PORT AND HARBOR ADVISORY COMMISSION        UNAPPROVED                       

REGULAR MEETING                                

FEBRUARY 27, 2008

 

Session 08-02 A Regular Meeting of the Port and Harbor Advisory Commission was called to order at 6:00 pm on February 27, 2008 by Chair Otto Kilcher at the City Hall Cowles Council Chambers located at 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska.

 

 

PRESENT:                     COMMISSIONERS MARTIN, KILCHER, ULMER, VELSKO,

CARROLL, MACKIE, HOGAN

                                   

 

STAFF:                          PORT & HARBOR DIRECTOR DEAN

                                    DEPUTY CITY CLERK KRAUSE

 

 

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

 

The agenda was approved by consensus of the Commission.

 

PUBLIC COMMENT REGARDING ITEMS ON THE AGENDA (3 Minute Time Limit)

 

None.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES          

           

A.                  Regular Meeting Minutes of January 23, 2008    

 

The minutes were approved by consensus of the Commission.

 

RECONSIDERATION

 

None.

                                                             

VISITORS        

 

MACKIE/ULMER – MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ALLOW MR. BRUCE HESS TO SPEAK ON SPIT PARKING ISSUES.

 

There was no discussion.

 

VOTE. YES. NON-OBJECTION. UNANIMOUS CONSENT.

 

Motion carried.

 

Chair Kilcher opened discussion by explaining that Commissioner Ulmer, Port & Harbor Director Dean and himself attended the joint worksession with Council on Monday, February 25, 2008. He opined that between the three of them they represented the Port & Harbors’ interest concerning some issues with the Land Allocation Plan. They updated the Mayor and City Council and remaining attendees on what the Port & Harbor has been involved in recently. He commented that Mr. Hess was present and had brought up some issues regarding the parking on the Spit.

 

Mr. Bruce Hess was speaking as a private citizen; he was not present as a representative of the Planning Commission. However, he commented that he might have a bit more knowledge regarding the parking issues because of his involvement on the Planning Commission.

Mr. Hess referred to a recent Conditional Use Permit before the Planning Commission that really brought the parking predicament on the Spit to the forefront. He mentioned that there are no current parking requirements on the Spit to provide patron parking. There are extensive parking requirements in town and virtually none on the Spit.

Mr. Hess would like to see work start soon on addressing this problem with parking on the Spit. He believes that it would not be in the best interests for further development such as overslope development on the Spit without addressing the parking problem. He would like to see an assessment study performed that will determine the current parking availability and requirements and what will be needed in the future. He referred to the east side of the spit using the aerial photo supplied by Port & Harbor Director Dean in regards to future development areas.

 

Chair Kilcher commented that Mr. Hess was not presenting any new information to the Commission.

 

Mr. Hess pointed out that the current parking code in regards to the Spit has not been updated since around 1988. He referred to the lease parcels that came up in the land allocation plan. Mr. Hess stepped to the blackboard and the Clerk was unable to discern his comments to accurately record them in the minutes. Mr. Hess believes that when current uses are combined with the potential future growth of the Spit there will be no place to park but towards the base.

Mr. Hess would like to recommend a Request for Proposal (RFP) to solicit an analysis to be conducted for the current and future parking requirements on the Spit.

Commissioner Martin commented that it would appear Mr. Hess’ first concern was a parking code requirement on the Spit.

Mr. Hess responded that the “in town” code requirement was not as onerous comparatively in relation to calculating business parking requirements. Mr. Hess explained that the City Planner has a book that would give a parking space requirement for each type of business. He pointed out that the situation now resembled musical chairs. Mr. Hess referred to an area on the East side of the Harbor regarding parking availability. Port & Harbor Director Dean clarified for Mr. Hess that the area he referenced, the Commission has fought for the last 6 or 7 years in an effort to lease out the lots that they are important to existing uses and future uses. They did not want to encourage the same mistakes on the East side of the spit as the West side.

Mr. Hess continued that where the timed parking is located is actually a State right of way not City property. Chair Kilcher agreed with Mr. Hess.

Mr. Hess pointed out a number of areas where the current parking is in the State right of way. He mentioned that the state required a permit to park in the right of way by the business. The majority of parking for businesses along the Spit Road is in the right of way. Mr. Hess reported that during the Land Allocation worksession the City Manager mentioned that they could include parking requirements within the lease agreement. Mr. Hess did not feel that was the appropriate way to handle the parking problems.

Commissioner Mackie held the understanding that any new businesses must have parking, that was the reason for the conditional use permit for the oyster farmers and when Southcentral Radar was required to have parking. New businesses were required to have parking, existing businesses were grandfathered in; this was the information given to the Commission; that the Spit was under the existing parking code. Commissioner Velsko agreed emphasizing what Commissioner Mackie had stated.

