Ketchikan Gateway Borough · Advisory board
A volunteer board that reviews proposed changes to buildings in the Creek Street Historic District and advises the Planning Commission. Free to use, early in your process, and open to anyone who wants to sit in.
Creek Street Historic District NRHP ref. 14000454 Listed 06 Aug 2014 Borough Code ch. 18.35
Next meeting
September — date to be set
Assembly Chambers · White Cliff Building · 1900 First Ave
Agenda focus: public restrooms, after the board reaches out to City Public Works
Open to the public
See past meetingsWhy this board exists
People live and do business on the boardwalk. Roofs fail, decks rot, signs change, businesses turn over. The district's character survives when those ordinary changes are made with some shared sense of what the place is — not when change stops. That's the whole job of this board.
The district was never frozen. Buildings here have been rebuilt, repainted, and repurposed for a century. We're here to help changes land well, not to prevent them.
No building on Creek Street reads alone. Rooflines, deck heights, sign scale, and color all carry across neighbors. We look at a proposal in the context of the boardwalk it joins.
We're an advisory board. We give guidance to the Planning Commission and the Zoning Administrator on proposals referred to us. Coming to us early costs nothing and usually saves time later.
What the board discussed and what it recommended goes up after each meeting — every meeting has a page. If you want to know why something happened, you should be able to find out.
Scope
If you're not sure which side your project falls on, ask. A two-minute question is cheaper than a redesign.
And plenty of what matters on this street isn't design review at all — bears on the creek, trash cans, restrooms. Those get raised at the workshop and tracked on what we're working on, marked for what they are.
Within the Historic District zone
Handled elsewhere or not at all
Attend
Meetings are open to the public and held in the Assembly Chambers. Property owners, tenants, neighbors, and anyone who just wants to know what's being proposed on the boardwalk are all welcome to sit in and speak.
Show up a few minutes early. Agendas are posted here ahead of each meeting, and there's time set aside for public comment. If you'd like a reminder before the next one, send us your email and we'll add you to the notice list.
Get meeting noticesHave a change in mind for a building in the district? Get in touch before you're deep into drawings. Photos and a rough sketch are enough to start — we'd rather talk early than react late.
Ask about a projectFrom the meetings
What the board discussed, what it recommended, and what's coming next. Posted after each meeting.
All five members were present, and the board elected Stephen Reeve as Chair, Tim Whiteley as Vice Chair, and Hayley Chambers as Secretary. Members raised hazard trees, the district entrance, boardwalk congestion, and the need for a neighborhood plan, and identified public restrooms as the near-term priority.
Draft — not yet adopted by the board.
Read the summary