Eklutna begins clearing five acres it bought beside Chin'an gaming hall

The Native Village of Eklutna has begun clearing two residential parcels totaling five acres beside Chin'an Gaming Hall in Birchwood. The land sits on taxable property outside the restricted Native allotment where federal regulators approved Class II gaming. Public records reviewed by Alaska News do not identify what Eklutna intends to put there.

Municipal permit records show Anchorage issued permit R26-2226 on July 8 to demolish all structures at 20847 Birchwood Spur Road. The municipality issued permits C26-1605 and C26-1606 on Aug. 11 for clearing and grubbing that property and the adjoining lot. Each clearing permit lists a declared project value of $91,000.

Public Sentinel-2 satellite images show newly exposed ground across the parcels between Sept. 23 and Sept. 28. The images are not detailed enough to show whether demolition is complete.

Assessor records identify the properties as Lots 79 and 80, each about 2.5 acres and zoned CE-R-6, a Chugiak-Eagle River residential classification. Eklutna acquired Lot 80, with the Birchwood Spur Road address, on Sept. 30, 2024. It acquired the vacant adjoining Lot 79 on Oct. 11, 2024.

The lots adjoin the Ondola Allotment, where Chin'an operates. They are not part of the gaming land in the National Indian Gaming Commission's July 2024 approval, nor part of the 6.37-acre permanent facility project site described in the federal environmental assessment. Eklutna's economic development page describes a roughly 58,000-square-foot permanent gaming facility on six acres, with surrounding land for parking and landscaping. The page does not identify Lots 79 and 80 as part of that project.

Separately, a federal appeals court on Sept. 14 upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit by Birchwood neighbors seeking to halt gaming at Chin'an, holding that Eklutna is a required party protected by sovereign immunity. The court did not decide whether the 2024 federal gaming approval was lawful. Anchorage issued the land permits before the ruling.

The records do not establish whether Eklutna plans parking, access, landscaping, housing or another use on the five acres.