Ordinance would give Girdwood street crews long-term control of their storage yard

An ordinance from Mayor Suzanne LaFrance's administration would give the city's Street Maintenance Section long-term management of a 3.3-acre lot in the Girdwood Industrial Park for use by the Girdwood Valley Service Area. The ordinance is set for introduction to the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday, with a public hearing tentatively scheduled for Nov. 4.

Street Maintenance has run a storage yard at the end of Bedrock Circle under a Heritage Land Bank permit since 2009. The ordinance would move the parcel out of the land bank, which manages city land not committed to a use. It transfers management authority rather than selling the land. The parcel would go back to the land bank within six months if it is no longer maintained for its intended purpose.

Having their own parcel would let crews install their own utility connections and plan for a possible heated storage building, according to an administration memo. The Girdwood Board of Supervisors said the move would let the service area spend local tax money on improvements the community has requested, including power on the lot for snow removal equipment.

The Girdwood Land Use Committee voted 6-0 to recommend the transfer Sept. 14, and the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 a week later. The Heritage Land Bank Advisory Commission recommended approval without opposition Sept. 24.

The Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility raised a concern. "AWWU sees a long-term need to reserve Parcel 6-057K for the Girdwood Wastewater Treatment Facility," Kaleigh Jones, the utility's land use coordinator, wrote in agency comments. She wrote that the utility expects to expand and upgrade the adjacent plant as Girdwood grows. The ordinance requires consulting the utility during long-term site planning and before permanent construction.

City watershed staff wrote that parts of the lot lie in Glacier Creek's 100-year and 500-year floodplains, which may limit development there.