Ketchikan planning commission recommends denying rezone that would formalize tourist parking at Powerhouse Road

The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Planning Commission voted to recommend denial of a rezone request that would have changed four adjoining lots at the terminus of Powerhouse Road from low-density residential (RL) to general commercial (CG).

Planning staff told the commission the proposal is inconsistent with the borough comprehensive plan and lacks analysis showing how increased commercial activity would be managed on the state-owned right of way. "Staff found that the proposal is inconsistent with the comprehensive plan," Planning staff member Aletha Johnson told commissioners during the public hearing, citing the plan's goals for responsible community development and that the subject lots are designated for future residential use.

Applicant Nils Ledderback, who said he owns property identified as 148 Powerhouse Road and also controls adjacent lots including Lot 113, told the commission he supports rezoning to provide managed parking, trash pickup and an ADA restroom at the top of the cul-de-sac. "I'm not gonna charge these people anything, but I just want to encourage them to get off the road and go up," Ledderback said, describing plans for parking, a restroom, trash containers and limited concession sales to reduce roadside congestion and litter.

Johnson told the commission that Alaska Department of Transportation (DOT) staff consider the current stopping and drop-off activity in the state right of way at the Powerhouse Road turnaround to be illegal commercial use. She said the rezone would create a legal, private off-street location for tour operators and other commercial activity but that staff recommends denial because the proposal is incompatible with the future land-use map and because no traffic study or comprehensive neighborhood plan was presented.

Commissioners raised several concerns in discussion. Members cited the state right-of-way jurisdiction, the need for a traffic and engineering analysis of approaches and turnarounds, and long-running neighborhood complaints about congestion and safety on the gravel access. Commissioners noted past efforts to manage the site, including earlier applications by the same applicant in 2013, a Herring Cove study and a liaison/best-management outreach program that borough staff later discontinued; the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau has worked separately on a tourism best-management program, Johnson said. Several commissioners said they were sympathetic to the applicant's attempts to address parking, restrooms and garbage, but that the neighborhood and infrastructure questions remained unresolved.

After public testimony and commissioner discussion, a motion to adopt Resolution 4488 (subsection B) — a staff recommendation of denial to the assembly — passed on a voice roll call, with five commissioners voting yes and one voting no. The chair announced that decisions of the Planning Commission may be appealed within 15 days of the decision and that recommendations will be transmitted to the assembly.

Next steps: the commission's recommendation will be forwarded to the borough assembly for its consideration; any appeal deadlines or procedural questions can be directed to planning staff, as noted at the meeting.