"Holtan Hills" Developer to Face Community in Sept. 23 Meeting
Construction continues on an access road and sewer line to the so-called "Holtan Hills" development. A final meeting is slated for Sept. 23. (Photo by Soren Wuerth)
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
A quietly advertised community meeting on plans to convert a mile long strip of old growth rainforest into a 60 acre subdivision will be held at the Meadow Community Center at Our Lady of the Snows on Sept. 23, 5 - 7:30 p.m.
The meeting announcement, sent only to certain homeowners, is sparse on details but describes "phase one" development as consisting of 50 lots and three tracts: "a large wetland tract along Glacier Creek," an "access tract for larger lots", and another tract that "will be subdivided at a later date".
It includes a map showing a rough, station-wagon-shaped patch illustrating the proposed development along with a plume of "offsite improvements".
In a letter to Anchorage's planning department, Mike Edgington, co-chair of the Girdwood Board of Supervisors, called the notice "a surprise".
“The community meeting scheduled by the petitioner requires in-person attendance only and clashes with both a pre-noticed GBOS work session and with the September 23 Anchorage Assembly meeting," Edgington wrote.
Edgington said in his letter Anchorage code requires a developer to discuss her plans in a community council forum, and, if it chooses not to, to provide an explanation.
"The Holtan Hills project has been bedeviled by numerous examples of special treatment and process short-circuits during the prior administration. Opting for the most restrictive form of a 'community meeting' is a disappointing step, although not surprising one," Edgington wrote.
The meeting is the last public hearing and is required to be held in Girdwood, a community that is nearly unanimous in opposition to its development.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Update: The location was correctly titled Meadow Community Center at the Our Lady of the Snows