Wrangell’s Planning and Zoning Commission approved a pair of conditional use applications for prospective bed and breakfast establishments at last Thursday’s evening meeting.
For one of these, Linda Nore and Steve Thomassen want to operate “Mount Dewey Extended Stay,” a two-bedroom rental operated out of their home on Mt. Dewey Lane. They put in an application with the city on January 19 that would allow for the limited use, specifying no additional construction would be needed to make the transition.
The request drew a number of neighbors, who had concerns about streetside parking on the narrow, dead-end lane. Next-door neighbor Gene White felt the parking situation was already problematic, with multiple vehicles routinely on the property. When these end up parked on the roadside, during the winter White noted it poses a problem for the plows when they come by.
“When they moved in originally I was told they were going to make additional off-street parking for the family, which they haven’t,” he testified.
Two houses down, Frank Warfel Sr. echoed the sentiment, adding that he had no problem with adding a rental unit. Explaining his was one of the first on the road back in 1979, he noted the downhill curve from Third Street was a blind one, and echoed White’s consideration of wintertime driving.
“I do have a real problem with the traffic and the parking up there,” Warfel said. “It’s a dead-end street.”
Participating by phone, Nore contested the notion the property needed more parking.
“We currently only own three vehicles,” she said, adding the driveway was suitable for four. Also on the phone, Thomassen said one of his children may park a truck on the street. He further SAIDaddition of the city’s Mt. Dewey trailhead nearby for additional parking and traffic, prompting tut-tutting from the audience.
White came back to the lectern to explain this was not the case in the winter, and not the issue.
“As Frank has said, that corner can be a bear, especially in the winter time when it’s slick,” he said. He added snowplows end up pushing the bulk of fallen snow onto his yard when vehicles are parked on the roadside.
“We are not the only people that do that,” said Nore. She noted the proposed rental wouldn’t be “high volume,” with perhaps a few people renting at any one time. “It’s not any different than if we have another person living in our house with a vehicle.”
One of the requirements for conditional use is that entrances and off-street parking be available without safety issues. In its recommendation to approve the application, the city proposed making it a requirement that a minimum of two parking spaces be dedicated off-street on the property for the resident and the rental unit.
Living nearby, John Taylor testified to his support for the addition of another short-term B&B.
“Issues like this are no fun,” he commented, drawing on 14 years of prior experience sitting on the zoning commission. Also operating a B&B, he estimated maybe only a quarter of the time his guests had a vehicle. With the closure and repurposing of the Sourdough Lodge this year and the Thunderbird Hotel several years ago, Taylor added the additional beds would be useful to the community.
“That’s four more tourists that could come to our fair city,” he said.
Commissioners Roland Howell and Duke Mitchell saw the parking issue as more of a police matter than their own, and voted in favor of the application with the city’s recommendations. The item got a 4-0 vote.
Just up the hill on Third Street, owners of another single-family residential property were applying for a similar conditional use application. Karl and Dorothy Gladsjo want to operate a transient short-term rental in the lower floor of their two-story home. With the same conditions and for similar reasons as the prior item, the commissioners unanimously approved their application.
In other zoning business, commissioners approved an application from Southeast Properties, which operates the Stikine Inn and Restaurant, to purchase from the city 5,450 square feet of submerged tidelands and 2,000 square feet of uplands to the north and west of the hotel’s current property line. The bid is at nearly two-thirds of the assessed value, at $64,507. Southeast Properties co-owner Bill Goodale explained the assessed value seemed too high for the investment, which he eventually envisions will see expansion of the hotel by 30 additional rooms and dockside sales space. The project could take between three and five years, and would double the hotel’s capacity.
Chairing the commission in the absence of the president and vice-president, Apryl Hutchinson explained the lower price seemed acceptable because it incentivize the sale. In turn, the additional development would be of benefit to the community in the long run through additional revenue and opportunity to host larger-scale events.
“It will not reduce their property taxes, it will reduce the (cost of) sale of the property,” she explained.
Commissioners agreed, mirroring a decision by the Port Commission on February 2 to recommend the sale. They voted 4-0 in favor of the proposal. Both commissions’ decisions will be considered by the Borough Assembly when it decides on the bid.
“We appreciate it very much,” Goodale told zoning commissioners after the meeting. “I think you’ll be very happy with what you see being built down there.”
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