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Planning commission delays decision on proposed sea‑cucumber processing plant after access concerns
Summary
The Planning Commission postponed action on a conditional use permit for a small-scale sea‑cucumber processing plant at 2535 Tongass Avenue to allow the applicant to resolve legal/physical access and other concerns, including wastewater permitting and odor control. The item will return at the first August meeting.
The Ketchikan Gateway Borough Planning Commission on July 3 postponed a decision on a conditional use permit for a small seafood processing operation at 2535 Tongass Avenue after staff raised unresolved legal and physical access issues.
Planning staff member Miss Johnson told commissioners the application proposed enclosed processing of sea cucumbers on a property formerly used as a gas station and a used-car lot. Staff said processing would be seasonal (October through March), typically one ‘‘processing day’’ per week, and that the operation must obtain and comply with DEC permits for sanitation, wastewater and pest control. Staff recommended postponement after residents raised concerns about hours of operation, exterior lighting, potential odors and where deliveries would legally access the site.
Amanda Welch, the applicant’s agent, said deliveries would generally be by small truck timed to barge schedules and described the operation as ‘‘one boatload at a time’’ that would be packed, frozen and stored in a freezer container adjacent to the building. Welch acknowledged the easement/access issue had only just been brought to her attention and asked for a one‑month delay so the applicant could coordinate with the harbor master, engineers and the city on wastewater piping and access arrangements.
Chris Parks, general manager of Tongass Trading Company, said he supports new local businesses but described a ‘‘quagmire’’ of unresolved easement and maintenance obligations for the rear access (Marine Works Way / Donaway West). Parks urged either participation by the new business in the existing maintenance agreement or that the applicant fence the rear and access the lot from Tongass Avenue to prevent use of the disputed strip. ‘‘I’m not against them having a business… but I am against the access,’’ Parks said.
Commissioners discussed odor-control recourse, whether the lots were effectively landlocked, and the removal of curb cuts on Tongass during recent improvements. The commission adopted a motion to postpone the case until the first Planning Commission meeting in August 2025, 6–0, to allow the applicant time to resolve access/easement issues and return with documentation. Staff noted that a formal DEC permit and any required city utility hookups would be addressed before final permitting.
The item will return to the commission’s agenda at the first meeting in August 2025; staff asked members and the public to bring additional questions to planning staff in the meantime.
