GBOS Asks Muni to Deny "Holtan Hills" Permit Barring New Land Use Plan

Included in the GBOS resolutions are a requirement for community housing, for some of the homes to be occupied year-round, and that the Planning and Zoning Commission reject a bid by developers to try to build a private cul-de-sac rather than a public road, as required by city code. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Girdwood officials voted Monday to ask Anchorage planners to, among other conditions, deny a permit for a "Holtan Hills" subdivision until a proper land use plan is drawn up.

The Girdwood Board of Supervisors passed three resolutions recommending changes to developers' application to develop 39 lots in 16 acres of ancient forest behind Girdwood's school. The project would be the first phase of a highly controversial, 60-plus acre housing development. 

Included in the GBOS resolutions are a requirement for community housing, for some of the homes to be occupied year-round, and that the Planning and Zoning Commission reject a bid by developers to try to build a private cul-de-sac rather than a public road, as required by city code.

Municipal planners and developers have been using an almost 20-year-old "Crow Creek Neighborhood Plan" to guide the "Holtan Hills" project, but only following it sporadically, according to minutes from a Girdwood Housing and Economic Committee meeting held earlier this month. 

In adopting GHEC's resolution, GBOS discussed whether to ask the planning committee to "deny" or "delay" the permit for "Holtan Hills" in light of the dated plan. After discussion, the board agreed to use the more unequivocal term.

"I just think we need to stand in the position that we're a 'no' until they follow the rules. Kids, we have laws. What we're supposed to do is follow them. Thank you very much," said Kellie Okonek, a GBOS member.

Brooks Chandler, a member of GHEC, told the Board a private road would be narrower that would lead, in the second phase of the project, to larger lots. 

"I had the sense that it was sort of the nose under the tent to have a gated road and restrict access, which may not even be true, but I mean, it just seemed like that could be where it would end up," Chandler said.

A private road maintained by a homeowners association would require all the homeowners, including those living on smaller lots, to bear the cost of maintaining the road, he said, adding that a private road could complicate public safety response.

In a third resolution, GBOS voted to adopt a motion passed by the local trails committee to require developers pay the cost of moving the historic Iditarod Trail—as development would obliterate part of the current trail—and that the trail be surveyed and recorded on the plat along with 25-foot buffers.

The resolutions will be sent as comments on CY Investments' application for a conditional use permit. The Planning and Zoning Committee will consider the application during a meeting on Jan. 5 in Anchorage.