Platting Board - October 1, 2025 - 2025-10-01 18:30:00

We'll call this October 1st, 2025 meeting of the Planning Board to order. May we have roll call? Skyler Quinn. Here. Sarah Catherine Bryan.

Here. Patrick Jones. Here. Ashley Ploy. Here.

Kyle Mirka. Present. Brenda Butler. Present. Kevin Cross.

Here. Brandy Pennington. You have a quorum. Thank you. Thank you.

Do we have a motion to approve the minutes?

Moved by Mr. Cross, seconded by Mr. Jones. Are there any corrections or objections to the minutes?

Hearing none, the minutes are approved. Moving on to special order of business. Are there any disclosures?

Seeing none. For information only, we have abbreviated plat action summaries dated 7/7/25, 7/14/25, 7/21/25, 8/25/25, 9/15/25, and 9/22/25.

Do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda?

Moved by Mr. Cross, seconded by Miss Sarah Catherine.

Is anyone wishing to pull an item from the consent? Is anyone wishing to pull an item for discussion?

Are there any objections to approving the consent agenda?

Hearing none, the consent agenda is approved.

Moving on to new business. The Planning Board meets each month on the first Wednesday except holidays as regular meetings. If the Planning Board fails to complete its agenda for its regular meetings, the board carries over the remainder of the agenda to the following meeting. The procedure by which the public may speak to the Planning Board at its meetings is: 1, after the staff presentation is completed on public hearing items, the chair will ask for public testimony on the issue. 2.

Persons who wish to testify will follow the timelines established in the Commission Rules of Procedure. A. Petitioners, including all his/her representatives, are given 10 minutes. Part of this time may be reserved for rebuttal. B. Representatives of groups, community councils, PTAs, etc., are given 5 minutes.

And C. Individuals are given 3 minutes. 3. When your testimony is complete, you may be asked questions by the Board. You may only testify once on any issue unless questioned by the Board. 4.

Any party of interest wishing to appeal shall first file with the Planning Director within 7 days of the Board's decision made on the record, a written notice of intent to appeal in accordance with AMC 21.03.050(a)(4)(a). Following approval of the written findings of fact and decision, any party of interest may within 20 days file an appeal by filing a notice of appeal and paying the appeal fee and deposit in accordance with 21.03.050(a)(2).

The notice of appeal must be filed with the Planning Director on a form prescribed by the municipality. If the applicant— if the appellant is not the applicant, the appellant's notice of appeal shall include proof of service on the applicant.

On to public hearings. May we have staff's presentation in case S12853?

Thank you, Mr. Chair. So this is a request to modify plat note number 14 from plat 2004-91, Rabbit Creek View and Rabbit Creek Heights subdivision for Block 7H, Lot 7A. The plat note reads that lot fronting on cul-de-sacs shall have no direct vehicle access to Carl or Nicleen, and the plat note modification request will be access from Carl or Nicleen streets from lots that have frontage on cul-de-sacs require approval from the municipal traffic engineering department. So the petitioner is requesting that the plat note modification be allowed for direct access to Carl Street for one lot on the corner of Susan and Carl— Susan Circle and Carl Street.

So in general, reviewing agencies had either no comment or no objection to this request. The Planning Department has received some comments in response to these public hearing notices. They're attached and was passed out as a supplemental. Packet. For staff analysis, staff finds that Condition A has been met.

At the time of the original plat recording in 1970, the design envisioned Carl Street to function as a true collector for the subdivision. A requirement to improve all the subdivided right-of-way to municipal standards, such as paving, was not in place at the time. The current daily traffic numbers along Carl Street are much less than the original subdivision plat design. Therefore, the traffic numbers didn't materialize like they originally envisioned. So Carl Street is currently just a 24-foot gravel roadway with drainage ditches.

Suzanne Circle is also gravel road with steep descending grade down to the lot. Allowing the lot to access Carl Street with adherence to the municipal traffic standards for driveway spacing and grade limitations that have safe traffic and maneuvering onto Carl Street is requested. So the code requirement for the driveways will be a maximum width of 20 feet because it is a Carl Street's collector roadway. And then this change from the original subdivision plan allows the lot to access directly onto Carl Street. Modification of the plat notes that staff finds Condition B has been met.