Mr. Hess explained that the Planning Commission has been applying it inconsistently and after the Shellfish application the Commissioners examined the code language and it took quite awhile because of the way it is written, that the majority of them took several attempts before fully comprehending the code requirements.  It was determined that the only parking requirement on the Spit is a parking space requirement for year round employees and if you cannot provide that on the same premises you can use City owned property.  He gave examples of various current business owners on the Spit.

Commissioner Mackie responded that since the majority of the businesses were grandfathered in on the far west side, the Commission could not retroactively require parking of them; there is not enough room. Henceforth, the Commissions’ movement towards paid parking and an attempt to force parking more towards the end where there was room. Mr. Hess replied that as it stands unless a lease agreement has the requirement, there is no patron parking requirements. The current code was written twenty years ago, it was a different place, lots of city owned vacant land that people could park nearby. It is quite obvious the Spit has limited land space.


 

Chair Kilcher acknowledged once again that he was happy to have Mr. Hess here speaking about the parking issues. He stated that the Port & Harbor Commission went as far as they could without more information and contemplated arranging a joint worksession with the Planning Commission to work this out. He believes this joint effort could bring lots of ideas to the table. He observed that the danger of just selecting an area for parking without thinking ahead is that those areas will fill up. Then you end up with a temporary patch and the situation is compounded if a whole new code or system is not instituted. Previous discussions by the Commissioners have headed in the direction of a form of self-regulated parking. You need to ask the question, “What should be done?” Think along the lines of, “If it was working twenty years down the road what would it be?” Suggestions offered by the Commissioners were parking garages, a train, and shuttle services.

Mr. Hess referred to the concerns expressed by the police chief regarding pedestrian and vehicular conflicts when the Shellfish issue came up. He believes that unless the parking issues get under control that will increase exponentially.

Commissioner Velsko commented on the parking issue with the Shellfish co-op and that the Commission wrestled with it because they did not want to dissuade an enterprise that would be beneficial to the Spit. The Port & Harbor Commission agreed that they could dedicate parking across the road if the Planning Commission agreed to that plan. The Planning Commission is required to make that final decision regarding development. Mr. Hess stated that it was fortunate that the Shellfish was a conditional use. His point was that you could have uses out on the Spit that require a lot of patron parking and there is nothing that can be legally done.

Commissioner Velsko stated his understanding was that on the Harbor side a lease would require parking.

Port & Harbor Director Dean clarified the new information Mr. Hess was bringing to the Commission was that there are existing and potential new uses that are not going to be regulated.

Commissioner Carroll commented that they tend to think in terms of lease situations, but the biggest users in the Harbor are businesses such as Rainbow Tours. They have 20-70 people show up every day and those cars need to be parked somewhere. They do not have a lease. There would be no way to accommodate all those parking needs if more similar businesses were established.

Commissioner Ulmer stated that maybe private enterprise would be required to provide in town parking with a shuttle service. She commented that Homer Charters book a substantial number of people and maybe she will end up driving a bus to pick up customers in town and take them out to them Spit if that’s what it takes. There has to be some solution.

Mr. Hess countered that if an assessment is performed it needs to cover things like people coming out there to walk their dogs, bike, etc.

Commissioner Ulmer asked what the City is doing with the tax dollars they collect, it seems a shame for those customers who take a charter, paying to park their cars, all they need is to get out to Spit and back.

 

Commissioner Hogan arrived at 6:25 p.m.

 

Mr. Hess agreed that there was a potential for shuttles to cover some of those long term parking requirements.

Commissioner Carroll said it reminds him of resort areas where you park in a huge lot away from the attraction and they have the trams or shuttles that take you to the park entrance.

Mr. Hess reminded the Commissioners that when you have designated parking away from the businesses you have to provide safe pedestrian crossings.

Commissioner Ulmer commented that it might be a collaborative effort between the Planning Commission, City personnel and or management, and Port & Harbor Commissioners. This is an issue that is way more than the responsibility of the Port & Harbor Commission alone.

Chair Kilcher requested Mr. Hess’ assistance setting up a meeting with the Planning Commission. He also requested the Port & Harbor Director send a memorandum to the planning department personnel and administration to arrange a joint worksession with everyone.

Mr. Hess replied that he has been recommending it should really be at the top of the Planning Commission agenda.

Commissioner Velsko commented that the problem with changing the City Code would be the big charter operators, all the influx of vehicles; it will be a pretty complicated code because there is off site parking requirements for some and not others.

Chair Kilcher stated if the code applied to the entire Spit and the remaining available parking was paid parking, charging $5.00 per day, the private sector will either jump on the bandwagon saying, there’s money to make, or they will not want their customers to pay for parking and will provide transportation.

 

Further discussion followed regarding the possible problems this might bring up; where available parking would be depending on the season; determining how much more development can be allowed on the Spit because of the parking requirements; why it would be beneficial to look at a shuttle bus option as a revenue source; City allocating a ½ percent of the sales tax strictly to the Spit to help develop some programs; the importance of the Spit to the vitality of the City; and that the parties involved should include private enterprise and arranging a joint worksession, forum or public hearing between the Planning Commission, City Administration, Planning Department, and business owners.

