The latest Skagway assembly meeting included appeals not to move a building, to spend more money on Ore Dock and to save cottonwood trees.
The March 21 Skagway Borough Assembly meeting included a board of appeals which upheld the original Planning and Zoning decision. The assembly also approved hundreds of thousands to speed up the Ore Dock project and delayed cutting down trees.
The Skagway assembly met for a second time as the board of appeals to consider Jonathan Hillis’ request that the setbacks on his conditional use permit be waived.
Hillis was approved for a conditional use permit to convert his garage into studio housing, but the permit required he meet standard setback rules. According to Mayor Sam Bass, the garage is too far over by four feet on one side and two feet on the other.
One of the issues discussed was variance versus conditional use. The Hillis property received a variance in 2010 to build the garage with no conditions. Assemblymember Orion Hanson argued that the variance means the property owner has the right to build the apartment at the current location.
“And a variance, coming from our definitions and from state law, says that it conveys with the land,” Hanson said. “And I think that’s the confusion here, is that a variance was granted. It was granted through Planning and Zoning through the full process. It’s since sold several times. I think that’s really the difference between what we’re debating here is that there was a variance in place. And whether I think that that decision was or wasn’t a good one – it’s a permanent one.”
Assembly member Jay Burnham countered that the variance was meant for a garage, not a living space.
Assembly member Kate Kolodi said that disregarding the setback rules wouldn’t meet the requirements of conditional use, one of which is safety.
“I can’t imagine ignoring setbacks and putting a residence that close to the lot line would protect the safety of an individual,” Kolodi said. “I would argue that it actually puts that in jeopardy given that the road is there.”
Bass broke the tie, and Planning and Zoning’s decision stands.
The assembly went into executive session to discuss spending an additional $360,000 so Pacific Pile and Marine can add more crew and equipment to complete Ore Dock on time.
The vote to approve the funds was unanimous. Assembly member Deb Potter explained her reason for supporting the vote.
“Yes, we are spending money on this project,” Potter said. “But you know that May 14 is the first scheduled docking at Ore. And everybody that we can get up on that dock is not just somebody who’s enjoying a great experience in Skagway, but that’s how we generate our money. So, I want to remind everybody it’s about $100,000 a day when there’s a ship there. That’s also spread throughout town, and that’s probably conservative.”
And finally, there was more talk of trees. This time, cottonwoods. Borough Manager Brad Ryan prepared the town for the removal of some older, large specimens.
“We budgeted last year, or in this year’s budget, to take down the cottonwoods along Main Street,” Ryan said. “We were looking at the Rec Center cottonwoods, the ones along Garden City RV, and the school. They’ve become old and a maintenance problem. We got a quote. They came in high, so we have pared it back to just the ones along the Rec Center by the outdoor basketball/ice rink. And I intend to move forward with those unless I hear differently from the assembly. But I wanted to give you all a heads up. Before, there was a bit of a public outcry.”
Assembly member Alex Weddell appeared displeased and asked that the matter be discussed further. It was forwarded to the Parks and Recreation Committee.
