Planning and Zoning Commission - April 20, 2026 - 2026-04-20 18:30:00

Okay, we will call the, uh, April 20th meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission to order. May we please have the roll call? Andres Spinelli. Here. Jared Gardner.

Here. Radhika Krishna. Here. Scott Polis. Here.

Jeff Rahn.

Here. Brandy Eber.

Here. Amma Abaza. Here. Megan Mills. Here.

Edith McKee. Here. You have a quorum. Thanks.

First, we will have disclosures. Do any of the commissioners have disclosures?

Hearing and seeing none, we'll move on to the public hearing, and I will read the procedure by which the public may speak to the Commission.

After staff presentation is completed on public hearing items, the Chair will ask for public testimony on the issue. Persons who wish to testify will follow the time limits established in Commission Rules of Procedure. Petitioners, including his or her representatives, will receive 10 minutes. Part of this time may be reserved for rebuttal. Representatives of groups, PTAs, community councils, etc., will receive 5 minutes.

Individuals, 3 minutes. When your testimony is complete, you may be asked questions by the Commission. You may only testify once on any issue unless questioned by the Commission. Any party of interest wishing to appeal shall first file with the Planning Director within 7 days of the Commission's decision made on the record a written notice of intent to appeal in accordance with AMC 2103050(a)(4)(a). Commission recommendations to the Anchorage Assembly are not appealable.

Following approval of the written finding of facts 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 2103050. The notice of appeal must be filed with the planning director on a form prescribed by the municipality. If the appellant is not the applicant, the appellant's notice of appeal shall include proof of service on the applicant.

May we please have staff presentation in case 2026-0048? Thank you, Mr. Chair. The property owner is seeking approval of a conditional use for a new governmental service in the Girdwood Airport GA zoning district. There is a pending rezone of this property to GA for introduction at the assembly on April 14th.

There's also an associated Title 21 text amendment to the intent language of the GA district for introduction at the assembly on April 14th. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of this rezoning and of the Title 21 text amendment that updates location requirements in the intent of the GA district. The governmental service conditional use will be approximately for 1.2 acres to develop an avalanche control site along the Seward Highway. An access road connecting to the Seward Highway with a locked gate will provide entry to the site. The site will include a heliport, 5 portable magazines for explosive storage, and an area demarcated for potential future additional portable magazines to store explosives.

Anchorage Municipal Code 2109-01 050A-5, Table 21.09-2, Table of Allowed Uses, requires the conditional use review for government service in the GA District. The heliport is permitted by right in the GA Zoning District per Table 21.09-2. The applicant held a pre-application conference with reviewing agencies on December 3rd, 2025, per AMC 21-03-080(C)(2). The applicant attended the Girdwood Board of Supervisors, GBOS, Land Use Committee meeting on January 12th, 2026 per AMC 2103080(C)(3). The Planning Department mailed 54 public hearing notices on March 24th, 2026.

As of this writing, the Planning Department has received no public comments. GBOS adopted Resolution 2026-01 in support of the rezoning of the site to the GA Zoning District and of the associated Title 21 text amendment to the GA Zoning District intent This resolution also provides support of the avalanche control development in this conditional use review. You can find this on page 48 of your staff report if you're looking for it. Municipal reviewing agencies had no objection to the conditional use for government service. The Planning and Zoning Commission may approve a conditional use application if, in the judgment of the commission, all 9 criteria have been met in all material matters.

Planning staff has found that all 9 approval criteria for conditional use have been met with the conditions of approval found on page 5 of your staff report. Therefore, staff recommends approval of this conditional use for a governmental service facility in the GA zoning district, subject to conditions 1, 2, and 3 found on page 5 of the staff report. I can answer any questions that the Commission may have, and the petitioner's representative is in attendance.

Uh, are there questions for staff?

Commissioner Pulis. Just a quick clerical question. The agency review has a couple comments on page 50 from DOT, which I get the cynicism that it is DOT applying and DOT commenting, but also query access road must be named by addressing Is that covered by the department recommendation conditions of approval? Through the chair, Commissioner Paulus, that will be taken care of when they apply for the permit from the muni. They'll, they'll have to create an address then for the permitting of it.

Okay, thank you. You're welcome.

Um, Commissioner McKee. Hi, through the chair, question for staff. This is— it rezones it to GA? Through the chair, Commissioner McKee. So the board— the commission passed the rezone of this from GDR, which it currently is, to GA. That's a recommended approval.

The assembly has to approve it. That AO was introduced on the 14th. We just missed— we were trying to time this perfectly. So that the, that the assembly would have approved the rezone and the title, the Chapter 9, Title 21 amendment. Unfortunately, we missed the date by 3 days for submission, so that pushed us to the summit.

So it was introduced last Tuesday. It would normally be heard and approved next, this coming Tuesday on the 28th. But due to the election cycle, that is getting pushed now to the May 12th assembly meeting.

