Wasilla council weighs $73,865 more to finish its first new growth plan since 2011

The Wasilla City Council on Monday considers paying consulting firm DOWL another $73,865 to finish the city's 2045 Comprehensive Plan, the first rewrite of its long-range growth plan since 2011.

The plan would guide land use, housing, transportation, public facilities, capital spending and development rules, according to a memo sponsored by Mayor Alina Rubeo. The city says growth since 2011 prompted the update.

"We just recently have had quite a few applicants that have come in that have had to get familiar with the zoning map and some of the inconsistencies that have happened over the years because we haven't kept it updated," Crystal Nygaard, then acting city planner, told the Planning Commission on Sept. 22.

The council hired DOWL in 2024 for up to $195,000 to handle public outreach, data analysis and early drafting. The contract said finishing the plan would be budgeted later. DOWL "has invoiced and been paid $195,000," according to a finance note. The new money would fund public input and Steering Committee meetings, with DOWL providing the final document, bringing DOWL's authorized total to no more than $268,865. The city says the money is already budgeted from General Fund reserves.

An 11-member Steering Committee has met through 2025 and 2026 on topics from utilities and transportation to housing and land use. Members generally backed a wider variety of housing and housing near jobs and services, according to a summary by DOWL planner Karlie Lamothe. Density remained unsettled.

The public gets its turn in January. The committee first reviews a draft Dec. 3 to 24, and an open house is planned the week of Jan. 18, followed by public comment through Feb. 15. Hearings before the Wasilla Planning Commission and City Council would follow, then review by the Mat-Su Borough Planning Commission and final action by the Borough Assembly.