Haines Assembly may adopt development rules the planning commission asked to see again

The Haines Borough Assembly may adopt new rules for planned unit developments Tuesday, Oct. 27, that would raise the minimum site in the townsite from 20,000 square feet to one acre. The ordinance is up for its second public hearing at 6:30 pm, and the agenda lists adoption as the possible motion.

A planned unit development lets a project modify a zone's dimensional and parking requirements, with conditions. Under the ordinance, it still could not allow a use the underlying zone prohibits.

The draft never went back to the Haines Borough Planning Commission for the final review commissioners requested. At a March meeting, the commission voted unanimously to recommend that staff draft an ordinance. It added two amendments: specific snow storage requirements, and Commissioner Erika Merklin's request that the draft "be brought back to the Planning Commission for final review as a draft ordinance," according to the minutes. Commission minutes from April 16 through Sept. 17 and the transcript of its Oct. 15 meeting show no such review.

The ordinance would let the commission waive the one-acre minimum for downtown redevelopment on the manager's recommendation. It also deletes the zoning chart row listing where such projects are allowed. Today they are allowed with a conditional use permit in five townsite zones: Commercial, Waterfront, Significant Structures Area, Multiple Residential and Rural Residential. They are not allowed in six others, including Single Residential. The new chapter says it applies "within the townsite" but names no zones, and the records do not establish whether the change would open zones the chart now closes.

Borough Manager Alekka Fullerton would make several decisions. She would decide whether a project must come in as a planned unit development rather than a conditional use permit, approve final plans that are "substantially consistent" with what the commission approved and decide whether later changes are minor, which she approves, or major, which go to a commission hearing. The commission would hold a public hearing and then deny or grant preliminary approval. Its decisions could be appealed.

A developer would have one year after preliminary approval to file a final plan, with one six-month extension possible. The fee would be $500, plus $25 per housing unit, $100 per 1,000 square feet of commercial space and inspection costs. Applications would need a utility plan, phasing, renderings and an on-site snow storage area.

The only applicant on record is the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium's medical campus on Jones Point Road, approved under the current rules. The commission gave its preliminary plan unanimous approval in January. The plan covers a clinic, a critical access hospital, a long-term care building and 14 duplex units. By August the planner reported the project 60 to 70 percent complete, with final approval given.

The Assembly introduced the ordinance unanimously Sept. 22. No one testified at the first hearing Oct. 13.