The Haines Borough Planning Commission unanimously approved last week a conditional use permit for Roger Schnabel for commercial boat storage and maintenance activity at the new Canal Marine facility on Front Street. Area residents and property owners objected to the permit, saying it would degrade the residential area and lower their property values.
“Location and view are very important when evaluating property value,” Dena Selby wrote. “More industrial buildings will negatively impact value as well.”
Jackie Martin agreed and said the use would also create undue noise, traffic and exposure to pollutants.
The Front Street permit comes months after the commission approved a land swap, which is still awaiting assembly approval, between the borough and a nearby resident to consolidate the industrial activity on the land adjacent to Canal Marine. The land swap occurred to help alleviate concerns about mixed industrial and residential use on the waterfront.
Planning commissioner Rob Goldberg acknowledged that nearby residents’ views have been affected, but that a commercial marine repair facility has been in the area for decades.
“It’s going to give the borough much better access to the beach and it’s going to consolidate the light industrial portion of the Front Street activity to the south end and from here on out we can focus on residential uses to the north end,” Goldberg said. “I think all in all we’re doing the best we can as a planning commission to try and mitigate some of the concerns.”
Goldberg suggested two amendments, including requiring an archeological survey of the area before any land gets filled, and adding language that paint chips and dust will be captured and disposed of in an environmentally responsible method at the site. The commission unanimously approved the latter but rejected 3-2 requiring an archaeological assessment.
Schnabel also applied for a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to fill tidelands adjacent to his Front Street property in order to expand parking and storage.
Schnabel suggested the swap in September after withdrawing a U.S. Army Corp of Engineers permit to fill in tidelands for a boat storage facility. Area residents objected to the project at the time, citing a loss of tidelands, possible disturbance of cultural artifacts and that industrial activity would be too close to residential zoning. The planning commission also opposed the permit in comments to the Army Corps.
Before the land swap, the planning commission had originally voted last summer to write a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers opposing the permit that would have allowed Schnabel to fill his former Front Street waterfront tideland lots for the boat storage facility.