Opinion: It’s past time to reimagine Anchorage’s Heritage Land Bank

By Jennifer Wingard

It’s back. Certain Assembly members recently revived a substantial disposal of the Girdwood Valley’s most developable lands, the Holtan Hills parcels. The debate the disposal caused last year has been characterized by a vociferous few as local “NIMBYs” blocking affordable housing. It’s time to put that fable to rest. The project’s supporters claimed that its lowest-price condos in the first 60-acre phase would start at $500,000, an estimate that was either poorly researched or deliberately misleading. Actual comparisons for similar condos in the area were at least a quarter of a million dollars higher then, and now exceed $800,000.

Nowhere in Alaska would $800,000 condos be considered affordable housing, and the development’s other comparable properties are even higher. Girdwood’s occupancy rate for new high-end condos is only 5-10%, with the other 90% being dark second homes or short-term vacation rentals. Thus, the Holtan Hills proposal would exacerbate the current strains on Girdwood’s economy and infrastructure without providing any of the community housing so desperately needed. We can do better with our publicly held lands. We have to, for the sake of both Girdwood’s economy and Anchorage’s.

The need for attainable housing in Girdwood is perhaps the most dire in the whole Anchorage area. Almost all of the community’s houseless population is employed, and extrapolating their numbers to Anchorage’s population leads to a comparable total of 5,000-7,000 working people unable to find housing. The feedback from local businesses and organizations has been consistent for years: The Girdwood economy is currently hamstrung by the lack of workforce housing. It is past time for a community-driven, solutions-based approach that facilitates development, rather than the current, unnecessarily contentious system.

Last year’s Holtan Hills debate highlighted some of the underlying issues with the ways disposals of Heritage Land Bank (HLB) parcels are handled, systemic issues and not the fault of the employees, any one neighborhood or the Assembly. Possibly the best and simplest explanation of those foundational issues can be seen in the Municipality of Anchorage maps of HLB lands. Zooming in on Girdwood, it’s immediately obvious that the community is virtually surrounded by HLB holdings, and those parcels constitute the majority of the available land in the Girdwood Valley. The way HLB is set up, decisions about how that land is used and/or disposed of are initiated by a few municipal staff and then confirmed by the Assembly. Despite some “opportunities for feedback,” there are no requirements that any changes be made based on local issues and concerns. The sum of Girdwood’s official “representation” is one single mayoral appointee on the HLB Advisory Council. Our current resident appointee is fantastic, but that in no way justifies a process that deliberately excludes the community’s voice.

The more community members waded into the Holtan Hills disposal particulars last year, the more HLB and the developer dug in their heels, steadfastly refusing to make any substantive changes. Girdwood got mired in trying to fathom obvious process irregularities, last-minute work plan changes, unanswered FOIA requests, flip-flopping decisions about the need for a site-specific plan, rapid-fire personnel changes, and institutionalized recalcitrance to community input. Rather than rehashing a disposal that has been flawed and insufficient from day one, let’s move forward.

It is past time to reimagine HLB, involving the community councils throughout Anchorage and particularly Girdwood. Possible options to consider:

• Adjusting future HLB Advisory Council appointments to reflect the composition of HLB holdings. Since more than half of HLB land is in Girdwood, at least four of the seven commissioners should be from there as well, and they should be nominated by the Girdwood Board of Supervisors. That switch still wouldn’t reflect the outsized impact HLB decisions have on Girdwood — more than on any neighborhood in Anchorage — but it’s at least a place to start.

• Limit HLB disposals to 5-15 acres, unless otherwise approved by the community most affected. Reducing parcel sizes would allow for more of our local builders and developers to be involved, thereby increasing both opportunities and competition.

• Prioritize dealing with the Girdwood Industrial Park. Development there is critical for Girdwood’s business community and has been stymied for years, as evidenced by repeated GBOS resolutions.

• Allow for parcel disposals to be designed by the neighboring community first, subject to approval by HLB and/or the municipality. For Girdwood, this will help shift the focus from extraction-based policies to ones encouraging long-range growth for one of the strongest tourist attractions in the state.

• Rein in HLB’s increasing and conflicting roles as land owner, manager, plan sponsor, benefactor, and/or funding source. The Holtan Hills deal represents a substantial growth in power and responsibility that was not approved by any governing body.

When we support the Girdwood economy, we support the Anchorage economy and long-range growth that could benefit all of Alaska. Let’s do this.