Zoning is a covenant between property owners and the zoning regulations established by a local government. When someone purchases property in an area in the Haines Borough that is zoned “rural residential,” they are choosing to live in an area that “is intended to provide for the establishment of a rural residential area allowing for single-family dwellings and cottage industries.” An event venue that can attract hundreds of guests is not a cottage industry. [See HBC18.20.020] In CVN’s March 16, 2023 article “Residents call for assembly to clarify events prohibition” Deborah Schnabel asked: “Do we really have to ask the public to bring forward a complaint to us, because the permit did not change but the behavior did?” She is absolutely right. It is the role of the Planning Commission and the Borough administration to enforce the zoning codes, not to subvert them. An event venue in the Mud Bay Rural Residential zoned district is a violation of code and should never have been considered. With the Borough allowing Viking Cove to maintain eight group events a year, it appears that different people get to live by different codes. If the Borough manager cannot enforce clearly written zoning code correctly, why have any codes at all?
Linda Moyer