The modification is only applicable to this lot, the corner lot that is subject to the plat note modification. It does have access to I think it's Susan's Circle, I believe, is it's called, and Carl Street. So a driveway from Susan would be extremely steep with slopes over 20% and requires significant filling and grading by the homeowner to get down in there and get it to the, uh, the maximum driveway standards. So that's why the petitioner is requesting the driveway to access Carl Street in a location that is less steep, as it's accessing kind of cross slope at the bottom of the lot where the topography is shallower. There is an existing culvert and partial driveway that was currently in place.

Staff finds Condition C has been met. Plat 2004-91 will continue to meet the approval criteria for subdivisions with modification of this plat note. This existing subdivision still facilitates the efficient layout and use of the land to the maximum extent feasible even without the restrictive plat note. So the subject property does have access. Like I said, on both those streets.

So staff's recommending approval of the Plat Note Modification subject to A1 and 2 found on page 3 of the staff packet. If we turn to page of the staff packet, let's go to page 16. 16 At the top, you can kind of see there, it's not in color, I'm sorry, but it's kind of a brushy, but there is a culvert there and a driveway. The petitioner bought the lot. I believe he'll speak to it.

And then during the design of the siting of the house, which he can speak to a little bit more, he kind of assumed that this was the way that you're going to be able to access it, and then went to start getting ready for a permit and found out, no, you have to access from Suzanne. So— and that's really steep. In regards to some of the public comments we've seen, I don't see anyone here tonight that's going to testify. However, I did talk to a couple people. They came to the counter.

As if this planning board— I think everyone here, uh, we've seen a couple plat note removals. One was just up the street from this, the same situation. It was a military family, the VA loan. They, they purchased it, and then they found out that the driveway that was used to build is not— they would have to access from a cul-de-sac as well. And they requested the plat note removal.

The other one of the situation, what seems when I'm talk— I've been talking to some of the people that came in, uh, I don't know which street it is, uh, off the top of my head here, but it's over, and that is an undeveloped cul-de-sac. And there's a bunch— there's a number of lots on there that people want to be able to build a house, but they're going to have to build a cul-de-sac to, you know, municipal standards, and that's why they're coming in. But it's a— it's kind of apples and oranges. This, this does front on both sides an existing constructed roadway. These other ones do not.

One of those plat notes was removed so they were able to access Carl Street instead of building a road on the back side to get to it. This though, however, is a corner lot Carl and Suzanne are constructed, it'll be a little bit safer as far as accessing out. Traffic numbers will be the same, and I'll let the petitioner, when he gets up, kind of explain his design to you. And I'm happy to answer any questions you have.

Thank you, staff, for that presentation. I did kind of want to point out that on— it does appear that page 18 20 of the staff packet have public comment from the same person, I would assume. Does anyone have any questions of staff?

Ms. Butler. It's more of just a clarification. It's kind of like a two-part. So reading the public comment and the death row on the slope, and of course it's Alaska, so there's icy roads. I mean, it's just what it does.

But when I did some measurements, it's about 79 feet between the existing, albeit non-permitted driveway and car, like, and then the access to the actual, like, shoot, it's not in front of me right now. Like, oh crap, Susan Circle. So it's about 79 feet and like, is that, Do you know offhand if that does have, like, a significant increase in elevation, the slope? Is it extreme? And because I don't understand why, like, a 79-foot difference between slowing down and waiting for somebody to turn would really impact people all that much.

And the other question is, right across the street on Caro is a driveway that looks similar to this particular parcel that accesses Lots 16901, 16915, 16931. So I was wondering if that was an approved driveway directly across from this proposed plat note removal.

Um, through the chair, Ms. Butler, I, I see here— where are you seeing the 1639? I think, I think I know which one you're talking about. Let's take a look here. Maybe I'm trying to see if there's a map that we can look at directly across from this proposed driveway access off of Carl, right on that little like eyebrow bulb on page 5. We can see kind of an aerial.

I believe that was before this plat note, or before this plat was in effect, that a lot of these homes are, are, you know, '70s and '80s and even '90s. Um, so I believe that that was before that was put in. You know, it's got kind of grandfather rights when it was put in. Right, so my, my thing would be like, it would be the same traffic slowdown for a turn. Oh, correct, on one side or the other of the street is all I'm trying to put on the record.

