Borough to decide on merging 17 Salcha lots a planner ties to a possible resort

A Fairbanks North Star Borough hearing officer will decide Oct. 22 whether to combine 17 lots along the Richardson Highway in Salcha into one 37.98-acre parcel, land a borough planner says is understood to be headed for "some sort of resort."

The land sits at Milepost 319, about 45 miles south of Fairbanks near Harding Lake. Bennett Engineering filed the application for landowner Terry Wayne Harriman.

The request itself only combines the lots. But borough transportation planner D. Galligan wrote that a resort would bring significant traffic and may require a Transportation Impact Analysis and state permits for access. Because the Richardson is an Interstate highway, "direct driveway access is prohibited," Galligan wrote.

The land is zoned Rural Estate, which allows up to two homes, and any new use would need zoning permits.

Borough staff found the merger exempt from the borough's subdivision design and public improvement requirements, because the lots were legally created and combining them adds no lots, violations or nonconformities. Staff recommend preliminary approval with nine conditions, including a state permit for any new driveway and flood elevation information for the part of the site in Flood Zone A, a federally mapped flood hazard area.

Hearing Officer Kellen Spillman will take public testimony at the hearing, which starts at 10 am.