Food businesses in trailers are serving up a host of issues for the Haines Borough as they morph into permanent structures after losing their wheels.
Under borough code, “temporary use” is defined as a building or structure that is capable of being immediately moved, or a use which is for a limited time up to six months.
The borough has been issuing temporary use permits to business in trailers and allowing them to operate for six months at a time. Now it appears those businesses may become year-round, and the modified structures, permanent.
A pizza business that opened without permits next to the post office reopened after a closure last week to meet borough requirements. It’s now operating under a six-month “temporary use” permit, although its owners say they hope to stay open all year.
“I’ve got six months to get everything in here the way I want it, then (the borough) will reassess it,” said Jason Joel, a Haines Police sergeant whose family owns the business. “I want to be permanent and year-round.”
“We want to work with people. This is what we do. We do this for anybody. We want to help business,” said borough manager Mark Earnest.
The pizza business previously operated under a different owner for four years out of the Eagle’s Nest Trailer Park, apparently without some required permits.
Meanwhile, a Second Avenue ice cream business that has operated seasonally under a temporary use permit also intends to stay open year-round. It was unclear this week whether the permit the borough issued to it in 2008 requires a seasonal closure. “We’re still determining some things on that,” said borough planning technician Steve Ritzinger.
A new seafood business has been operating out of a trailer across the street from the post office since early summer, also with a temporary permit, but with no stated intention of going year-round.
An issue started in May when George Campbell began development of a “food court” that included the Joels’ pizzeria on a .37-acre lot next to the post office. Campbell’s excavation of a ditch there to improve drainage required a land use permit, according to the borough, which fined him $250 after the fact.
On June 9, Campbell paid $50 and applied for a land use permit for “temporary food trailers/shacks” for up to six “portable type” structures. The stated $2,000 development budget included placing underground utilities and fixing the drainage. Around the same time, Campbell towed a pale green trailer to the site.
Joel moved his 8-by-12 foot modular pizza business to a spot next to the green trailer and opened in time for the state fair. Joel said that his business “doubled or tripled” at the new location.
But borough officials said the Joels’ operation was in violation of at least a half-dozen regulations, including that Campbell’s hand-drawn site plan was inadequate, that a required 15-foot separation between unattached structures wasn’t provided, there was no documentation of parking spaces, snow storage and setbacks from utility lines. Other issues included the outstanding $250 fee, lack of a water meter and lack of a grease trap.
On Aug. 11, Borough Manager Earnest sent Joel a cease and desist order, notifying Joel that if he continued to operate the business without coming to the borough office to settle the matter by Aug. 17, he would be fined.
Since then, the $250 has been paid, a grease trap was installed in the pizza building, a site diagram was submitted, the pale green building has been moved off a water line, and a water meter installation is scheduled.
There are now four modular structures on the site, three with wheels removed. Joel said he’ll remove the smaller pizza shop when he moves into the green structure.
Joel’s plan is to attach the 8-by-32 foot green modular structure to a camouflage-painted 8-by-40 trailer that abuts it, which will serve as dry storage and freezer space. He said he’s heard griping about the looks of the place and wants people to know he plans to put a gabled roof and siding on the 8-by-32 structure and paint it and the larger building.
In six months, he’s hoping the borough will accept the building as a permanent structure, which may depend on how it views his foundation, which consists of staggered pier blocks and pressure-treated beams. He said he can replace them with concrete piers.
Earnest said Joel’s project was allowed to go ahead for several months because Joel misunderstood code and there were “communication issues” between Joel, Campbell and the borough. “These issues are being resolved,” Earnest said.
He said he wants to develop a checklist for businesses that operate on temporary permits to avoid problems in the future. “We want to make sure all these types of businesses are operating under the same rules.”