Casey Kelly

The recent rezoning of a parcel of land at the corner of Atlin Drive and Mendenhall Loop Road is illegal, according to Juneau’s city attorney.

Earlier this month the Juneau Assembly changed the two-plus acres from residential to light commercial — against the recommendation of area neighbors, CBJ Community Development staff and the Planning Commission. And when Assemblyman Peter Freer brought up the zone change for reconsideration last week, it failed.

City Attorney John Hartle was out of town when the issue first came before the Assembly. He has since analyzed the arguments pro and con.

“Continuing with that rezoning would likely result in litigation. And a safer course would be to undo it and try again,” Hartle says.

He says he was persuaded the rezoning needed more study when he read a letter from neighborhood resident Chuck Cohen who argued the city’s own zoning laws made the change illegal.

“Chuck Cohen, happens to be a lawyer, made a legal argument that the proposed rezoning would violate CBJ 49.75.120 which is entitled Restrictions on Rezonings,” says Hartle.

Cohen argued that zoning has an importance beyond the individual landowner and gives predictability to the community, the developers and the neighbors.

The land is owned by Developer Richard Harris of RH Development.

Harris applied to change the area from residential to light commercial in January. Since then Atlin Drive and Teslin Street residents have put a lot of time into fighting it, concerned because Harris has never developed a plan for the property.

And there still is none, says consultant Murray Walsh.

“As we have said steadfastly throughout, there is no plan,” Walsh says.

A former CBJ Community Development Director, Walsh helps developers through the government morass.

“Typically you look at a piece of land for what you think might be the best thing for it and if the zoning is right then you go out and solicit development ideas,” Walsh says. “But if you think the zoning is wrong, then you fix the zoning before you spend money trying to generate or solicit development ideas.”

Assembly members voting for the zone change agreed with Walsh that Harris should have a lot of flexibility in determining what’s appropriate for the parcel – 40 percent of which is unusable due to a stream and wetlands.

But now they will have to come up with another plan, says city attorney Hartle.

The Assembly holds a special meeting tonight (Monday) to introduce an ordinance repealing the Atlin Drive zone change. The ordinance will come up for a vote at a September Assembly meeting.

The Juneau Assembly will meet tonight (Monday) as Committee of the Whole, as members try to decide what to do with the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial, now that a floating cruise ship dock is to be built in front of it.

The assembly asked the city’s Docks and Harbors Board to work with the memorial’s board of directors to, if necessary, come up with a mutually acceptable plan for relocating the monument. But Docks and Harbors was unable to come up with a recommendation at its meeting last week. The CBJ Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee previously recommended that the memorial not be moved to Marine Park until there’s a plan in place.

The memorial board prefers to have it stay where it is – on the south waterfront near Taku Smokeries – but not with a dock in front of it. Marine Park is its second choice, and a third option is moving it to the recently completed seawalk south of the current location.

The memorial board’s is concerned with how the dock will affect the annual Blessing of the Fleet. Port Engineer Gary Gillette explained at last week’s Docks and Harbors meeting that boats would still be able to pass in front of the memorial with a dock there, but it might be a tight fit.

“It’s not meant to say that in all conditions or all boats in a series might be able to make this particular route,” Gillette said. “We’re just showing that a boat could physically go through there, which is important to us for maneuvering to our facility, as well as the potential to go in front of the memorial for the blessing.”

Gillette will present the three options for what to do with memorial at tonight’s Committee of the Whole meeting. The committee may choose to make a recommendation to staff or to the full assembly for action at a regular meeting.

Also on the agenda for tonight’s meeting is a presentation by the Association for the Education of Young Children on childcare – an assembly priority; and ongoing discussion of the AJ Mine. The meeting gets underway at 6 p.m. in City Hall Assembly Chambers.

Are Juneau shoppers willing to pay 15 cents for each plastic shopping bag they carry home from the store?

Voters will have a chance to answer that question in the October municipal election.

Grocery, hardware, sundry and liquor stores with total annual sales of at least 15-million dollars over the last five years would collect the tax for city coffers as a way to reduce the use of the bags.

The citizens’ initiative will be on the ballot as well as renewal of the CBJ temporary 3 percent sales tax, two school bond issues, and an ordinance exempting municipal officials from the state’s financial disclosure law.

Three assembly seats and two school board seats are also up for election.

The sample ballot is now on the city’s website at juneau.org/clerk/elections.

Sunday September 4th is the last day to register to vote in the CBJ municipal election, which is October 4th.

Voter registration forms are available at the city clerk’s office, all state elections offices, Juneau public libraries, and online at elections.alaska.gov.

A 20-year-old Juneau man is behind bars after allegedly leading police on an early morning chase Sunday.

Keith Hanson is charged with driving under the influence, failure to stop, and driving without a valid license.

According to a JPD press release, police responded to a report of a vehicle fire near Douglas Harbor at about 3:30 Sunday morning. At about the same time there was another report of a single vehicle collision with a utility pole at the corner of St. Ann’s and Savikko Park Road. A witness told police that a van sped away from the area. Officers located the van and tried to pull it over. It eventually came to stop at the Channel View Apartments, where Hanson allegedly got out and tried to run.

Hanson was booked at Lemon Creek Correctional Center on 10-thousand dollars bail. Investigation into the vehicle arson and utility pole accident are ongoing.

Casey Kelly fills in for Matt Miller. Stories include, CBJ Assembly to introduce ordinance repealing recent rezone decision and look at possible locations for the Alaska Commercial Fishermen’s Memorial; Juneau longshoremen plan informational picket of cruise industry; RCA delays AEL & P rate case decision again; plus a wrap up of high school sports action from over the weekend.

In high school football action over the weekend, the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears took down the Palmer Moose 29-13 on Friday, improving to 3-0 on the year, while the Thunder Mountain Falcons struggled against the Nikiski Bulldogs, losing 46-6 and dropping to 0-3.

McLean Cannon has this recap.