Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

The recent public process and decision making around the Mud Bay zoning issue has been extremely challenging and stressful for everyone involved. Being an elected official means representing the will of the majority, even when you don’t agree with it personally. I hope we can all respect how difficult that is. We aren’t elected to be authoritarian. The assembly has been told repeatedly by decision makers - and affirmed by the planning commission - that Chilkat Inlet Retreat Center and other existing event venues would not be negatively impacted by any changes to Mud Bay code. That was the understanding on which we made our decision. We need to come together to ensure that existing businesses in Mud Bay are either grandfathered into their permits or rezoned to allow their commercial activities to continue uninterrupted. We have a responsibility to honor these understandings, even if it sets a bad precedent. Inflammatory rhetoric to the contrary is unhelpful and painful for all involved. Rezoning Chilkat Inlet Retreat Center to general use is the right thing to do. I encourage you to engage with your elected officials and urge them to honor what has been said regarding this issue throughout the public process.

Tyler Huling