Anchorage Assembly weighs shifting $300,000 of Girdwood money to housing plan and parks

Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration is asking the Anchorage Assembly to move $300,000 out of the Girdwood Valley Service Area's 2026 operating budget and into capital projects. The Assembly takes up the resolution Tuesday, Nov. 17, at its 5 pm meeting at the Loussac Library.

Under the resolution, $100,000 would go to the Community Development Department for the Girdwood Housing Action and Implementation Plan. The other $200,000 would go to the Parks & Recreation Department for the service area's trails, parks and facilities. The resolution does not list specific projects.

The money comes from the Girdwood Valley Service Area, not from areawide Anchorage revenue. The administration recommends approval, according to the Assembly memorandum. The change would amend the 2026 capital budget, which the Assembly approved April 28.

Girdwood housing planning materials from 2025 call for a housing-needs assessment, a strategic plan, a housing task force and a search for funding options. A 2025 planning packet set a target of adopting the housing action plan in the second quarter of 2027.

The housing shortage came up at the Assembly's Housing and Homelessness Committee in May. "Girdwood has a severe lack of affordable housing, and we have people sleeping in vehicles in Girdwood experiencing homelessness, including the families with minor children," said Jessica Parks, interim executive director of the Anchorage Coalition Against Homelessness. The 2026 homeless count found 30 people in the ZIP code that includes Girdwood. No count was held there in 2025.

In July, Girdwood's parks master plan sought disc golf and dog-park space on Glacier Creek land that the town's housing plan had identified for homes, and city staff said that conflict needed to be resolved before the parks plan moved forward.

The Assembly was also set to take up a separate proposal to move $400,000 of Girdwood service-area money into the same capital fund on Nov. 4, as a match for Ruane Road work.