Hotel and Hardware Store Only a Pipe Dream, Says Developer

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Rumors that a hotel and hardware store will sprout up near Girdwood Brewing Company are only vague proposals, a Girdwood developer said in a meeting, calling plans drawn for a permit "crystal ball stuff."

Tim Cabana testified at a Girdwood Land Use meeting Aug. 14 to dispel hearsay and to give details about the permit application that drew questions. Cabana said design plans for buildings were drawn up years ago and there is only a slim chance that they will ever be built.

"All I wanted was the permit to build a cul-de-sac," Cabana said. "That's all I wanted."

A “Stormwater Pollution and Prevention Plan” hangs beside land excavated near Alyeska Highway.

Cabana applied to the US Army Corps of Engineers in June for a wetland permit through his company Glacier View. The proposed work included a hotel, hardware store, parking lots, access roads and sidewalks.

When Cabana's application to the agency to develop wetlands was publicized, plans showed a hotel roughly twice the area of the brewery and a hardware store of similar size to the existing brewery.

Cabana said though he urged Corps representatives to exclude any structures on the map, the "Corp led me astray" by advising him to keep building plans on the map. He said a Corp official later apologized.

A road runs parallel to Alyeska Highway and connects the newly-excavated property to Girdwood Brewing.

"They finagled me into doing all this stuff together and that's where the confusion comes in," Cabana said. "All I'm doing is putting an eight inch water main in."

Cabana's permit application drew scrutiny soon after the Corps issued a public notice.

In a letter to the Corps that was shared publicly, Girdwood resident Christina Hendrickson wrote that Cabana's land was cleared and wetlands filled prior to authorization, unfiltered runoff from land clearing containing "oil sheens" bled into adjacent property and Glacier Creek, the plan lacks a traffic study, wetland impacts are under-estimated and a thorough Environmental Assessment should be conducted to "avoid litigation".

Cabana said the project has drawn ire from some residents. "They basically said I'm the devil," he said.

He said a hardware store is listed in the proposal because a representative from Ulmer's Hardware in Homer approached him with interest in a Girdwood location.

Meanwhile, Cabana said he will spend about $1 million in water line improvements he is making at the site, an investment that will benefit the Alyeska Basin area with a looped water line.

He said he may sell the property and, regardless, it will take years before any development were to happen.

He said he made a mistake by including structures in his application.

"I wish I would've just got a wetland permit," he said.

When the matter was brought up at a Girdwood Board of Supervisor's meeting, board member Mike Edgington asked staff to see if the Corps is planning a public hearing.

An Army Corps spokesperson could not be reached for comment.