Multi-family Lots Taken Out of Project's First Phase
By Soren Wuerth
TNews Editor
The scale of a proposed "Holtan Hills" development has been cut almost in half and lots earmarked for affordable multi-family homes will be taken out of the first phase of the subdivision, a municipal official said Monday afternoon.
A platting map for the first phase of the project was withdrawn when planners discovered lots advertised for public bidding were difficult to build houses on.
"Looking at the parcels we knew were going to be in phase one, we felt we could do better," Bob Doehl, the Municipality's community and economic director, said during a Girdwood Board of Supervisors meeting with city officials.
"Things didn't go quite as originally envisioned," he said, later adding "where the bedrock was found and where some grades or slopes were found is what slowed things down."
The meeting was attended by senior city officials, including Mayor Suzanne LaFrance and staff of the Heritage Land Bank. HLB manages 5,000 acres of land in the valley.
A 26-acre third tract planned farther up valley—close to half the entire development area—has been excised, according to Doehl, who didn't give specific reasons but alluded to unforeseen building challenges.
"We kind of see a phase one happening in the spring for reservations and then a phase two probably the year after at this point," Doehl said. Dole said multi-family lots would be included in the project's second phase.
"They realized they had to make some adjustments to make the land work," Doehl said. "They pulled back from where we would have lots, particularly multifamily."
Kellie Okonek, a GBOS co-chair, suggested that municipal officials attend a Girdwood Housing and Economic Committee meeting Nov.4 to clarify details and answer questions.
"I'm finding it fascinating when other people decide what is better for us without a collaborative conversation, so 'we've decided phase two will be better for you' is in that arena," Okonek said.
The news came as a shock to local officials and others. Early schematic drawings of phase one showed five multi-family lots.
"Holtan Hills" has been a controversial idea since its inception. Opposition has been overwhelming within Girdwood and even from some community councils in Anchorage.
Assembly members rebuffed the testimony and approved a deal where the city would "partner" with developer Connie Yoshimura. Last year, the city spent $2.5 million on a road to the site, a 60-acre grove of old-growth spruce and hemlock behind the town's school.
"Holtan Hills" would be the largest development project seen in decades. Lots were advertised by Yoshimura last month.
"The last proposed plat I saw, or plan, was for two multi-family lots. When this development was first sold the project to the community, if you can call it that, it had 5 multi-family lots," said Krystal Hoke, a local realtor and chair of GHEC.
"We went from five to two, now, if it becomes zero that means this is not a mixed use development. This is a single family home development. Which is extremely disappointing," she said.
Former GBOS chair Mike Edgington, who attended the meeting, said the Municipality has to buy the lots from Yoshimura for affordable housing, "but only if the Muni makes enough money from the sale of other lots."
"The whole thing has been a lot of bullshit," Edgington said after the meeting. "There might not be any local housing."
