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Assembly approves ordinance allowing planning approval path for deed-split lots
Summary
Ordinance 20-85 amending Title 17 passed, creating a process to plat deed-split parcels without requiring adjoining owners to join, plus special notice and protections for remnant parcels.
The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly voted unanimously Sept. 15 to adopt ordinance 20-85, amending Title 17 of the borough code to create a planning approval procedure for so-called deed-split lots.
Associate planner Aletha Johnson told the assembly the ordinance clarifies the borough’s subdivision code and establishes a path for property owners to plat parcels that originated as unapproved deed splits. “This proposed amendment to Title 17 … would be plotting deed split parcels,” Johnson said. She explained the changes are based on Alaska statute (Title 29) that validates plats recorded before March 30, 1953, and that parcels created by deed after that date without local planning approval are prohibited from sale or transfer under state law.
The ordinance defines “deed split” and sets eligibility criteria, special notice procedures to surrounding owners, and requirements that remnant parcels be identified on any plat and have legal access. Johnson said the change is intended to restore development rights to long-standing, developed parcels where joining adjoining owners in a plat is impractical. The process requires a major-plat review and public hearing, along with findings and opportunities for neighbors to participate; the planning commission previously recommended approval.
Miss Palmer moved adoption; the motion passed on a roll call with six votes in favor and one absence. The ordinance corrects an incorrect cutoff date in the borough code, adds notice requirements for neighboring owners (including at least 60 days’ notice), and allows the planning commission to grant waivers for required improvements for already developed lots.
Johnson said the measure seeks to balance property-owner rights with protections for neighbors by identifying remnant parcels, ensuring legal access, and providing public notice and a hearing before final approval. The amendment also limits the borough’s ability to create landlocked parcels by requiring legal access arrangements on plats.
The ordinance takes effect following the assembly’s adoption on Sept. 15.
