Planning commission schedules workshop to review 2035 comprehensive plan after staff logs nearly 380 comments

At the Sept. 9, 2025 meeting, planning staff updated the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Planning Commission on the 2035 comprehensive plan process and the commission set a special workshop to review public comments and staff-proposed revisions.

Talia Steck, associate planner, reported the project team had received a total of 380 comments on the draft plan and said a large portion came from the arts council and the nonprofit collaborative; those groups said they were not engaged early enough and felt that the plan did not sufficiently reflect arts- and nonprofit-related priorities. Steck said staff categorized comments by theme and recommended a workshop to review the draft plan and the organized comments.

Frank Mulaney, planning director, said staff are logging each comment into a spreadsheet that will show who made each comment, whether it was from an organization, and which section of the plan it addresses. Mulaney reiterated that the commission will be directly involved in review and recommended a workshop. He noted the public draft plan and the comments/organization will be sent to commissioners ahead of the session.

Commissioners emphasized taking adequate time to review. Commissioner Gubitayo recommended not rushing the process, noting the assembly funded the update and the commission should exercise careful review; she and Assembly Member Kathy Bowling (attended a work group meeting, as noted in the record) agreed that more time is acceptable. Commissioner Gage, speaking from experience with disability advocacy, said disability-access and accessibility topics were again “glossed over” in the draft and urged the commission to set accessibility expectations and deadlines; Gage also said meeting times in the day limit public participation for working residents.

Staff initially proposed a Sept. 30 workshop but after discussion the commission adopted a motion to hold a special meeting on Sept. 29, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. to begin review. The motion was moved by Commissioner Dispenza, seconded by Chair Govars, and carried on roll call. Commissioners discussed planning for a roughly three-hour initial session with possible additional sessions in mid-October depending on progress; staff said the draft plan is about 78 pages and recommended commissioners review the draft ahead of the meeting to streamline discussion.

Mulaney and Steck said staff will supply the spreadsheet of comments and the draft plan ahead of the workshop. Steck noted that, during internal review, staff found limited issues in the data appendix (one figure description and a repeated misspelling of "Newtown") and had already addressed those items.

The planning director reminded the public about the statutory role of the commission in plan review and the timeline to complete recommendations. The workshop will be a special meeting of the commission focused on the comprehensive plan review; staff contact information for questions appears in the meeting packet.