‘Holtan Hills’ Developer Returns to Girdwood for Joint GBOS/LUC Meeting

An official hearing on "Holtan Hills", scheduled for Tuesday night at 7 p.m., will host developer Connie Yoshimura to meet the Girdwood Board of Supervisors and the Land Use Committee in a joint meeting to discuss the ‘Holtan Hills’ development and access road. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

An official hearing on "Holtan Hills", schedule for Tuesday night at 7 p.m., will again pit developer Connie Yoshimura against residents, who lately, in comments on social media, say they are frustrated and angry by an enormous city-financed access road that is a month delayed and that now faces uncertain cost overruns.

The wide, paved road is clearly out-of-character with the mountain community. With three stop signs, a paved bike path, boxes for street lights and a flashy green "Holtan Hills Dr." street sign, the road design is more Anchorage suburb than Girdwood.

"NOW would be a good time to roll out the traffic plan for future use of that paved road," wrote Linda Bennett on Girdwood's Facebook page. 

The second meeting, to be held during a special meeting of local governance, comes after an earlier meeting was called into questions for failing to meet public process code requirements.

"This whole thing is so broken," said Mike Edgington, co-chair of the Girdwood Board of Supervisors. 

Edgington said he suspects the private-public project will come at a loss to municipal taxpayers and  Girdwood's hyper-inflated housing market will mean any homes built in the area will most likely be expensive and unoccupied by year-round residents.

"There's no other community in this city in a similar situation," he said.

"Holtan Hills" developer Connie Yoshimura has said her development will offer a diverse assortment of lot sizes that would accommodate a panoply of housing from condominiums to duplexes to single-family homes. 

She said at the last meeting in Girdwood the smallest lots, 45 feet wide, will cost $168,000. 

"But I (also) need luxury homes," Yoshimura said.

Construction of an access road was delayed by three to four weeks due to the discovery of an old dump, said Kenny Friendly, a spokesman for the Municipality, in an email reply to questions. 

"Additionally, (Chugach Electric Association) did not release their line relocation work until roughly two weeks after the work was scheduled to be completed," Friendly wrote.

Though the existence of the dump was well-known locally, it came as a surprise for construction crews installing a sewer main. Soils were tested for contamination and debris-strewn dirt had to be trucked to the Anchorage landfill.

While he didn't give an estimate for how much garbage was removed or how much remains, "significant volumes of debris/trash were discovered in the old gravel parking area, so construction access had to adjust accordingly," Friendly wrote.

In the meantime, the contractor is adding up additional costs for the hold-up and "final costs are yet to be determined," Friendly wrote.

At the earlier meeting, Yoshimura said delays were caused when survey markers were removed from the site and, though she gave no evidence, blamed Girdwood residents.

She said construction of "Holtan Hills" will be likely have to be postponed until 2027 if someone appeals a platting decision following a January meeting.

GBOS LUC Joint Meeting RE: Holtan Hills Phase 1 CU/PUD Presentation 
​Location: Hybrid meeting via Teams with in-person attendance at the Girdwood Community Room, 250 Egloff Rd.

Join the meeting now
Meeting ID: 260 105 590 879 4 Passcode: KL2Bz2hS
Dial in by phone +1 907-519-0237,,162026961#
Phone conference ID: 162 026 961#​