Juneau is getting a new asphalt plant, at least temporarily.
At its Tuesday night meeting, the Juneau Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit allowing an asphalt plant to operate in the Mendenhall Valley next to the Alaska Motor Vehicle Division building.
The permit will allow Miller Construction Ltd. to run a temporary plant on its existing storage and service yard off of Sherwood Lane until December 2017.
“Asphalt is a key item in the development of a community and in the maintenance of a community, especially one as damp as we are,” said Murray Walsh, speaking on behalf of Miller Construction. Walsh Planning and Development Services handled the conditional use permit application for Miller Construction. “There’s a lot of need for asphalt in any modern community.”
Despite that need, about a dozen people — most of whom live or own property near the proposed plant — asked the Planning Commission to deny the conditional use permit.
“With an asphalt plant right next to an office building, we’re concerned about our tenants wanting to stay there,” Larry Bauer told the commission. Bauer, of the real estate company Bauer and Associates LLC, represents Sherwood LLC, which owns property adjacent to the proposed plant. “We’re going to lose tenants, and the value of the building is going to go down.”
Other people who testified against the plant expressed concern about noise, traffic, smell and pollution, all of which they fear the plant will create. Several questioned whether the plant would be able to continue operating after its conditional use permit expires.
Bob Saviers, who testified against the plant, drew laughter from the crowd that mostly filled the Assembly chambers when he said that this plant will be “as temporary as that 3 percent sales tax.” Voters have held the city’s temporary 3 percent sales tax in place for more than 30 years.
Saviers didn’t get quite as many laughs — though he drew a few chuckles from the four people who spoke in favor of the plant — when he identified the opposition, of which he was a part, as “a bunch of NIMBYers.” NIMBY is an acronym for “Not In My Back Yard”, and it’s often used as a put-down describing people who don’t want a certain kind of development in their neighborhood.
Walsh addressed Saviers’ concern when the public comment period ended, explaining there is no way that Miller Construction can operate past its conditional use permit expiration date because it has permits with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, which have two-year sunset dates, too.
“It’s not like Miller can continue to operate the plant beyond the two year limit; DEC means business,” Walsh said.
Only five members of the Planning Commission were present for the vote, which took place shortly before 10:45 p.m., but those who were there approved the permit unanimously.
Commission members Carl Greene, Michael LeVine, Bill Peters and Paul Voelckers were absent for the vote. LeVine was present for most of the meeting but left before the commission took up the asphalt plant discussion.
In late April, the commission considered a conditional use permit for an asphalt plant that would have been located off Thane Road near the Rock Dump Indoor Climbing Gym. More than half a dozen residents testified against that permit, which the commission ultimately denied a month later and after tabling the discussion three times.
[http://juneauempire.com/local/2016-05-25/fourth-times-charm]
City and Borough of Juneau Assembly member Debbie White, who serves as the Assembly liaison to the Planning Commission, noted in her weekly report at Monday’s meeting that “everybody wants potholes filled, but nobody is willing to have an asphalt plan anywhere near them.”
• Contact reporter Sam DeGrave at 523-2279 or at sam.degrave@juneauempire.com.