Correct. Yeah, thank you for that question. Do we have any other questions of staff?

Seeing none, we are ready for the petitioner's presentation. Please come to the podium.

And, uh, sir, please turn on your mic. Um, there should be a— there's like a little guy at the bottom. There you go. There we go. Does that help out?

It does. Uh, please state and spell your name for the record, and you have 10 minutes. Uh, Rusty Allen. Um, originally purchased a lot in February, noticed the driveway that was there. I thought it would be a permanent driveway.

That was already in place and gone through the muni process, purchased a lot, went through the design phase, started getting all my ducks in a row and doing a site plan, came to the muni to start getting a permit, land use permit, doing all those things, and that's when the plat note was kind of discovered. And the problem with the— or not the problem with the lot, but the issue with the lot is it's 20% grade from Suzanne to the middle of the lot, and then it goes down about 8 degrees in the middle of the lot, so there's a natural bench right where that driveway is. So my guess is the previous owner was like going to build in the center of that, you know, where the topography is really shallow right there, just because it gives a real easy access into the property. If you come in from Suzanne, the driveway, you'd be sliding down in your house, and so people park adjacent to Suzanne, my neighbors to the west, because their driveway is super steep, so they can't even get in their driveway. So they actually park on the shoulder of Suzanne currently.

Um, so I'd like to have access from Carl. The impact to traffic is the same, turning, you know, left from Suzanne or from out of the driveway. The tentative site plan that I have has a big enough pad so that way I can turn around on property So I just have to nose out so there's not any like reversing, trying to reverse onto Carl and trying to come down. And that's kind of where I'm at with the property right now. I'm trying to get this resolved before we can move forward with any more of the design, kind of put everything on hold so we could get some resolve from this.

Thank you for that presentation. You have 8 minutes and 16 seconds of rebuttal time. Do we have any questions for the petitioner?

I have one. Ms. Sarah. You may not be able to speak to this, but some of the public comments include remarks that during the summertime people will park on the shoulder of Suzanne, making it a very narrow thoroughfare. Is it your opinion or belief that by removing this plat note it might make it easier for people to access their driveways and not necessitate parking on the shoulder? I don't see— I mean, I don't have any— I wouldn't say that anybody that was visiting my house would be parking on that, on that section, just because of this, the grade right there.

And like I said, the site plan that I have would be pushing traffic, like parked cars on property is what I have. But I don't think it's going to impact anybody coming in or out of my— the lot that I'm proposed building on. I don't know if that answers your question or not, but it does. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, thank you for that.

Any other questions? Oh, Miss Butler. Um, I see— I see here that, um, traffic engineering had a kind of an idea to modify the note to allow access to Nicleen or Carl when grades or conditions do not allow on the alternate frontage. Was that ever considered as an option to maybe like mitigate some of the negative comments from neighbors? Um, no, I, I didn't, I didn't see that comment until I got the staff report last Friday.

So any other questions?

Seeing none, we are, uh, we're going to open this up to public testimony. I wouldn't run too far. Or is there anyone in the public wishing to testify?

Seeing none, uh, you have 8 minutes and 16 seconds of rebuttal time. You can say whatever you want if you'd like to. I don't have any other comments unless there's questions. I think you guys Pretty much covered all the bases. Any final questions from the board?

Seeing none, we're going to close the public testimony.

You could take a seat. Okay.

Do we have a motion?

Move by Mr. Jones, seconded by Mr. Cross. Mr. Jones, can you state your motion? Yes, I move in case S12853 to approve the modification of plat note 14 from plat 2004-91 for Rabbit Creek View and Rabbit Creek Heights subdivision, block 7H, lot 7A, subject to conditions 1 and 2 as shown on page 3 of the staff report. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Would you like to speak to your motion?

Yes, thank you. I intend to support this motion. As was mentioned by staff, we've seen a couple of these in this area come up in the last year or so, and we have kind of set the precedence of approving these when they come up. This area, I do understand it's kind of a challenging area to build on, just between what's been built infrastructure-wise and also the slope that's here. And I think obviously with the beauty up there, people are going to want to continue to live up there.

