Anchorage Platting Board approves Eklutna Gathering Center subdivision

The Anchorage Platting Board approved a preliminary plat and two variances at its June 17, 2026 meeting, clearing the way for the Eklutna Gathering Center to move forward without first building an 880-foot Woodspruce Street segment. The action allows a facility the Native Village of Eklutna, a federally recognized tribe, and Eklutna, Inc. have pursued for three decades to proceed.

The board acted on Case S12883 in two separate votes: first approving the two variances, then approving the preliminary plat for 24 months, both subject to conditions in the staff report. The plat subdivides three tracts in Eklutna Village, about 25 miles north of Anchorage, into two lots. The Eklutna Gathering Center is planned for proposed Lot 2.

As part of the approval, the petitioner must dedicate right-of-way for Woodspruce Street and construct improvements to Indian Chief Court and a portion of Woodspruce Street to Lot 2, including fire turnaround hammerheads. Staff also placed a condition requiring the petitioner to enter into a sublease agreement with Private Development for the required public improvements prior to final plat approval. No reviewing agencies objected to the plat or the variances.

The variances defer construction of the full Woodspruce Street segment. Staff explained that future road improvements for Lot 1 will be required when that parcel is developed. Board member Patrick Jones said he supported the deferral, noting that building an unneeded road now would invite misuse. "I feel like if you give the public that much road, it's just an invitation for, you know, people to go back there and nefarious acts, dump, do whatever," Jones said.

Board member Dora Cross said all variance standards had been met. "There are special circumstances, conditions affecting the property that such strict application and provision of the subdivision regulations could clearly be impractical, unreasonable, will not be detrimental to the public welfare, will not have a nullifying effect on the intent and purpose of the subdivision, and it is creating undue hardship due to strict compliance. So I'll be voting for it."

Curtis McQueen, the owner's representative and former Eklutna, Inc. CEO, said the 2018 earthquake shaped the building's design. "after the 2018 quake, we decided that we were going to design the building— and we have Stantec, our architects here— to a place where the entire village can muster, gather in an emergency," McQueen said. The center is also planned as a consolidated office and cultural space for tribal and corporate programs. The site has been cleared and heavy equipment is expected soon.

McQueen described the project as the product of a shared vision between the tribe and the corporation, whose boards and councils include many of the same people. "It has been a dream for 30 years," he said. In March 2022, the Anchorage Assembly and the Native Village of Eklutna held a joint worksession on land use, cultural preservation, and community development in the Eklutna area.