Four signatures clear a liquor store at a remote Alaska fishing lodge

A remote fly-in fishing lodge off Prince of Wales Island cleared the public-approval requirement for a new liquor store with four signatures. Four people are all who live permanently within a mile of it.

El Capitan Lodge sits in Sea Otter Sound in Southeast Alaska, reachable only by boat or floatplane, and hosts about 20 guests at a time for guided salmon and halibut fishing. It already runs a bar. Owners Scott and Nani Van Valin want to add a package store, or liquor store, for guests, open April through September, roughly the fishing season.

For a license outside a city, state law doesn't call a public vote. It requires signatures from a majority of the adult permanent residents within a mile, the remote-area version of public approval. The lodge sits in the Unorganized Borough, 50 miles from Klawock, and an Aug. 14 state licensing memo found that pool came to four people. The applicant gathered all four signatures.

The application is pending before the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board at its Sept. 1 meeting. The lodge is also seeking to transfer its bar license and add restaurant and resort endorsements.