By Aaron Selbig
Turnagain Times Correspondent
Development of the 40-lot Holtan Hills subdivision between Crow Creek Road and Glacier Creek took a big step forward on July 14, when the Girdwood Land Use Committee voted 11 to 1 to approve construction of a new road and water transmission line into the area.
The one dissenting vote belonged to six-year Girdwood resident Steve Howze, who was not happy about what he saw transpire at the meeting.
“They’re corrupt as hell,” he said afterward, referring to engineers and officials from Heritage Land Bank (HLB) and Anchorage Water and Wastewater Utility (AWWU), who presented their plans before the committee. “Those engineers will do anything their boss tells them to do,” he said. “Special interest groups, if they’re more motivated than the public, then they get their people out to meetings and they win these votes. That’s what just happened. The Heritage Land Bank stacked the vote.”
“I think that’s selling the community short by making that kind of an accusation,” said AWWU project manager Linda Barber-Wiltse. “I think you’ve got a group of folks down here that care about the issues and that is an insult to them.”
Barber-Wiltse was pleased by the committee’s approval for the road and water line, and looked forward to the next step in the process when they take the plan before the Girdwood Board of Supervisors at their next meeting on July 21.
Twenty or so Girdwood residents filed into the Girdwood Community Center for the meeting and, after a lengthy PowerPoint presentation from Barber-Wiltse and Alison Smith from HLB, lobbed a series of questions about the development project. Questions were addressed about adequate protection of wetlands in the area, whether there would be facilities for trail access in the development (there will be) and whether the Anchorage School District had signed off on the current plan (it has).
Crow Creek Valley resident Soren Wuerth noted that the Holtan Hills lots were likely to be expensive, and wondered if thought had been given to the housing needs of lower-income folks in Girdwood.
“We are required by the neighborhood plan to provide at least 25 percent of the lots directly to local Girdwood residents,” answered Smith. “In this subdivision, that means at least 10 lots. I think that’s a really positive part of the plan, even though it will restrict how we sell them.”
Girdwood Board of Supervisors member John Gallup attended the meeting and expects the Board to approve the plans at their meeting.
“I think it’s a good deal,” he said. “This subdivision is going to add more land inventory. When you have more land inventory, prices will come down and maybe that will allow some less wealthy people to move into the basin or into a condo.”
If the Board does indeed approve the plans, HLB and AWWU will be able to move into the next phase of development, which will include environmental study, surveying and pursuing necessary permits. Barber-Wiltse thought that construction could begin as soon as next summer and, if the weather conditions are right, entertained the idea of doing some work in the area this winter.