# Assembly Rejects Resolution Demanding 60 Parking Spots at Basher Trailhead

The Anchorage Assembly rejected a resolution Saturday that would have required the administration to increase parking at the Basher Trailhead from 45 to 60 spaces. The measure failed on a 5-6 vote after members stripped language threatening to block future project funding.

The resolution sought to override the administration's community-driven design process, which reduced the parking lot from an originally planned 80 to 100 spaces down to 45 through public input. Assembly Member Felix Rivera introduced the measure after the Chugach Access Service Area advisory group and Chugach State Park Citizen Advisory Board raised concerns that the reduction violated the park access plan's guidance for large trailhead facilities.

Before the final vote, the assembly voted 9-2 to remove Section 3 of the resolution. That section would have stated the body's intent not to appropriate funds or approve contracts unless the final design demonstrated sufficient parking capacity. Vice Chair Anna Brawley proposed the amendment. She said she understood concerns about the assembly attempting to bind future members who had not yet been seated.

Assembly Member Daniel S. Johnson said he opposed the resolution because it effectively stated the assembly would kill the project if it did not conform to the body's preferences. "When the assembly states that we will not approve a contract for the construction, we will effectively try to stop this project," Johnson said. "That in my mind feels like the more likely to support the will of the voters position for us to take."

Johnson noted that over 32,000 voters supported the Chugach Access Service Area bond, which included the Basher Trailhead parking lot. He said the resolution made assertions that were not necessarily defensible, including claims about demonstrated demand.

Assembly Chair Christopher Constant defended the resolution. He said the reduction from 80 to 100 spaces down to 45 came out of nowhere and represented a failure to meet the project's goals. "The reality is there is no coming back to it," Constant said. "We do not have the money to come back and redo projects that we did until 20 or 30 years from now."

Constant estimated the reduction would affect roughly 120 additional car trips per day. Budget Officer Kent Colhase said the figure was probably relatively accurate. Colhase confirmed the municipality did not conduct a traffic study on the project.

Assembly Member George Martinez urged colleagues to trust the process. He noted the design changed from 35 percent to 65 percent completion based on community feedback. "The difference between following a process and then being heavy-handed is the difference between what this resolution is attempting to do in a very heavy-handed way versus recognizing that there was a process and there was a change as a result of the process," Martinez said.

Chief of Staff Suzanne Fleet Green said the administration tried to balance concerns for safety and improving access while listening to neighborhood comments. Fleet Green noted the 65 percent design includes planning for a future expansion if the lot reaches capacity, with space for an additional 15 to 20 spots.

Colhase said increasing from 45 to 60 spaces now would cost $200,000 to $300,000. Building a new 15-space parking lot later would likely cost more due to mobilization and other construction factors, he said.

Assembly Member Meg Zaletel said the conversation raised larger questions about who makes decisions regarding public assets in public spaces. "What we are really talking about is a larger question of who gets to make decisions about public assets in public spaces and who gets to dictate who can be where and how," Zaletel said.

Assembly Member Kameron Perez-Verdia said the resolution felt like an overstep by the assembly. "It feels like an overstep of the assembly to weigh itself in at this point in the process, and then also to threaten to not pass if it does not go this way," Perez-Verdia said.

The 65 percent design plans went out for review on March 30, at least a week before the bond election. The public survey that informed the design was open for one month.

Fleet Green said the Basher Trailhead is one of five parking areas along Basher Road. The bond also funded trail improvements for Lost Cabin Trail and wayfinding for Stewart's Trail. The project will increase parking from barely 16 spaces to 45, along with other access improvements.