commissioner Buki Wright and Chair Wade Binkley voted no.

The borough Planning Commission voted 6-0 on Aug. 25 for the developers' 25-foot Waterway Setback overlay instead, and the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly adopted that rezone Oct. 8.