October Meeting Summary

It’s been a busy October, including a great Community Open House to help kick-off Skagway’s Fall Festival.

On October 16th, the Planning & Zoning Commission work session on the Skagway 2030 Comp Plan focused on Transportation (draft chapter HERE) and Land Use and Future Growth including Future Growth Maps (draft chapter & maps HERE).

On October 18th, we hosted a Community Open House at the Elks Club that gave everyone a chance to rank objectives and actions on all Comp Plan topics, look at and comment on the draft Future Growth Maps, and write some Skagway-oriented haikus.

It was BUSY at the open house, which was in conjunction with the burger feed. It could not have happened without the help of the Elks Club, your Planning Commissioners (Matt Deach (burger maestro), Gary Hisman, Rocky Outcalt, Joe Rau, Philip Clark, assembly liaison Orion Hanson) and volunteers Jeff Brady (haiku judge and literary scholar J), mayor Andrew Cremata, Christian Racich, Jacqueline Taylor-Rose, Tyler Rose, Dustin Kennedy, Tina Cyr, and Lisa Hollander). What an Amazing Team - THANK YOU ALL!
 

PUBLIC PRIORITIES

Over 40 residents ranked actions to get done over the next 10 years at the Open House. We will prepare and issue a full report next week, but for now…

These 6 actions were in a top tier with BOTH the highest TOTAL votes AND the highest number of THIS IS MY TOP PRIORITY votes.

1. Improve pedestrian access and safety on Broadway Street.
2. Extend water and wastewater systems across the 23rd Avenue Bridge to enhance fire protection capabilities, provide for higher density development, remove septic systems so close to drinking water aquifer and thus protect the drinking water wellhead area. Size the system to support development in area north of bridge over next 30 years. 
3. Ensure fire and police protection and emergency medical services can meet the local demands for service.               
4. Construct Recreation Center expansion to meet current and expected future demands for its use.
5. Support health care service delivery and opportunities that allow all Skagway community members including seniors, and families, to live comfortably in Skagway year-round.
6. Stimulate rehab of dilapidated housing stock that is uninhabitable (options for both incentives to rehab and disincentives if left as is are listed).
    

HAIKU WINNERS

Congratulations to Wendy Anderson and Cynthia Tronrud for their winning Haikus about Skagway! These (and a few other fabulous ones) will be published in the Skagway 2030 Comprehensive Plan.

TOP WINNER

Beautiful, diverse
Skagway, place for everyone
Bliss and Gunalchéesh

By Cynthia Tronrud

TOP WINNER

We create Skagway
Oddballs and adventurers
Living out our dreams

By Wendy Anderson

SPIRIT OF EVENING AWARD

Welcome to the Elks
Let's develop a Comp Plan
And then play pull tabs

By Andrew Cremata

In addition to those submitted for the contest, two of Buckwheat Donahue’s long time tourism colleagues sent in these Buckwheat-inspired Haikus…

Forever small town
Skies shushing on snow through birch
Howling his love for all

By Robbie Graham

Buckwheat Donahue
A man of heart and big howls
Remembered always

By Susan Bell

Click HERE to read all the haikus submitted!
 

TRANSPORTATION

Planning Commissioners and the public had a rousing discussion if transportation concerns.

Key discussion items and points of agreement were:

• There is no disagreement that congestion on Broadway, in the historic district, is a top concern. (per P&Z discussion, public votes at October Open House, and public votes at April Health Fair Open House)
• The idea of making Broadway 1-way (from south to north) as a one-month or one-season (May 1-Oct 1) trial during summer of 2020 is mentioned a lot. This could solve several concerns at once: reduce pedestrian and vehicle congestion and better organize their movement, eliminate most empty tour buses on Broadway, allow room for a designated ‘Photo Stop’ in front of AB Hall (everyone want to take a photo there), make room for moveable ‘pop-up parklets’ the OASIS committee is thinking about that would add needed spots for pedestrians to sit as well as generate some fun & buzz.
• Prohibiting tours on Broadway is NOT the answer.
• Line of sight when turning onto or crossing State Street is awful for both drivers and walkers. Solve by requiring a larger no parking zone at street intersections and/or adding ‘bulb-outs’ at corners that are the width of a car so pedestrians can to stand out farther and see cars (and vice versa).
• Pick one of several options suggested to generally prohibit tours and tour buses on residential streets.
• E-scooters and e-bikes are coming; don’t want lots of competing businesses and parked ones blocking sidewalks. Get on top of this.
• ROW at Spring & 5th is too small (20 feet)
• The importance of the AMHS to Skagway and ‘homework’ has underway to position itself to take action in the future on AMHS must be added to transportation chapter.
• Traffic goes too fast by school, and intersections and sidewalks there need improvements (see transportation chapter)
   

FUTURE GROWTH MAP COMMENTS

Comment Key (see map, bottom of page)

1. Old White Pass City/Brackett Wagon Road  - Add a multi-use (bike, hike) trail on old Brackett Wagon Road to White Pass City. (planners note: I think that from town to old White Pass City the WP&YR train tracks are now on the Brackett Wagon Road and that there isn’t room to put in a trail without blasting. We are seeking clarification now.)  
    
2. Liarsville Area - Realistic future uses here are: tourism operations, storage, warehouse, employee housing, repair shops. Also, there is some higher end and nice SF residential. Correct future growth plan designation (and zoning) should allow these. People investing in tourism operations or high end residential don’t want an industrial use next door though. There are some ‘eye sores” here that need cleaned up too. Water table is very high here, can be trouble with septic systems and getting potable drinking water. Platted private lots on east side are actually now river or clearly in floodplain.
    
3. Need Additional Areas for Commercial Tourism Operations - We don’t allow commercial tours on public trails, and we have lots of land ‘reserved’ for recreation use. Given growing numbers of tourists, we need more places to send them, to spread them out, more things for them to do. What if we wanted to allow a tram experience, or a guided hiking experience open to  all (residents, independent visitors/visiting family and friends, pre-sold on ships, walk-on, etc.) on Muni land north and east of Lower Reid/ Gold Rush cemetery? Or on the private 40-acre parcel oat about 2000 feet on AB Mountain? Other ideas? If this is a possibility, lets discuss this is Land Use/Future Growth chapter of Comp Plan and/or have a commercial designation or note on Future Growth Maps.
    
4. Klondike Highway - Agreement with more Residential development here. Suggest NOT changing zoning from Industrial to Residential General, instead rezone to Light Industrial or Business General with ½ acre or ¼ acre lots contingent on water/sewer over bridge.
    
5. Seven Pastures - The disk golf course is so vital to recreation community, please do not turn that area over to development. Do not allow RV Park at Seven Pastures, this is for recreation use.
    
6. School - Do not sell the softball field.
    
7. Rec Center - Build a bowl size extension to skate park. Need bigger ramps, new jumps.   
    
8. Burro Creek area (private and BLM) - Realistic future uses here are tourism operations, commercial, recreation, and hydroelectric. Hydro potential on private land is documented at 2 MW, on private+ BLM land at 7 MW. Future Growth Map and Zoning should reflect this.
    
9. East side overlooking Taiya Inlet, Muni Land - Build pioneer road (already surveyed or sketched) and sell Taiya Overlook Lots
    
10. Muni land, before West Creek Bridge, west side - One acre residential subdivision here is good idea. Note there is some erosion by West Creek along the road in this area, kind of got missed during dike construction after 2004(?) flood, will need to consider this when laying out lots. Also, no need to call this “dry cabin living” - this is a lifestyle choice here and there are different ways to accomplish it.