 

Commissioner Martin stated it might be the time to get a professional involved as the Port & Harbor Commission does not have the expertise to take it any further and that the money would be well spent in the long run.

Chair Kilcher commented that it would behoove the City in general and the invoice should not fall solely on the Port & Harbor.

 

Mr. Hess pointed out that the Spit is not included at all in the updated Comprehensive Plan. It has been totally cut out.

 

KILCHER/ULMER - MOVE TO SEND A MEMORANDUM REQUESTING A JOINT WORKSESSION WITH THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT, CITY ADMINISTRATION, PUBLIC WORKS, AND PLANNING COMMISSIONERS REGARDING THE ISSUES OF PARKING ON THE SPIT.

 

Further discussion ensued regarding scheduling the meeting on the day of the next Port & Harbor meeting at 5:30.  Commissioner Mackie commented that the Commission has struggled for years with this issue and until pay parking is enforced he is not optimistic. Commissioner Carroll believes that it should go back to the policy of the user pays, they are the reason for the problems and should help in paying for the solution. Chair Kilcher stated that on the other side is the visitor staying at a bed & breakfast in town driving to the Spit, will also be a user and that is the reason he comes back to pay parking. Commissioner Martin felt it was being addressed again at the wrong time of the year and it will get dropped as soon as summer comes. Chair Kilcher expressed that with the interest shown by Mr. Hess and it’s a start to get the subject rolling. Further comments stating it would be the perfect time because the assessment can be done when the parking is the worse.

 

VOTE. YES. NON-OBJECTION. UNANIMOUS CONSENT.

 

Motion carried.

 

STAFF & COUNCIL REPORT/COMMITTEE REPORTS/BOROUGH REPORTS

(Chair set time limit not to exceed 5 minutes)

 

A.                  Port & Harbor Director’s Staff Report – February 2008                           

a.                  CIRCAC Clean Harbors Workgroup Teleconference

b.                  Transportation Worker Identification Credential        

 

 

Port & Harbor Director Dean elaborated on the Transportation Identification Credential program and some of the requirements.

Discussion ensued regarding the interpretations by different entities for various requirements; if the cost was going to be yearly; access to the Pioneer Dock will be only by using this card and a biometric reader; it will be just like the issues with guns, no matter the restrictions bad guys always get a gun; this will apply to everyone accessing the docks, terminals, etc., from truck drivers to longshoremen; long term outlook and effects of this requirement.

 

Commissioner Mackie asked if any boats have gone for salvage. Port & Harbor Director stated that there were a couple of large vessels in the Harbor that personnel have been urging the owners to look into salvaging these vessels due to the high demand for steel in Korea.

 

There was no further discussion.

 

PUBLIC HEARING (3 minute time limit)

 

None.

 

PENDING BUSINESS

                                     

A.            Overslope Proposal Comments from Mr. Yourkowski                   

 

Chair Kilcher asked for a motion to discuss.

 

There was none offered. There was no discussion.

 

NEW BUSINESS

 

None.

 

INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS

 

A.      Harbormaster’s Monthly Statistical Report for January 2008                   

B.       Weekly Crane and Ice Report                                            

C.      Pioneer Dock                                                                  

D.      Pioneer Dock Ferry Landings

E.       Memorandum Re: Land Allocation Plan 2008                

 

COMMENTS OF THE AUDIENCE

 

None.

 

COMMENTS OF THE CITY STAFF

 

Port & Harbor Director Dean responded to Commissioner Ulmer’s question regarding the derby and slips that anyone interested could contact the Harbor Office.

 

Deputy City Clerk Krause commented that the Commissioners were doing great.

 

COMMENTS OF THE COUNCILMEMBER (If one is appointed)

 

None.

 


COMMENTS OF THE CHAIR

 

Chair Kilcher commented that the Commissioners were great and he enjoyed working with them all. He also asked Commissioner Velsko if he would be willing to take over attending the Lease Committee meetings as a representative of the Commission.

 

COMMENTS OF THE COMMISSION

 

Commissioner Hogan apologized for his tardiness. Time just got away from him. He announced that an agreement has been reached between the City and Harbor Enterprises on the pending lease.

 

Commissioner Carroll commented that he was glad to see everyone back and good meeting.

 

Commissioner Martin wanted to know why they did not have a council member appointed to the Commission and if all the Commission/Committees had a representative.

 

Commissioner Ulmer wanted to know if the slips were going to be assigned for the derby.

 

Commissioner Mackie commented it was a good meeting.

 

ADJOURN

 

There being no further business before the Port and Harbor Advisory Commission Chair Kilcher adjourned the meeting at 7:00.m. The next meeting is scheduled for March 26, 2008 at City Hall, Cowles Council Chambers, 491 E. Pioneer Avenue, Homer, Alaska.

 

 

                                                           

Renee Krause, Deputy City Clerk I

 

 

Approved: