By Tom Morphet
The Chilkoot Indian Association is moving ahead with plans for a
subdivision west of Deishu Drive that would include 21 single-family homes and three
four-plexes.
The project aims to provide affordable housing for Natives and
non-Natives and also would provide a decade of work for the tribe, CIA administrator Greg
Stuckey said in a recent interview. Construction of roads and a four-plex is set to begin
this summer, with completion slated for 2009, and homebuilding to start in 2010.
Subdivision road design was recently finalized and work is under way on
water and sewer design. The project also will require a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
wetlands permit and an environmental assessment or impact statement, Stuckey said.
The tribe determined the need for the project through discussions with
local realtors, who said homes in the $130,000 to $160,000 price range were missing from
the market, Stuckey said. Low-income apartment complex Dusty Trails has a list of as many
as 10 people waiting for a two-bedroom unit, he said.
Construction is planned at a rate of three to four new houses to be
built each year, he said, including work for tribal-owned Chilkoot Construction. "The
philosophy behind economic development at the tribe is steady, long-term projects to help
sustain the economy. We’ll have better local participation in the workforce that
way."
The tribe has money in hand for the first four-plex, he said. The
building will include one and two-bedroom apartments and, because of restrictions placed
on funding, will be open only to low-income Natives. The percentage of homes available to
non-Natives will be determined by the nature of project funding, he said.
The subdivision would occupy 20 acres, roughly the upper third of the
tribe’s property between Major Road and the Haines Highway. Subdivision roads would
connect with Major Road and East Fair Drive. A nature trail built by high school students
to a wetlands pond near the highway would also be extended to Major Road.
Besides a small park at its center, the subdivision plan includes
asphalt roads, sidewalks, curbs and gutters. "It will be a very nice
subdivision," Stuckey said.
The tribe will be working through federal agencies to secure
low-interest loans for homebuyers and perhaps second mortgages, he said. The tribe may
also buy existing homes as a downpayment on the new homes.
The homes would be built to "five-star" construction rating,
so at to not lose value, Stuckey said. "Cheap homes are hard to maintain. A five-star
home is more affordable in the long run."
The homes will be built to specifications of the buyer and may have
between two and four bedrooms, he said. "It will depend on what people want. Buyers
will be able to say, ‘I want that house, on that lot, with that colored
trim.’"
Local real estate broker Jim Studley said he thinks the subdivision is
a great idea, and addresses a need.
"If they can do it, more power to them, because the cost of
building is really high. There is a need for that particular income slot home on the
market. If a tribal entity can eat some of the expenses to provide that kind of home, they
should do it," Studley said.
The Haines Borough Planning Commission, which has been requested by the
tribe to approve a rezone for the area and must also approve subdivision plans, appeared
generally receptive to the idea at its meeting last week.
"We have a real need in the Haines Borough for reasonable,
inexpensive, living situations" that are not trailer parks, said planning
commissioner Dawn Thomsen. "It’s a real plus."
Mayor Fred Shields also is favorable to the subdivision, though he
notes that some of the lots look small. "The idea is a good one. It would be nice
housing right near town."
Affordable housing has become an issue in Lynn Canal in recent years,
as property values in Haines, Juneau and Skagway have climbed. The Juneau municipal
government and chamber of commerce both have taken up the issue, seen as a cause for young
adults leaving the community. Affordable housing also was to be a topic at a Jan. 11 town
hall meeting in Skagway.
Skagway mayor Tom Cochran defined affordable as what a couple in their
mid-20s could buy, and said it wasn’t available in his town.
