Anchorage mayor asks Assembly to move Christensen Drive lot to street crews

An ordinance introduced at Tuesday's Anchorage Assembly meeting would move a steep lot beside downtown's H Street Stairs out of the Heritage Land Bank and put the city's Street Maintenance Section in charge of it. A public hearing is set for Oct. 20.

The triangular lot, a little under a quarter acre on the north side of Christensen Drive, has right of way on all three sides. The road and sidewalk cover a third of it, and the rest drops steeply to the north. It sits in seismic zone 5, rated Very High Ground Failure Susceptibility. "Given the seismic characteristics and slope, this parcel is not suited for development," an administration memo said. The transfer would help the city set up utility easements along Christensen Drive, the memo said.

The Bureau of Land Management deeded the lot to the City of Anchorage on March 12, 1963, for municipal purposes only. In 2015 the land bank weighed selling it and concluded only a neighbor would realistically buy it. The federal agency also issued a second patent lifting the municipal use restriction. Neighboring owners showed no interest, and no sale went forward.

The Heritage Land Bank Advisory Commission recommended the transfer after an Aug. 20 public hearing, and the city's Right-of-Way Section and Public Works Department supported it. If the city stops managing the lot for street, walkway, drainage or utility use, or deems it surplus, it would return to the land bank.