We're going to have to kind of review these case by case to make sense of, uh, what we can do to help get these to be more developable. Um, I think the petitioner and staff has definitely proved in this case that access off Suzanne Circle would be very challenging. And I would also add that I think looking at Suzanne Circle and some of the elevations, um, here before the meeting, you know, coming down Suzanne Circle does have a, have a decent amount of grade. I would be more concerned, I think, with traveling down Suzanne, having some velocity, and then sliding into that intersection, impacting Carl, versus being able to come out of my driveway lower on the lot where it's, it's flat and nose out like the petitioner said. So I do want to be mindful of the comments that we got from the people in the community and say that I feel like the petitioner and staff have looked at this area and trying to put forward the safest plan.

And obviously the petitioner's mentioned too that they'll have on-property parking and ability to, to turn around. So I feel like what's being proposed is the safest option. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Cross, would you like to speak to your second?

Yes, thank you. Um, everything stated before, and also it's important to note that the Municipality of Anchorage has been struggling with plat notes and SL special limitations over the last several years. We've been going away and trying to eliminate those, particularly in light that a lot of these were put in place prior to the development of an area, and really they should be on a case-by-case basis, and they should be up to the traffic engineer in order to not create unintentional development delays and costs and expense to landowners. Much like Mr. Allen is experiencing. So I will be, I will be supporting the motion.

I appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Cross. Anybody else? Oh, Miss Butler. Yeah, um, I intend to support this motion as well.

I will mirror the comments from Mr. Jones and Mr. Cross, but I would also like to add that as outlined in the staff report, that this Platte was designed in 1970. It was supposed to be a true collector, but it is not. It did not meet the expectations. I mean, over the last 55 years, it's a 24-foot gravel road which was not required to be constructed to municipal standards. The modification or removal of the Platte note will not have negative impact on adjacent properties.

Like we stated earlier, there is a driveway right across the street. The removal of the plat note will also continue to meet the approval criteria of subsection 2103-200(C)(9). There's been no community council comments, no objections from reviewing agency, and private development confirms that Carl Street does not have the traffic volumes to be a true collector. And yes, we have set precedents not too long ago with people who have purchased properties that were not permitted properly and are suffering the consequences in the just appreciate that it's being brought forth and fixed. Thank you, Miss Butler.

Anyone else wishing to add findings? Seeing none, I'm going to hand the gavel over. Just say that I agree with all the comments that have been made by those on this board that have spoken to this. Uh, staff recommends approval, met all the conditions, so I will also be supporting this.

With that, let's call a vote.

And the motion passes.

So you are all good. All right, thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you. Uh, are there any board member comments?

Through the chair, I'd like to mention, um, this is Kyle's last meeting, Brenda's last meeting. Brandy Pennington hasn't requested reappointment, so I believe it's her last meeting. October 14th is when the terms expire, but I will be calling a special meeting to get the resolution adopted, so plan on hearing from me. But yeah, thank you. Thank you, Miss Blake.

I would like to thank both of you for serving on this board. We appreciate all your, all your hard work and input, and you've very much been a strong asset and you've done your community a solid favor. So thank you for that.

I've requested reappointment to the board, um, but I haven't heard anything back yet because this is An awesome opportunity, and I love it. But I take back all my comments.

I, however, uh, did not seek reappointment. I just, uh, I've enjoyed the last year. It's been a lot of fun to learn how this all goes. I just thought I would let somebody else take a turn. So, but it's been great to be with you.

Well, thank you for your time. Thank you. Mr. Cross wishing to say something?

I had one thing I wanted to maybe ask of staff, and seeing Traffic's note about the edit of potential things for this plat, I'm curious if maybe that area— the petitioner's comment about having on-property turnaround, something like that— I think, I don't know if there'd be a way to modify the plat to where, uh, that was maybe a requirement of doing that to ensure that we didn't ever have anybody backing out like you described. I think do a lot to help with future people if they're looking to, to develop these areas and do something like that, to ensure they have one, parking on site, and two, the ability to turn around so they're not backing onto Carl like that. Yeah, agreed. And I think it— I'd have to talk, double check with traffic, but it may be a requirement that you turn— you have on-site turning and maneuvering. It's not an option to be able to back out.

So, you know, thank you for that feedback, Mr. Jones. With that, do we have a motion to adjourn?

Move by Mr. Jones, second by Ms. Ploy. We are adjourned. Thank you.

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