Denies permit for Lutak vacation rental Planning commissioners last week united in opposition to a petition from more than 100 residents to prohibit commercial events in the Mud Bay Rural Residential Zone (MBRRZ). Longtime commissioner and Mud Bay resident Rob Goldberg said he thinks the petition reflects “intolerance.” Other commissioners said they think it unfairly […]
Search results
Posted inNews, Haines Borough
Assembly Briefs
Borough updates commercial agriculture laws The assembly voted unanimously Tuesday to change borough land use code to establish use designations for commercial agriculture and crop production. The changes clean up the code to define permissible land uses for personal-use agriculture, crop production and commercial agriculture. Crop production is allowed now allowed under the new code […]
Posted inThis Week in History
This week in history
March 2, 1972 Fire Marshal Wally Dawson cited carelessness as the major cause of fires experienced during severe weather conditions of winter, and advised plain common sense to prevent catastrophe. “If you put six household gadgets on one outlet, you can expect trouble,” he said. “The individual who goes out with a blow torch to […]
Posted inHousing, News
Developer tax exemption pushed to third hearing with amendment
A proposed tax exemption for subdivision developers will go to a third public hearing on March 8. The Haines Borough Assembly voted 4-3 on Tuesday to amend the proposed ordinance that would establish a five-year property tax exemption on unsold and undeveloped lots in new subdivisions. Originally the exemption would have applied only to long-plat subdivisions of […]
Posted inLetters to the Editor
More information is needed
It was fitting to see two articles side by side in the recent Feb. 10 Chilkat Valley News regarding the approval of the Lutak cell tower lease and the low bird count. Might we question how much environmental pollution contributes to the loss or harm of wildlife including that from electrosmog aside from weather? The noted doctor […]
Posted inNews
Where did those potted plants come from?
No one can quite explain the three-dozen plants in the swimming pool atrium. They just materialized during the 40 years since the pool was built. Jonathan Richardson, who tends the tropical menagerie, says he knows the provenance of the 10-foot Norfolk pine. That came as a donation from an office of a local grocery store, […]
Posted inNews, Housing
Assembly passes restriction on yurts, container homes
In a 4-2 vote, the Haines Borough Assembly adopted an ordinance on Tuesday that defines yurts and container homes and restricts their use in some zones of the townsite. The final ordinance included an amendment to allow yurts and container homes in more places than would have been allowed by the original draft ordinance, which would have […]
Posted inNews
Bird count low but includes snowy owl
The number of birds spotted in the 2021 Audubon Christmas Bird Count dropped from historic numbers, possibly owing to biting cold weather on Dec. 15. 49 observers looked for birds around Haines and another nine spread out in a circle around Klukwan. The annual count is used as a barometer of the health of bird populations […]