Anchorage planning commission approves Girdwood parks plan with conditions

Anchorage's planning commission approved Girdwood's parks master plan Monday, but the approval does not become final until the plan's conflicts with the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan are resolved.

The Planning and Zoning Commission attached the two conditions the Planning Department recommended: state whether the document is a 10-year or 15-year plan, and resolve the inconsistencies with the comprehensive plan, which the Anchorage Assembly adopted in April 2025.

"I'll move in case 2026-0078 to approve the Gerd Woods Parks Master Plan," Commissioner Jared Gardner said. He added that the plan appeared well supported by the community, though he found some of the Long Range Planning objections confusing.

The central conflict is over the Glacier Creek area. The parks plan shows proposed parkland and disc golf where the comprehensive plan designates mixed-use development. A Long Range Planning staff member told the commission the parks plan does not become an element of the comprehensive plan. If a landowner sought a mixed-use rezone there, the department would still recommend approval based on the comprehensive plan.

Peyton Johnson, presenting for Girdwood Parks and Recreation, said parks are permitted in mixed-use designations. She said much of the area sits in the floodplain and that the most developable ground is left as mixed use.

The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities raised separate objections: an unpermitted parking encroachment into state right-of-way at Girdwood Park, and trails at Moose Meadow Park crossing airport property without easements. The agency said any land swap involving Girdwood Airport would require transferring the entire airport to the municipality.

"One of them was to remove non-designated trails from DOT areas, and we are comfortable with making all of those changes to address DOT's comments," Johnson said. The land swap, she said, "was just a future item." She said the parks department has no plan under this document to resolve the parking encroachment.

Commissioners discussed adding the state's comments as a third condition but did not add one. One commissioner said she would not support the motion without it. Brian Burnett of the Girdwood Board of Supervisors, the only public testifier, urged approval as presented. He said he could not answer questions about the state's objections because he had expected the hearing to begin at 7:30.

A notice of intent to appeal must be filed with the planning director within seven days of the decision.