The Army Corps of Engineers put out public notice Monday for a substantial dock project in China Poot Bay.A family from California plans to build a private home on the 26-acre property with future plans for 10-bed commercial lodge and a restaurant. In order to gain access, the family wants to install a 125-foot dock in the bay, but some have concerns over the project limiting access to China Poot and wonder if a dock can handle conditions in the area.
California-based China Bay LLC purchased the property earlier this spring on the northern side of China Poot Bay.
Gail Fisher is the name on the Army Corps’ public notice, but according to the Alaska Dispatch News, Gail Fisher just manages her brother’s company, which was created for the project. Owner Gary Fisher told the ADN the family is building a vacation home near the beach and that the commercial lodge may be built in the future.
The dock would allow a few boats to access the property, and the project would also include about 600 feet of wooden boardwalk along the bluff and a 100-foot gangway.
The Corps of Engineers is allowing the public to comment on the project for just two weeks. Executive Director of the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies said that’s not enough time.
“We’re concerned about potential impact, and we’re also concerned that we didn’t really know anything about it and haven’t had any communication with the owner,” she explained. “So, it seems like it’s really fast.”
Coastal Studies operates an educational facility around the corner in Peterson Bay, and Trowbridge notes the organization had to go through a lengthy process to get its dock approved. She plans to ask the Corps of Engineers for a public hearing on the project.
Mako Haggarty, owner of Mako’s Water Taxi, share’s Trowbridge’s concern, but also fears the dock would restrict access to the back of China Poot Bay, a popular way to enter Kachemak Bay State Park and the China Poot dipnet fishery during the summer.
“We transit that area regularly, and every year after the winter storms, we need to re-plot out our course into China Poot Bay,” Haggarty said.
He says there are two channels for boats to access the bay that are constantly shifting. Haggarty notes the proposed dock would likely block one channel, and that if the other became too difficult to navigate, all access to the back of China Poot could be cut off.
Outreach Director for Cook Inletkeeper Bob Shavelson agrees the Corps needs to assess whether boats will be able to get around the dock and also says he’s concerned about the changing conditions in the area.
“I mean anybody that’s been around here knows that China Poot, especially in the fall and winter during the storms, is a nasty place to be, and the fact that they think they’re going to be able to maintain a dock structure there to me requires careful consideration,” Shavelson said.
Cook Inletkeeper asked the Corps to extend the comment period in a letter Friday and also wants a public hearing.
There are other concerns over impacts the project may have cultural resources such as archeological and historical sites. The Corps has identified two such sites on the property.
Janet Kline is a former collections curator for the Pratt Museum in Homer and says the property hasn’t been surveyed.
“It’s an archeological rich area, and we don’t know how many more potential sites are up in the woods that the spruce forest has overgrown now, unless an archeological dig and a survey was done over there,” Kline explained.
The Corps only has direct authority over the dock project below tideline, but it can deny the permit if building the dock would likely lead to other development affecting historical or archeological sites.
The Corps has asked the Fisher family to provide a survey on those potential impacts before they can move forward.
The Corps will also be scrutinizing the construction process and its impact on endangered marine mammals. It will consider how loud equipment will be while the dock is built and how long work will take.
The Fisher family wants to start construction next month and wrap up work in August of 2018.
Army Corps Project Manager Katherine McCafferty notes that it will evaluate whether a public hearing is necessary after the public comment period closes on Oct. 3. She also added that the Corps encourages anyone with public knowledge of the area to submit their comments.