The Haines Borough Planning Commission recommended last week that its resource extraction definition go for professional, legal and staff review outside the borough.
Commissioner Sylvia Heinz said she wanted a consultant and attorney outside the borough “who have experience in similar issues” to address public comments, code and conflicts of interest as they relate to resource extraction.
Borough planner Holly Smith wrote a memorandum on the history of planning commission actions on resource extraction since June 2017, including four public workshops and 10 public hearings, which generated hours of feedback from about 56 people.
At the May 10 meeting, Nancy Berland spoke about how the commission’s proposed definition would go against Mud Bay zoning code that protects residents from commercial activities. She also said the resource extraction “matrix,” that lists allowable amounts of material for removal, would not be enforceable.
“I’m really sick of this, I imagine you’re really sick of this…this is not acceptable and it won’t die here if you go on as planned,” Berland said.
Patty Kermoian said she was also leery of the commission passing the matrix and wished they would consider exemptions zone by zone.
The motion to send the materials for review passed 4 to 1, with Donnie Turner dissenting. Turner said he felt that after a year of work on the topic, passing it on for review was “kicking it down the road again.”
Smith said the definition will likely go for review after the commission’s July 12 meeting.