‘Brushing’ Gets Underway at ‘Holtan Hills’ Site
Groundwork began Tuesday initiating the utilities to support Holtan Hills off Hightower Road in Girdwood. (Photos by Soren Wuerth)
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
As she has for nearly 30 years, Jody Carlsen set out for a walk along a favorite trail Wednesday.
It was a warm sunny afternoon, and she was joined by her friend, Loey Stayden, and two energetic dogs, Paco and Ebi.
The outing would be abruptly upset.
Three white pickup trucks, lights flashing, were parked at the trailhead, one bearing the license plate "AXXXX". A cacaphone of clanging metal and crunching trees erupted from a utility path.
The group skirted construction on Girdwood School's trail system then stopped on the Middle Iditarod Trail where a red excavator clawed at tree roots.
Construction images Tuesday of the start of the Holtan Hills housing project.
"I thought they were going to start Monday," Carlsen said.
Two Hydro-ax mulchers, the excavator, and a worker with a chainsaw, Caden Bevegni, had cleared a wide swath of vegetation and ancient hemlock trees past the trailhead. The Iditarod Trail's informational post stood naked amid a field of wood chips.
"It hurts my heart," Carlsen said. "It feels like this (project) was punched down our throats."
The so-called "Holtan Hills" subdivision, approved by the Anchorage Assembly in January of last year, has faced widespread condemnation from local residents, many of whom have complained the housing project will only result in expensive "dark homes" and more short-term rentals.
Last fall, Alaska Hydro-Ax clearcut a road into the forest, but no further action was taken. Wednesday, the same company was back. Bevegni, the logger, said the company would befinished the following day. A man driving the excavator yelled that the project was for brushing out "a sewer line".
A Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (often referred to as a "swipp") filed on April 1, states that 2.5 acres of forest will be cleared for "road improvements, sewer improvements, and erosion and sediment control." A sign labelled "SWPPP" at the entrance to the project had no information as of Wednesday other than a municipal phone number.
More questions sent to HLB regarding details and omissions in the SWPPP were not answered in time for publication.
Meanwhile, Carlsen and Stayden turned back toward the school.
"It seems (the developer) has zero respect for what everyone has to say about this," Carlsenmsaid. "We know change is coming. Let's just manage this better."
A giant tree pirouetted and crashed to the ground."It makes me so sad," she said
Jody Carlsen oined by her friend, Loey Stayden, and two energetic dogs, Paco and Eb take a walk to discover the start of the removal of trees starting the Holtan Hills construction phase..