Whittier may let a man keep living in a shipping container through 2030

Whittier's planning commission takes up Monday whether Travis Pike can keep living where he has lived since about 2020: a shipping container on Blackstone Road.

A 40-foot connex, to be exact.

His application also lists a 25-foot motorhome and an 8-by-8 arctic entry.

Much of the rest of town lives in one building, the 14-story Begich Towers, at the end of a one-lane tunnel that cars share with trains.

Pike's problem is zoning.

His lot is zoned commercial. A house is allowed there only with a conditional use permit, and he doesn't have one.

The lot is also tight. Commercial zoning requires buildings to sit 20 feet back from the front lot line and 10 feet from the back one. That's 30 feet. Pike's leased slice of the 1.48-acre parcel is about 25 feet deep at most.

"I am right on the edge of the white line and 3 to 1 slope," Pike wrote.

So he's asking for two things, according to the meeting agenda. One is a permit to live there through Dec. 31, 2030. The other is a variance that excuses him from the setbacks.

City staff recommend approving both.

Assistant City Manager Shelby Carlson's reports found no documented problems with traffic, noise, police, drainage or property values. They treat the request as bringing an existing use into compliance, which the city's 2020 comprehensive plan asks the commission to do.

Carlson did note that the plan doesn't "identify shipping-container dwellings as a preferred form of housing."

She also noted that Pike "selected the current location of the structure and constructed improvements without first obtaining zoning approval." But she found the need for a variance comes from how shallow the site is, not from money.

Under the draft variance, Pike and the landowner would have to give the city access to its utilities and move the structure at no cost to the city if it's ever needed.

The two staff reports describe his utilities differently.

One lists electricity and a composting toilet permitted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The other lists electricity and city water. Pike's application says sink and mop water goes on the ground. The staff report doesn't mention that.

The agenda packet includes no written public comments.

Approval takes four yes votes on the seven-seat commission, which has two empty seats. Any appeal would go to the city council.