The owner of the former sawmill property at 6-Mile Zimovia Highway has been working with the borough since last year on an application to develop the site into an industrial subdivision, offering more than 32 acres for sale as individual lots.
The property would include 24 lots, ranging in size from 0.36 to 2.36 acres, with 60-foot-wide roads and utilities serving the subdivision, which is zoned for waterfront development.
“The preliminary (subdivision) plat has been conditionally approved,” said Carol Rushmore, borough zoning administrator, though “there are changes in the works,” including decisions on water service to the lots.
If the changes are substantial, the subdivision plan would go back to Wrangell’s Planning and Zoning Commission for approval, Rushmore more.
The utilities will need to be in place before final borough approval of the subdivision plat, she said.
The developer is considering whether to pay to bring municipal water service to the lots, or build and operate an on-site water system, Rushmore explained to the planning commission in an April 5 memo.
“The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation will need to approve on-site septic systems, outfalls and on-site water system if developed, as well as stormwater outfalls and need for oil/water separators,” the memo explained.
“They have to have all that in place to sell the property,” said Rushmore, who also serves as Wrangell’s economic development director.
The roads, sewer and water will be privately owned and maintained, according to plans submitted to the borough, with two access points to the subdivision from Zimovia Highway. The Department of Transportation has approved permits for the highway access points.
The northern driveway to the subdivision would be a one-way, 30-foot-wide exit, while the southern entrance would be twice as wide and with two-way traffic, according to the latest plans presented to the borough.
“Our client intends to keep the roads and utilities in the subdivision private. No utilities or rights-of-way will be dedicated to the public with this plat. Existing overhead electric lines and poles will be removed, and all electrical lines placed underground in the private easement and access area(s),” PDC Engineers, which is working for the property owner, said in an April memo to the borough.
The site is a mix of asphalt, concrete and gravel pads, and is mostly cleared of buildings and debris, Rushmore said.
A sawmill started operations at the site in 1962. The Alaska Pulp Corp., which had taken over the operation, closed the mill 1995, and later sold the property to Richard Buhler, of Silver Bay Logging, who operated the mill intermittently until 2008 as logs were available, according to a history written by Frank Roppel and published in the Sentinel in 2016.
“Demolition of the mill was essentially completed in 2011, with only the dock, chip-loading facility, office, and a few shop buildings remaining,” Roppel wrote.
Richard Buhler died in 2016 at age 85. The property is owned by his wife, Betty Buhler, according to Rushmore’s memo.
The mill dock remains, but “it is in extremely poor condition and it’s falling apart,” Rushmore said.
Buhler has told the borough she wants to relinquish two tidelands leases that
are outside of the subdivision plan. One parcel that would revert back to the borough is near the dock, and the other is near the southern end of the subdivision, Rushmore said.
“There are some issues with the condition of the dock that needs to be dealt with prior to the lease termination,” she said.
Buhler has been talking with the borough about the possibility of subdividing the land for industrial use since 2019. The land was listed for sale back in 2019, at $2.7 million for the full 39 acres.
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