Dillingham adopts a new long-range plan aimed at a 232-home housing need

Dillingham's City Council has adopted a new long-range plan for the Bristol Bay town, that aims to address a need for 232 homes over the next decade.

The council approved the 2036 Dillingham Comprehensive Plan unanimously Sept. 3. It replaces the plan the city had used since 2010. Under the ordinance, it's now the main guide for the Planning Commission and council when they decide on zoning, subdivisions, development reviews, capital spending and grant applications over the next 10 to 20 years.

The plan sketches a town of about 2,100 people that is slowly shrinking and getting older. Education and health care employ 29% of workers, government 26% and fishing 10%. The median household income is about $99,000.

On housing, the plan's appendix says about 15% of occupied homes lack complete plumbing or kitchens, and an estimated 53 need rehabilitation. The plan's ideas include:

• assessing 99-year leases on city land, to cut land costs while the city keeps ownership;

• evaluating graduated property tax breaks for new housing;

• considering lower or waived port fees on building materials;

• affordability or owner-occupancy requirements for projects that get city incentives, so the benefits go to year-round residents.

The plan also gets specific about roads. The city has two operators for roughly 128 miles of gravel and paved roads, and 46% of recorded crashes happened on icy or snowy roads. Residents responding to a 2023 survey complained about winter maintenance, dust and drainage.

On the waterfront, the plan calls for finishing the city harbor upgrades. Its appendix says the city may explore a public value-added fish processing plant and cold storage, so fishermen could process their catch and send it straight to the airport.

The Planning Commission led the work with consultant Agnew::Beck starting in spring 2023. About 95 people weighed in through a public input form and interviews, leaving roughly 417 comments.

One written objection came in for the Sept. 3 hearing. Mayor Alice Ruby read the letter from Samantha Holmberg about how the plan treats a property at 211 East Main Street, the minutes say. No one else testified.

The ordinance gives city staff 90 days, until early December, to produce a work plan. It's to name priority actions and assign each to a city department or partner.