P&Z commission approves permit request, plat review

The Wrangell Planning and Zoning Commission met Thursday evening, Dec. 10. During this meeting, they approved of a variance permit request and a preliminary plat review.

The variance request was put forward by Wesley and Wanda Ingram. This was an after-the-fact application, according to the meeting's agenda packet. The request was for a 3-foot variance to their side yard setback.

"While reviewing the preliminary plat, it was discovered that the existing residence on Lot 10 is 12 feet from the property line rather than 15," Economic Development Director Carol Rushmore wrote in the agenda packet. "The applicant believes that when the house was constructed in the 1980's, they met the zoning requirements- setbacks, at the time. I have not been able to find any records or an 80's code. The applicant has willingly agreed to apply for the after the fact permit in order to make the house meet the current code requirements."

Along with the variance request, the commission considered a preliminary plat review also related to the Ingrams. The Ingram family was proposing to re-subdivide two adjacent lots they own on the Shoemaker Bay Loop Road, according to the agenda packet.

"One of the primary structures accessed from the easement is currently located on the adjacent lot," the packet reads. "The subdivision will place each structure on its own lot."

The commission did receive a letter from a landowner adjacent to the properties in question, in opposition to the

replat and the variance request. The letter from Howard Gaines, attached to the agenda packet, states that the Ingrams have made maneuvering vehicles at the end of Haines Road difficult, by digging a ditch and placing large rocks along the edge of the road. This was done in an area designated as a Cul De Sac and ignores the road setback, according to the letter.

Despite the letter of opposition, both of these items were approved by the commission.

During their meeting, the commission continued their ongoing discussions around zoning for the old Institute Property. They also accepted correspondence from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers notifying them of an application from Rolland Curtis to restore a piling supported floating dock and to contain the property, along Zimovia Strait, with a stacked rock wall with fill.