Assembly again punts decision on Comp Plan

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Following nearly two hours of testimony Tuesday night, the Anchorage Assembly chose to once again postpone a decision on adopting Girdwood's comprehensive plan.

Some members said they didn't know enough about changes Anchorage's planning department wants to make on the plan. 

"The information is just too much to consume tonight," Assembly Chair Chris Constant said. 

Twenty or so people spoke against changes recommended by the planning department, particularly its desire to include housing designations in areas set aside as "open space" in the plan.

The two biggest points of contention are amendments for a strip of housing near Virgin Creek and a change of public land north of the airport from open space to "mixed use" housing that would allow Alyeska Resort owner Pomeroy to build 365 housing units. 

Many said that area, called "the mitten" by planners, is essential to the recreational character of the community. The area is home to undisturbed wetlands, primitive and groomed trails, and a stand of ancient trees known as the Enchanted Forest.

"Developing that fragile ecosystem is something you can't reverse over time," said Liam Coyle, who lives in a tiny home in Girdwood.

The planning department sent a memo to Imagine!Girdwood, a local group overseeing the update of the 30-year-old plan, recommending five changes. Two—housing along Virgin Creek and developing the mitten—were unequivocally dismissed by the group.

The department's idea for a 500-foot strip along Virgin Creek, which Imagine!Girdwood chair Mike Edgington said would result in up to 30 single-family homes—drew resounding opposition.

The area contains among the largest old-growth trees in Girdwood, said Brenden Raymond-Yakoubian. Developing housing along a corridor, he said, would "cut down the bulk of the forest."

A planning department spokesperson said the strip would connect dead-end streets and utilities are nearby. 

Anchorage mayor Suzanna LaFrance, in a rebuke of the department she oversees, said the amendment raises concerns for its impact on trails, the old-growth forest and a housing market that has seen a majority of new homes used as short term rentals.

"I've got some concerns too and I recognize I'm listed as a sponsor here," LaFrance said. "This amendment doesn't have the protection for trails and it doesn't prevent the short term rentals." 

She said delaying would give the Administration more time to "address the community's concerns about the use and the old-growth forest which I know is a hallmark of Girdwood in general but also the trails and a potential buffer."

The Assembly's youth representative, Kynnedi Grady, also weighed in on the proposed changes to Girdwood's plan.

"I don't think it's fair to try to force a plan on a community that clearly doesn't want it, so I understand where the people from Girdwood are coming from," Grady said.

Grady said housing will be expensive regardless and she doesn't see how more housing will fix the problem "when new houses are as or more expensive."

She also said she doesn't understand the planning department's justification for new housing as a way to connect dead-end streets near Virgin Creek.

"It would be more straight to the point to just fix the roads versus putting in houses," she said. 

The Assembly plans to have a work session on the amendments on March 6 followed by a vote on March 18.