The Haines Borough Planning Commission on July 14 approved the preliminary plat for Highland Estates’ 65-lot Hilltop subdivision–an area that comprises 37 acres of land south of Major Road.
The project has been paused since 2015, when developer Roger Schnabel received preliminary plat approval. Schnabel told the CVN he decided to drop the project in 2015 because he believed the housing market wasn’t strong enough to support it, but he reapplied in May because he thinks there is now enough demand to justify the cost. Because the 2015 preliminary approval wasn’t followed by final plat approval and substantial construction within two years, Schnabel’s site development permit expired.
The subdivision contains seven fewer lots than Schnabel planned seven years ago. Schnabel purchased the land more than 30 years ago from his aunt and uncle, after whom two of the roads in the subdivision will be named.
Having obtained preliminary plat approval, Schnabel and his contracted engineering firm, proHNS, can grub, install drainage, do minor pre-leveling and begin surveying. Before proceeding beyond that, including with road construction, they will need the planning commission to approve the final plat, a mylar model of the development.
Schnabel and proHNS representatives declined to predict how soon their final plat could be ready for the commission’s review. However, planner Dave Long was impressed by the detail of the plans presented at last week’s meeting. He said he thinks the developers are “close to a final plat now.”
The approval of the preliminary plat was far from assured; planning commissioners raised several issues concerning emergency access to part of the subdivision and at times seemed poised to oppose the plat.
“I think what you saw was, it’s a painful procedure for both the planning commission and the developer. We’re walking through code for something that hasn’t happened for a while, and the code isn’t as clear as either (party) would have liked,” Haines Borough Manager Annette Kreitzer told the CVN.
Much of the discussion at the July 14 meeting addressed elements of the plat that troubled commissioners but aren’t explicitly forbidden in code. Six of the 65 lots in the plat are located on steep terrain in the middle of the subdivision. The current design provides for narrow “access and utility easements,” but not roads leading to these properties, which borough public facilities director Ed Coffland said could impede ambulance access and snow removal.
Commissioner Rob Goldberg said he worried that approving the plat would “create a future problem for the borough, and for the people who might buy those lots and try to live on them.”
But planning commission chair Diana Lapham said she didn’t see that as a reason to keep the project from moving forward. “The people that buy those lots up there are going to know what they’re buying,” Lapham said. “They’re buying a pretty difficult piece of property to access.”
Kreitzer told the CVN she agreed. “It’s possible that some of those pieces of property on the steepest part of the development might only be occupied part of the time of the year,” she said. “Maybe they’ll sell and maybe they won’t sell. You have to remember, people like different things. Some people just want a good view. There could be a market for people who are willing to take on that responsibility.”
The commission ultimately approved the plat under the condition that Schnabel develop Bartlett Boulevard, a designated right-of-way that abuts the lot’s southeast side but is not on Schnabel’s land. Bartlett Boulevard does not directly border any of the contested central lots, but Lapham said commissioners believed that having another developed road nearby would improve access for the central lots as well as lots on the eastern edge of the subdivision.
Kreitzer said she isn’t sure if there is a “legal leg to stand on” in requiring Schnabel to develop the road. As of Tuesday, she was still discussing the issue with borough attorney Brooks Chandler and planner Long.
The Bartlett Boulevard condition is also likely to provoke a response from people who own properties on Gruening road adjacent to Schnabel’s lot.
Sandra June-Degen, who owns two properties bordering the subdivision, voiced opposition to developing Bartlett Boulevard at the June 9 planning commission meeting. “We are concerned about the noise, traffic, and dust… since our property would now be bound on three sides with roads,” June-Degen and her husband, Andrew Degen, wrote in an email to Long.
After the June 9 meeting, when Schnabel agreed not to develop that road, June-Degen said it seemed “everyone, including the developer, was satisfied with the results.” She was surprised and concerned to hear the decision had been reversed on July 14.
Schnabel told the CVN he understands that the planning commissioners “have to do their due diligence for the community.”
Schnabel said he has “complete respect for the process” but finds it challenging “when they ask for things outside of the code.”
Although Schnabel has submitted other permit requests to the planning commission, he’s never come to them with a project of this size. He said he thinks the scope of the development “concerns some of the planning commission members” and it has drawn extra scrutiny for this reason.
Long called the development a “great step in the right direction” to help with Haines’ lack of affordable housing. “Kudos to somebody for wanting to try,” he said. “Haines needs housing more than ever right now.” (Long acknowledged a potential conflict of interest because of his ownership of Haines Real Estate – for which reason he is also taking more of a backseat role on this project, he said, delegating more responsibility to Kreitzer, Coffland and Haines Borough Mayor Douglas Olerud.)
Haines’s most recent completed subdivisions were the 10-lot Tanani Bay Subdivision 3 in 2008 and the 23-lot Chilkoot Estates subdivision in 2012.