Sitka’s current historic preservation plan is a two-page document drafted in the 1990s, around the time the city’s Historic Preservation Commission was first formed. At the regular assembly meeting on Tuesday, Planner I Ariadne Will said the new, 26-page plan was the product of a lot public input and work from community stakeholders that spanned the last 17 years.
“The historic preservation plan has been created by the Historic Preservation Commission as required by Sitka general code. It allows for the maintenance of Sitka CLG or certified local government status, which is a nationwide program,” Will said. “The plan before you has been underway since 2009 and is meant to act as a guiding document for the Historic Preservation Commission. The meat of the plan is within its goals.”
The new plan highlights five commission goals, including developing partnerships and raising awareness of historic resources for under-represented communities, especially Tlingit history, as well as preserving the historic and cultural resources of the city, educating the public, and promoting heritage tourism, and improving city’s process of consider historic preservation in planning. That goal contained an item that was a sticking point for some assembly members— the review process for construction projects on historic buildings.
That’s why Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz recused himself from reviewing the plan. Eisenbeisz owns a business in the city’s downtown historic district, and he said he’s working to replace rotten studs on a remodeled section of the building. Addressing the assembly as a member of the public, he said a permit for the project would require a review from the Historic Preservation Commission, which would slow things down.
“You could see within just a few minutes that what I am doing to the building is not in a historical nature at all. It would take someone just a minute or two to come down, ask a few questions, and indicate that we are not changing any of the historical structure,” Eisenbeisz said. “This process adds at least two months to my permitting process.”
Eisenbeisz asked for the assembly to consider amending the document to include an faster “administrative review” of projects that don’t impact the historic qualities of buildings.
Assembly member Thor Christian agreed, and suggested postponing the plan’s approval to reconsider that section.
“Not that we don’t value our history and Sitka, that’s Sitka’s claim to fame,” Christianson said, and added that the process could be costly and, “make a project that’s benign and trivial almost take months, and add a real burden to a property owner.”
Planning and Community Development Director Amy Ainslie said the commission’s permit review process outlined in the new plan is actually “status quo” and approving the plan would not change how that process works– it would only put things in writing. Ainslie said one of the goals within the plan itself is to improve and add clarity to that process.
“And if that were to happen, that would come back in front of the assembly as a plan amendment, because, again, I want to avoid in future these processes that were implemented, but maybe not as formally documented, and to have that memorialized as a part of the plan, which is why that would come back to you,” Ainslie said. “So it’s recognized in the plan that this process is not as well defined as it should be. But that’s that’s one of the goals in finalizing this plan, is to then move on to that next project of improving the process.”
Assembly member Katie Riley suggested approving the Historic Preservation Plan with the contingency that the permit review section sunsets after a year and is replaced.
“I don’t think we actually solve any issues if we don’t pass this tonight, because then the status quo continues and we continue to elongate building times,” Riley said. “We have to tell them through the actions that they’ve identified that we do want to see them take that, and if we deny this plan, I don’t necessarily know that that happens.”
But Deputy Mayor Tim Pike felt it was worth postponing the item to give staff and the commission time to address the concerns.
“I certainly was impressed with all the work that had been done, and I would expect to see all the same things come back,” Pike said. “We’re not sending it back and saying the plan has failed. We’re sending it back and saying there’s a portion of it that this point is making the community a bit uncomfortable, and I think we need to make sure we have some clarity on it, and that’s where I’m standing.”
Ultimately the assembly voted 4-1 to postpone adopting the plan with member Riley opposed. It will come before the assembly again at its first meeting in May.
Snow plow funding approved
The Sitka Assembly is greenlighting an additional quarter of a million dollars for snow removal. When the group met last night/on Tuesday (3-24-26), it approved $225,000 to pay private contractors to plow snow, and $25,000 to cover unanticipated snow-related overtime across several city departments.
Observers at Sitka’s wastewater treatment plant have recorded nearly 60 inches of snow in Sitka since December. More than half of that fell in the last month, making this March the second snowiest on record, according to data from the National Weather Service. City staff say keeping up with the downfall has been challenging.
Earlier this week (3-24-26), Municipal Administrator John Leach and several city staffers formed an incident comment group earlier to address the issue, and put the funding proposal on the assembly’s docket with a quick turnaround.
“I just wanted to get everybody refocused on making this a priority. The crews have been working around the clock. I mean, the three o’clock in the morning wake ups are getting pretty old. The equipment’s tired, the folks are tired, and we needed that help,” Leach said, and added, “You know, right when I say that, it turns sunny outside, but yes, it’s a good opportunity.”
Leach said the city has secured three short-notice agreements with private contractors, and while snowfall had slowed, clearing streets, moving large snow berms, and clearing drains, remains critical. Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz thanked staff for their work throughout the weeks of persistent snow.
“I wish that, like, I don’t wish that the overtime budget was bigger, right? I understand that our staff has done all that they possibly can at this point. Seven days a week at 3 a.m. is not an appropriate work schedule for anybody,” Eisenbeisz said, and said that the added cost “doesn’t display my true appreciation for them.”
Eisenbeisz and others noted that as winter wanes, “pothole” season is next. Leach said city staff are preparing for those repairs once the streets are clear.
The assembly approved the additional funding unanimously on first reading.
As of Wednesday morning, city staff said contractors were working to clear Edgecumbe Drive through the Cascade Creek area and removing a large accumulation of snow at Sitka High School before progressing to Peterson Avenue.
