Roger Schnabel has withdrawn a permit application from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a boat storage and maintenance pad on Front Street.
The permit’s withdrawal comes after nearby residents and the planning commission opposed the project in comments to the Army Corps. Last month the commission voted 6-1 to oppose the project, with members expressing frustration that the stated purpose of a borough-approved site-development permit didn’t align with the project goal as stated in the Army Corps permit application.
Schnabel would also have had to apply for a conditional use permit from the commission to go forward with the project, which involved filling tidelands with roughly 14,500 cubic yards of fill.
Greg Schlacter, project manager for the Front Street work that includes the new Canal Marine facility, told the CVN this week that Schnabel pulled the permit with the aim of developing a new plan for the area.
“We pulled it with the idea that we’re working on a bit of a different plan, something that I think will be better for both our development and the neighborhood,” Schlacter said.
He declined to reveal the details.
At last month’s planning commission meeting, nearby neighbors said they were concerned that their residential neighborhood, and the site of the former Chilkoot village, would be adversely affected.
The lots in question are in the borough’s waterfront zone, in which commercial and light industrial uses require a conditional use permit approved by the planning commission. Commissioners Rob Goldberg and Diana Lapham said they thought Schnabel’s site-development permit, which requires staff approval as opposed to planning commission approval, failed to describe the intent of the final project.
Schlacter said he wished the commission would have invited him to the meeting where the Army Corps permit application was discussed.
“The planning commission’s decision, without consulting the landowner, was pretty undemocratic,” Schlacter said. “The fact that they jumped to conclusions based on us trying to pull a fast one on them, to not make us aware they were going to put together public comment or inquire about our plan, that left a bit of a bad taste in our mouth.”