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| Submitted comments will appear below after staff approval. | |
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| Luke j peroni | 9/24/2022 9:06:44 AM |
| I have been a Girdwood resident for 28 years. I am against the Holden hills project in its current form. This development needs to address the STR issue and the affordable housing issue. In its current form it does not address these issues. There needs to a ban on STR’s and part of the land needs put aside for a non profit to develop affordable housing ( both single family homes, apartment’s and condos). | |
| Emma Kramer | 9/23/2022 4:54:28 PM |
| The process behind the Holton Hills Development proposal with HLB and CY Investments is proving itself to be a profit-driven land grab, engineered by the current administration, strategized to be pushed fast and furiously through a public process that has flirted with illegality, violated codes left and right, and shown a total disregard for the Girdwood community’s concerns, as well as concerns for access, safety, and a critical lack of social services. The land being proposed for disposal is public land. The Girdwood valley is limited in develop-able land; it is a forested and mountainous watershed, with bedrock, wetlands and old growth trees living in harmony. We want to pace growth in our valley so we can support it with services. If we continue to be treated like Anchorage’s cash cow, bringing in money to HLB and tax revenue for the MOA, without respecting our voices as we plead for a prudent public process, the current crisis will elevate to an exodus. Anchorage will not experience economic benefit from a crippled Girdwood that’s barely running at 50% of its workforce capacity. Our valley’s future development depends on the release of public lands from HLB, for public good. For the two decades that I’ve lived in Girdwood I have experienced a crippled approach to development due to many factors that are often out of Girdwood's control. One of the most critical factors towards progress is the ability to plan and develop a community in accordance with that community's desires. We are in the process of completing our Girdwood Area Plan (GAP), HLB, the MOA and CY Investments have shown no attempt to respect this process and wait to reference our community’s plan. What is the purpose of our GAP if not to provide a framework for our community’s approach to development? We will not sit by and watch our community be ignored, lied to, belittled, oppressed, and endangered. The Holton Hills development will increase our valley's population by 1/3. There has been a despicable lack of study or attempt to include the Girdwood community in the process since December when this was all proposed. There must be studies done on the impacts of population growth, traffic & emergency access, and how to address the current housing crisis and increasing homelessness problem in Girdwood. Halt Holtan Hills, Girdwood deserves a better plan. | |
| Linda Bennett | 9/23/2022 1:20:59 PM |
| This development should not go forward until a traffic plan for Hightower Road and Alyeska Highway, and Arlberg and Hightower Roads are implemented and in place. | |
| Brooke Lavender | 9/23/2022 12:42:45 PM |
| The Heritage Land Bank and Anchorage Municipality are in a big rush to get this project started. It looks like they are trying to take the stairs in one stride. Girdwood residents are here today for one reason-we all want positive sustainable progress. Pertaining to this project positive progress would have started with relationships being built between our community, heritage land bank, and our developers. We would have been able to hone in on the concerns and needs that our community has, we would have been able to find common ground. We could have found someone to do a community needs or housing needs assessment, which would have provided the municipality with a tactical way of analyzing gaps in community services and housing. We could have taken the time to focus on the issues at hand, and our community would have been able to provide solutions such as inclusionary housing. We could have done this right. We had every opportunity, and our housing committee all worked on their own time to try to communicate our needs as a community. They had a letter prepared and sent, and you only received it last night. You can not properly take the time to vote on this disposal in one evening after hearing our community speak for the very first time today. I am urging you to take a tactical pause on this land disposal and come up with a new agreement that serves those who could potentially live in Girdwood, and prioritizes those who currently live there. Alaska is a special place, we have over two million tourists visit every year. Girdwood is a popular destination, and we have to account for all of the traffic we get here and the exhaustion of the services provided locally because of it. Girdwood isn’t just a town of 2 to 3 thousand people, there are many more people than that here during peak tourism seasons. We must address the housing crisis before we can bring even more people in. If a restaurant or local business is understaffed or Alyeska can’t get its rooms cleaned in time, the visitor experience may be negatively impacted, jeopardizing potential return trips. The lack of workforce housing, therefore, has a direct effect on Girdwood’s attractiveness. The continued lack of affordable housing for residents and employees within the tourism industry limits the competitiveness of the destination. If we don’t have enough employees to provide services to visitors, how competitive can we be? Beyond the quality of the visitor experience and the competitiveness of the destination, tax collections can be suppressed. Without ample affordable housing, the entire community suffers – it impacts tax revenues significantly, businesses cannot fully operate, and impacts guest services across the board. Without affordable housing, all businesses will struggle to find workers. The challenge of workforce housing has been on the front burner in many other mountain communities for quite a while, but the pandemic pushed this issue to a critical level. To remain competitive and to provide an exceptional visitor experience, workforce housing is essential. As we look to new tools and funding sources, taking a broad, community-wide approach to workforce housing is more of a priority now than ever before, and our community needs to be at the table when these decisions are being made that directly impact us. Short term rentals are killing our community, just like they have done to so many other ski towns. We can get this right, and not contribute to this issue. We have the opportunity to take our time and efforts, and do everything honestly and openly while following code and making sure all legally binding documents are upheld. I challenge you today to do better and to work toward positive sustainable progress for Girdwood. When Girdwood thrives, the municipality thrives, too. Girdwood is not going out without a fight, and if we need to fight for our community we will. | |