Projects Chugach Access Plan

Current News:

April 2015:

The Anchorage Assembly tabled action on Assembly Ordinance 2014-101, the Chugach Access Plan. Instead, the Assembly incorporated relevant elements from the Chugach Access Plan into a new section of the Trails heading in the Dedications section of Title 21 [21.08.040 E.]. See Assembly Ordinance 2014-140(S) As Amended, March 24, 2015. The Municipality and the State of Alaska will continue to use the Chugach Access Plan as a technical planning reference and guide for access considerations in future platting actions.

September 2014:

The Chugach Access Plan was before the Anchorage Assembly on for public hearing on September 9, 2014.

July 2014:

The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the July 2010 Public Hearing Draft of the Chugach Access Plan on October 7, 2013. The recommended amendments are in PZC Resolution No. 2013-038, which was adopted on January 6, 2014. The resolution will be forwarded to the Anchorage Assembly for consideration in its review and adoption of the plan. The Plan will be before the Anchorage Assembly in late summer 2014.

The link to the resolution is below:

PZC Resolution No. 2013-038

June 17, 2013:

At the Planning and Zoning Commission on June 10, deliberation on the plan was postponed until the July 8 meeting to make a recommendation to forward to the Assembly on its inclusion as an element of the Municipality of Anchorage’s Comprehensive Plan.

The Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing on the Chugach Access Plan was re-opened on April 1, 2013, to receive further testimony. The public hearing was closed, and a work session with the Commission and staff was scheduled for Monday, May 6. Deliberations on the plan was originally scheduled before the Planning and Zoning Commission for May 13 but postponed to June 10 and then again to July 8.

The Chugach Access Plan (CAP) public hearing draft was released in July 2012, culminating in the Alaska Department of Natural Resources-led planning effort aimed at resolving and improving public access to Chugach State Park. This huge state park, located in the hills east of Anchorage, shares a common border with the Municipality and currently offers limited public access points. In order to meet the needs of existing and future park users and Anchorage residents, the State, in coordination with the Municipality, has published this access plan. There has never been a formal plan that provided guidance, potential locations, and policies that addresses reserved public access to Chugach State Park. Yet the need for such a plan has become increasingly more apparent as growing access issues and competition for a dwindling land base at the park interface heightens. In order to address park access, the State and the Municipality initiated this public process to develop a Chugach Access Plan.

Chugach Access Plan as an Element of the Comprehensive Plan

Highlighted in the Anchorage 2020-Anchorage Bowl Comprehensive Plan (Anchorage 2020), Chugach State Park use and access has become increasingly more important to Anchorage residents and visitors as a regional park and natural resource facility. But establishing new access sites and maintaining existing sites remains a challenge. Numerous municipal plans reflect both the park’s significance to residents and the importance of establishing Municipal policies to address public access, including Potter Valley Land Use Analysis (1999); Anchorage 2020 (2001), Chugiak-Eagle River Comprehensive Plan (2006), Anchorage Bowl Park, Natural Resource, and Recreation Facility Plan (2006); Turnagain Arm Comprehensive Plan (2009); Hillside District Plan (2010); and Title 21 (provisional and current). Some of these documents present specific policies tied to resolving access conflicts and land use recommendations at the Park-Municipal land interface. However, until now, there has never been a formal document or process that identifies existing and future new access points, creates policies to establish new sites, and defines a formal Municipal role or procedure in these actions.

Following a municipal legal opinion, the Community Development Department has initiated a formal review and approval process for the CAP. The Municipality intends to adopt this state plan as an element of the Comprehensive Plan, per the Charter, under Anchorage Municipal Code, Section 21.05.030F. Parks, Greenbelts, and Recreational Facilities. As a Comprehensive Plan element, this plan will guide municipal actions and recommendations for areas adjacent to the Chugach State Park, particularly with respect to trail locations, pedestrian easements, parking areas, rights-of-ways extensions and similar connections to the park. Specifically, with adoption as a Comprehensive Plan element, the CAP will serve as the implementation guide to the municipal plans mentioned above as well as any other future plans that border the Park and as the foundation for subdivision dedications as provided for in Anchorage Municipal Code in Section 21.80.

CAP Planning and Review Process and Schedule

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, initiated a planning process for this document in spring 2008. Planning alternatives were evaluated in 2009 and the State provided a three-month public review period for the Plan in the first quarter of 2010. After evaluating comments, proposed changes to the plan recommendations have been made and are being released as an amendment during the municipal review process. These recommendations are included in this municipal review as Exhibit A, Amendments, which are to be considered part of the final plan packet.

The municipal review of this plan will include presentations and approvals with recommendations by the municipal Parks and Recreation Commission and the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Those bodies will present their findings and recommendations to the Anchorage Assembly for final adoption. The final plan that the State adopts will incorporate additions and amendments from the Assembly.

Below is a timeline summary for the review process:

August 9, 2012

Municipal Parks and Recreation Commission
– public hearing

August 22, 2012

Watershed & Natural Resources Advisory Commission
– regular meeting

September 13, 2012

Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission
– regular meeting

September 17, 2012

Planning and Zoning Commission
– work session and public hearing

dECEMBER 3, 2012

Planning and Zoning Commission
– work session

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Planning and Zoning Commission
– deliberations

february 4, 2013

Planning and Zoning Commission
– deliberations; public hearing is reopened for
March 11 to allow public notice be given to
affected property owners

MARCH 11, 2013 (POSTPONED to APRIL 1)

Planning and Zoning Commission
– public hearing (reopening)

APRIL 1, 2013

Planning and Zoning Commission
– public hearing (reopening), Case No. 2012-104
   Assembly Chambers, Z.J. Loussac Library
   3600 Denali Street, Anchorage