Despite pushback from people who called the project a risk to public safety, members of Haines’ outgoing planning commission granted a permit for a company to blast into a hillside along Lutak Road to extract hard rock and other material.
During the planning commission meeting on Monday (Oct. 23), members heard pushback from a handful of people who testified in person and others who sent comments via email. All of them opposed the permit.
Glacier Construction – which is doing business as Southeast Road Builders – asked for a conditional use permit to extract fill material from just under 30 acres of land located about four miles north of Haines just before the ferry terminal.
In its application, the company described the project as a potential source for rock and other types of material for all manner of local and state projects. It also said the project will add jobs to the area.
“Right now, the only buyer we have for it – right now – is being used on the Haines community dock, in that area,” said Southeast Road Builders Area Manager TJ Mason. “We just plan on supplying aggregation and sand, gravel for the community of Haines and the rest of Southeast Alaska by utilizing the deep water port in that area.”
The company’s request includes seven parcels – some of them are covered in thick spruce forests. Opponents argued that clearing the vegetation and blasting in areas with steep slopes would destabilize an already slide-prone region. Some mentioned a series of landslides, including one in 2020 on Beach Road that killed two people, in pushing back against the permit.
“There’s no one in this room, myself included, who has the information or the expertise to know what will happen if you remove the trees from that area, blast that area and excavate that area,” said Gershon Cohen, who called the project a public safety issue. “It’s right across from the ferry terminal, right above a road that is used every day, all day long by people, commuters and tour buses, by bicyclists etc. And, if you start digging into that hillside, what impact is that going to have in terms of safety?”
Cohen and Rachel Saitzyk, who was just elected to the planning commission but has not yet taken her seat, suggested that planning commission members wait for more data before approving the permit.
Saitzyk cited a study of slides in the area that recommends strength testing soil and bedrock in areas that have failed and slid in the past.
“This area that is up for conditional use permit had six (landslides) of varying sizes. I think there was one that slid some amount across the road,” Saitzyk said.
Some sitting commission members also asked Mason about slope stabilization.
“I have no doubt that you can stabilize the hill on your property. But, how does this affect – and this is my lack of knowledge – it’s a very steep hill that continues to go. I just don’t understand how – maybe you can explain to me – how that ground above it will be stabilized,” said commissioner Justin Mitman.
“Yeah, so the ground beyond our property? I can’t say,” Mason said before going on to describe how the company would leave the properties once it was done extracting material from them.
“So, there’s no way to really mitigate any sliding above your property?” Mitman continued.
“Yeah, I think that’s an issue regardless of whether [it’s a] construction zone or not,” Mason said.
But, as he answered questions from planners, Mason pointed out that often blasting into bedrock can be used to stabilize hazard-prone slopes.
“A lot of times, producing a quality rock cut is what’s done to mitigate rock fall hazards,” he said. “So there’s a project going on in Ketchikan right now that’s doing exactly that. They have a big rock fall hazard there at Wolfe Point. We are blasting a new clean cut to be able to reduce and mitigate that rock fall hazard.”
People who oppose the permit also noted that the project proposal included parcels of land that are not adjacent; they interpreted borough code to mean that multiple permits are required for multiple parcels.
Borough planner Andrew Conrad said that’s a misread of the code.
“We don’t have a definition of the word ‘site’ in our code. I understand that may be misinterpreted .. but in this case, it may be identified as two separate sites on the application but the permit would include both of those,” Conrad said.
He also argued that it’s more prudent administratively to lump the two sites together under one permit.
Other people pointed out that several companies and people are listed on different parts of the project permitting and application. They asked for clarification of who specifically is doing what work.
“I ran into some confusion around the pollution protection permit that was mentioned. It refers to the Chilkat River as the receiving water body for storm runoff. This is not that location,” said Patty Brown, who was also recently elected to the commission but has not yet taken her seat. “So, I think there are some things that need to be proofread again on the stormwater permit. SECON was also listed as a signer rather than Glacier Construction or Southeast Road Builders.”
The conditional use permit came in under a familiar name, Southeast Road Builders. But that company is nested under Glacier Construction Inc., which is wholly owned by Anchorage -based Colaska Inc. – formerly SECON, Inc. Colaska Inc.is owned by an international transportation, construction and maintenance company, Colas Group.
Ultimately, commissioners unanimously approved the conditional use permit, though they lengthened it from a two year to a five year development schedule. They also required that the company not blast within two hours of the departure or arrival of a ferry and that its reclamation plan be developed by a professional engineer.
This was the last meeting of the planning commission before newly elected members join in November. Commissioners were previously appointed by the Mayor, but for the first time were elected after a citizens initiative passed. Supporters said the referendum was in response to unpopular decisions the current planning commission made.
The commission approved the permit but with the following conditions for the company.
Provide design and engineering plans for pulling material from hazard areas.
Give the planning commission a plan for how the property will be rehabilitated after it has been used for extraction — that reclamation plan will have to be developed by a professional engineer.
Get federal approval for all blasting work done within a certain distance of eagles’ nests.
Get state approval for access to one site which currently doesn’t have any.
Control runoff from the project to keep it out of roads, parking areas and nearby water bodies.