Neighbor appeals Mat-Su approval of a 300-person event venue at the Knik Bar

A neighbor is challenging the Mat-Su Borough's approval of a wedding and event hall at the Knik Bar, and a borough appeals board takes up the case Friday.

The planning commission approved the hall in August. Before the vote, it dropped a proposed rule that would have closed the outdoor deck and outdoor events at 10 pm, leaving the midnight closing time in the application.

Neighbors across Knik Lake worry about noise carrying over the water, parking, and drinking and driving on Knik Goose Bay Road. Six people testified against the hall. "Drinking and driving on One of most dangerous roads in Alaska," Jay Tucker, who filed the appeal, wrote in a comment to the borough.

Borough staff called the 10 pm limit "an added safeguard rather than an essential condition of approval." Douglas Massie, who applied for the permit, told commissioners that other venues he called don't have to stop at 10. His application says amplified sound would stay indoors.

The hall and its lakeside deck would hold up to 300 people, according to the planning commission packet.

The bar has operated with borough approval since 1985. The borough has protested its liquor license over an outdoor expansion it never approved, a beer garden the new plan removes. The Assembly waived the permit fee, citing the planning department's past oversight in enforcing that expansion. Staff found no public complaints on record about the bar.

On Friday, the appeal board hears from borough staff, Tucker's attorney, Massie and neighbors before deliberating in public.