Long evenings and project procrastination found me in the cheap seats at the planning commission meeting Thursday. First up, a heliport permit application needing to satisfy 8 code criteria. Confusingly, the pitch came not from the applicant, but rather the borough manager, whose electronic apparition appeared regularly coaching the commissioners via zoom or texts relayed by the chair. Before each vote, commissioners were reminded of the manager’s written findings. This slacker hadn’t reviewed the packet so had to look up the letter afterwards, a tour de force finding no credible reason to consider denying the permit and a large body of evidence to support it. I learned that heliports don’t depress neighboring property values as 13 of 40 properties near the last heliport have appreciated since 2014. My shaky understanding of this issue was based on unanimously opposed public comment we’d just heard so the forced march to yes was surreal and alarming.
I don’t care for state and national politics. It seems like political party operatives in Juneau or Washington script the thing in advance, stir neighbors into opposition, then sneak out the back door with what they came for. I much prefer local politics because usually nobody gets what they came for.
But everyone is heard, and everyone understands what happened. I can’t say I understood what happened Thursday. The unprofessional public process on display will not serve us well in navigating the complex development questions in store for our community.
Eben Sargent