Platting Board approves Lake Otis access for senior living site

The Anchorage Platting Board voted Tuesday to remove plat restrictions that blocked vehicular access to Lake Otis Parkway for a planned senior living development at the northwest corner of Lake Otis and O'Malley Road.

The board approved removing two plat notes from the 2017 Ridgeport Subdivision plat that prohibited Lake Otis access and required a five-foot development setback on Tract 1. Touchmark Senior Living requested the changes to develop the undeveloped R-4 zoned parcel.

The original restrictions were tied to the O'Malley Road reconstruction project, which required land for a westbound turn lane from Lake Otis to O'Malley. The state completed that project in 2018 and accepted the as-built design in 2019. Municipal traffic and right-of-way departments, along with the Alaska Department of Transportation, did not object to removing the restrictions.

A nearby resident testified against allowing Lake Otis access, citing safety concerns on the high-speed roadway. He supported removal of the setback restriction and the housing project itself. "I'm a resident in a nearby subdivision. We're happy, I'm happy that housing's being built. I have no issue with plat note 7 going away," the resident said.

The property already has two access points from O'Malley Road and Independence Drive. "Talking about the character of Lake Otis, south of Fred Meyer, there are no other private lots that take access from Lake Otis. It's all public streets or Hanchu. And so this would, quite frankly, be out of character," the resident said.

The resident warned that the access would create conflicts on the channelized road. "It's a high-speed channelized road on an incline, and we have a right-hand turn lane to go westbound O'Malley, and you're going to have traffic trying to take that and get off or on from this cut into the lot. And there's going to create conflicts," he said.

He also referenced Anchorage's pedestrian fatality record. "We're in a city where we've killed over 30 pedestrians in 2 years, and we're introducing another conflict point on a high-speed roadway. And why are we doing that? It doesn't line up with our long-range transportation plan, which places pedestrians at the highest point of the modal hierarchy. And to do this for a lot that, quite frankly, already has 2 accesses," he said.

Board members emphasized that removing the plat note does not automatically approve a driveway. Any proposed Lake Otis access would still require review and approval from the municipal traffic department.

A board member said the removal "does not mean yes. It's still a no unless they can come up and come up with a traffic plan, traffic study. This just removes the flat note, which means don't even consider it. This opens it up for them to consider it, come up with adequate traffic planning."

The petitioner's representative said Lake Otis would not be the primary entrance. The main access points would remain on O'Malley Road and Independence Drive, with any Lake Otis driveway serving as a right-in, right-out only option. A raised median on Lake Otis prevents northbound access.

The board found that conditions requiring the original plat notes had changed with completion of the O'Malley reconstruction, that removing the notes would not negatively impact adjacent properties, and that the plat continues to meet municipal approval criteria without the restrictions.

The approval requires recording a resolution with the State of Alaska Recorder's Office recognizing removal of the plat notes and providing proof to the planning department.