Working Group member asks Anchorage commission to require tree buffer at Campbell Lake substation

A Working Group member wants the Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission to require a treed buffer next to a neighboring lot where Chugach Electric plans to place two transformers that a neighbor says would sit less than 4 feet from his home.

Kate Petoskey, who serves on the community Working Group for Chugach Electric's Campbell Lake substation rebuild, submitted the comment Friday afternoon, three days before the commission takes up Case 2026-0098 on Monday, Aug. 10. The case seeks conditional use approval for the substation along with two design variances: one to reduce planting bed widths on the north, northwest and southwest property lines and to reduce the number of plantings on the northwest and southwest lines, and one to exceed the maximum fence height by six inches, to 10.5 feet.

Petoskey said the Working Group met three times, in February, March and April, with the April session largely devoted to landscaping. Concerns about the adjoining lot, belonging to a resident she called Mr. Stephen, came up in the Working Group and again at Chugach Electric's May community meeting. The utility also presented to the Bayshore-Klatt Community Council in June. The Working Group was never reconvened to discuss transformer placement, she said.

"If CEA will not entertain moving the transformers, at a minimum, I

would like to see a treed buffer next to Mr. Stephen"s property to lessen the negative

impacts and loss of quiet enjoyment by him and future owners," Petoskey said. She said the neighbor is a first responder who could be dispatched to an incident at a Chugach Electric substation. She added that the Working Group issued no position statements, and a recent serious injury will keep her from attending Monday's hearing.

Chugach Electric's application says the rebuild will replace aging equipment, improve reliability and meet current safety standards. It proposes concrete barriers around the transformers for noise mitigation. The utility says the landscaping and fence variances are needed to retain mature vegetation and ensure facility security. The Planning Department's staff report found the project meets conditional use criteria with minimal noise, traffic and lighting impacts, and it recommended approval of the permit and both variances.

The substation was built in 1976 and serves about 4,600 properties in south Anchorage. An earlier Alaska News article noted the rebuild follows a 2024 remand by the Municipal Board of Adjustment requiring new public outreach, and that a proposed 65-foot communication tower has since been dropped. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2028.

The comment record contains no response from Chugach Electric to Petoskey's request. The commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the case Monday.