ITEM TITLE:
Report: Issuance of Temporary Land Use Permit #25-09 for Granite Construction Company for a 1.9-acre Portion of Tract C1 ASLS 79-116 owned by the City of Valdez
SUBMITTED BY: Nicole Chase, Senior Planner
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: N/A
Unencumbered Balance: N/A
Funding Source: N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
Receive and file.
SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Community Development Department staff received a temporary land use permit application from Granite Construction Company for use of an approximately 1.9-acre portion of Tract C1 ASLS 79-116 owned by the City of Valdez. The site has been the location of a gravel extraction pit and asphalt batch plant operated by Harris Sand and Gravel since 2002.
Granite Construction requested use of the property for operation of a temporary asphalt production plant in association with a State of Alaska Department of Transportation paving project they are completing on the Richardson Highway (see attached application and narrative). No permanent alteration of the land shall occur, or structures are proposed as part of this use. Granite Construction’s temporary land use permit commenced July 7, 2025, and is effective through October 15, 2025.
The City Manager was asked for comments on the application, and had no objection against the proposed use, but requested a stipulation in the permit that Granite Construction be responsible for cleaning up of any material or spills that could result from the proposed use. Staff worked with the City Attorney to include adequate language to protect the city in the permit.
The subject property is zoned public lands, which does not permit asphalt plants as an allowable use. However, pursuant to VMC 17.12.120 (B), interim, non-permanent uses of land that are not in conformance with the zoning district are allowable with a temporary land use permit.
Pursuant to VMC 17.12.120 (G), Approval Criteria, staff review of the proposed temporary use request found that all ten approval criteria were satisfied.
Pursuant to VMC 17.12.120 (I) 5, Action for Long-Term Permits, “The planning and zoning commission shall review the long-term temporary land use permit application, review staff comments, and take action on the application. The commission may approve, approve with conditions, or deny the application. Issuance of long-term permits shall be reported to the city council at the next regularly scheduled meeting.” The Planning and Zoning Commission voted to approve this temporary land use permit on July 23, 2025.
Fees for temporary land use permits of this type were established by City Council with Resolution #23-43 which states that “For temporary land use permits for areas that are less than two acres in size, the fee shall be a flat monthly rate of $311.00, or a pro-rated daily rate of $11 per day for those periods less than one month.”
For the term requested the permit fee is $1,051.00