Application to Develop Phase One of "Holtan Hills" Out for Comment

A Municipal access road to the planned "Holtan Hills" development was completed in November, more than a month behind schedule. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

A platting meeting on a contentious "Holtan Hills" subdivision has been set for Jan. 5, a little more than a month away. 

The application which describes, for the first time, details surrounding the development plan was sent to Girdwood Board of Supervisors "a half-hour to an hour" before its Nov. 17 meeting, according to GBOS co-chair Mike Edgington. 

"I definitely have not had a chance to look at it," Edgington said. 

A 30-document has information and detailed maps for a 16-acre cul-de-sac with 39 housing lots. The tract is the first of three phases in a more than 60-acre development planned in hilly old-growth rainforest behind Girdwood's school.

It includes photos of enormous, mostly Anchorage, homes in barren, treeless landscapes to show "style examples" for the area.

A separate application includes a request for a variance to change the allowable length of a cul-de-sac by 70 feet for what the project engineers—The Boutet Company—are calling "Holtan Hills Circle". 

The road would be 670 feet and is necessary because "the topography in the upper area of this development is very steep" and contractors couldn't build as many lots as they want, according to Boutet's application.

The variance requests quotes the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan to justify a longer road, stating development should be "compatible with the natural environment" and saying, without the extended road, the developer would have to build a second road. 

A road that meets the municipal standard of no longer than 600 feet would "create undue hardship" on the developer. 

The variance request does not say how much more a secondary access would cost and delay the project. 

Another variance request asks for that a 50-foot section of "Holtan Hills Circle" be a private rather than 60-foot public road as required by Municipal code.

"Dedication to and maintenance by the Municipality is clearly not as desirable as private maintenance and upkeep," the application states. "In an area with high snow accumulation such as Girdwood, faster response times for plowing and sanding increases safety for the property owners within the cul de sac."

Also, there is no way to extend the road south due to the school, the variance states, and a narrower, steeper road—to "potentially exceed 10 percent"—"allows for a more 'compact' development."

The Jan. 5 meeting allows for comments and the application will be discussed at the Girdwood Housing and Economic Committee, Land Use and during the GBOS December meeting.

Comments are due on the application Dec. 15. 

The public road ends where the private development would begin. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)