A Haines nonprofit has been working for years to build a large facility capable of churning out compost for farmers and gardeners. The facility itself is complete. But the plan has stalled for months amid a heated debate over a neighboring driveway that’s owned by the borough – and part of the local cemetery.
The non-profit, known as the Takshanuk Watershed Council, wants to use the driveway to access its new composting facility. Opponents say that’s inappropriate.
“We have stated over and over that the Cemetery does not have any land to give away,” Roc and Diann Ahrens, who have served as volunteer caretakers of the cemetery property for more than three decades, wrote in a public comment letter.
The issue came to a head late last week when the Haines planning commission considered the watershed council’s easement request. The conservation organization wants to use about .09 acres of cemetery land to transport material and turn around heavy equipment. The group would also build a bear-proof fence.
The bulk of the cemetery property, known as the Jones Point Cemetery, is across the street. And the request notes that the driveway site has been used as a driveway by neighboring landowners in the past. More recently it was strewn with abandoned boats, cars and tires.
“What we’re asking for here tonight is permission to build about 150 feet of fence to enclose about 40 feet of existing driveway,” Derek Poinsette, the watershed council’s executive director, said during the meeting.
Without the easement, he said, the organization might need to scale back its composting plans. Building a new driveway is possible, he added, but wouldn’t be easy.
“To just expand that into new terrain, with new fill and cutting trees down and all that, is expensive,” Poinsette said in an interview. “We don’t have that money, and I don’t know that we’ll be able to get money to do something like that.”
The application cleared the planning commission after hours of public comment dominated by opponents who were adamant that the watershed council should not be allowed to use cemetery land.
“I’m not opposed to composting at all. I’m opposed to you taking part of the Jones Point property. That’s inappropriate, you have another place you can put your access,” said Haines resident Randa Szymanski.
Critics also said the watershed council should have designed the facility to fit on its own property. Others thought the facility would just be bad for the cemetery — that it would generate noise and traffic and could attract bears.
During a phone interview, Ahrens said his main concern is that, due to Haines’ aging population, the cemetery should keep control over all of its land.
“The aged population that still lives here, [that’s] the reason that we’re starting to be concerned about running out of space,” he said.
He added that they’ve proposed building a columbarium on the driveway site, though in a June 11 memo, Haines interim Borough Manager Alekka Fullerton noted that the cost of a columbarium is not currently in the budget.
The watershed council, for its part, has pushed back against the suggestion that they should have built the facility elsewhere – and that they can just build a new driveway.
The organization owns about 50 acres in the area. Much of that is used for public trails and conservation work. The compost facility itself borders a wetland and a creek on two sides, which would complicate building a new access point.
Building the facility cost around $250,000 in grant funding. In an email, Poinsette said creating a new access point could cost that much or more.
During the meeting, Poinsette said the group explored buying or leasing the land in 2022. It was later determined that wasn’t possible due to the nature of the federal deed associated with the property, which says the land should not be sold or used for other purposes.
The borough later recommended pursuing a temporary easement. In 2024, an official with the Bureau of Land Management said in an email to the borough that the agency would not take issue with an easement allowing the use of the area as a driveway.
Poinsette said not having access to the driveway could lead to worse impacts for the cemetery.
“We might end up having to park equipment out on Takshanuk’s stretch of the road there, which is across from the cemetery,” he said. “That could be a greater impact, I would think, on the cemetery than if we were allowed to get off the road and back behind the screen of trees.”
Five planning commissioners voted in favor of the motion, with only Jerry Lapp voting against. Poinsette is a commissioner but did not vote due to his role with the watershed council. The full assembly is set to consider whether to approve or reject the request on July 8.