And then a follow-up question. So because I'm, I'm new to the board, so maybe wasn't part of the previous discussions, um, if they rezone this to an airport and the adjacent development reserve there, I mean, Girdwood doesn't have any concerns about all of the restrictions that will come into play in the surrounding area should they choose to develop it? Through the chair, Commissioner McKee, This was an effort by DOT Avalanche Control with many, many years going to the Girdwood Board of Supervisors— well, going to Girdwood, and they got the comprehensive plan, the 2020-2025 comprehensive plan, updated just in time to reclassify this particular lot as industrial, which then opened it up to where it could be rezoned as GA, allowing the heliport by right and just requiring this conditional use for the government facility— government services. Sorry. Thank you.

You're welcome. Uh, seeing no more questions, um, we'll ask for the petitioner's presentation.

All right, uh, good evening, Commissioners. My name is Taryn Olson. I'm a planner with R&M Consultants supporting DOT, uh, with this project. I'm joined this evening by Tim Glissett and Matt McKee, who are both with the snow avalanche program for their respective organizations. Tim is with DOT and Matt is here with the Alaska Railroad Corporation.

Uh, thank you for consideration in this conditional use permit, and thank you, staff, for the report. Um, Commissioner McKee, this may be new for you, but for everyone else, thank you for hearing us again on step 3 in this process and making this project a reality. The Virgin Creek Avalanche Mitigation Storage and Heliport Facility is going to be a significant safety improvement for our community and a drastic operational improvement for both the railroad and DOT. The avalanche program works to reduce avalanche hazard in susceptible areas, really to minimize traffic delays, potential road closures, railroad closures, and overall improve safety, specifically along the Seward Highway corridor. They work collaboratively, DOT and the railroad, all along the Seward Highway corridor, and this project is really a product of their continued ongoing collaboration.

As stated by staff, DOT is requesting.

This conditional use permit specifically for the storage of military arterial or the explosive materials that they use to actually conduct their avalanche operations. This proposed location was selected for a couple of key reasons. The first one being that it is substantially separated from developed land uses. We're separated from existing neighborhoods. There's not any planned development adjacent to this location.

And as staff as suggested, has spent a long time working with the Girdwood community to find that right spot to put this. In addition, proximity to Chugach Mountains that typically require avalanches to be mitigated, it's right nearby, and they have the ability at this site to have controlled, improved, and direct access to both the railroad and the Seward Highway. And lastly, with the heliport at this location, we're able to conduct helicopter operations without flying directly over residential neighborhoods. Which is a great bonus, and we're able to mitigate that— what otherwise would be a potential negative impact of the development. The new explosive storage facility in Heliport, uh, is going to be a, like I said, big advancement for operations currently, and it's also going to support, um, federal public safety objectives by minimizing risks associated with explosive hazard, uh, handling, storage, and transportation.

So having a federally compliant facility in the centralized location, again, very separated from existing developed land, it's going to reduce the need and the frequency for the movement of hazardous material on public roadways. So the fact that they're able to get directly onto the Seward Highway or onto the railroad and not have to navigate through the Girdwood Valley, for example, is a big benefit. This is part of a larger program as well. This is just one location, but the snow avalanche programs are doing this statewide, looking for opportunities to find advantageous spots to store these explosive materials.

So the proposed Virgin Creek Avalanche Mitigation Facility is directly supported by the Gridwood Comprehensive Plan and again by recent approvals that this body has granted, both supporting the rezone and the code amendment. Girdwood Board of Supervisors has passed a resolution in support of both the rezone and this conditional use permit, and I just want to quickly go over a couple of the features of the site plan itself. So of the 44-acre parcel, only 1.2 of them are proposed to be developed for this facility. Access is directly from the Seward Highway, but it's going to use the railroad right-of-way, and it's going to be controlled access. So there'll be a locked gate that will only allow authorized DOT and railroad personnel to come and go.

There will be 5 Type 5— Type 2 portable magazines for explosive storage on site, and each one of those magazines are going to be surrounded by an earthen berm to provide additional barricade if needed. There is additional space for a remote avalanche control system that DOT is working to acquire, as well as the heliport facility. Each of those portable magazines meets all federal requirements for construction, ventilation, uh, fire resistance, theft deterrent, and locking mechanism. So each one of those is already built in as a secure unit, uh, but we are also proposing fencing around the site for one more additional level of security.

The site is not going to be very active. Um, there's going to be weekly checks by staff to make sure that everything is as it should be on site. But otherwise, activity is really gonna be limited to peak season mobilities. So in the fall, that's going to be mobilizing the remote avalanche control systems, which is where we actually use helicopters to pick up and place those systems on the mountain, and then again in the spring to go and retrieve those systems.

The amount of, explosive and artillery that will be kept on site is going to be limited to only what's required for the operations at this one location. So, um, the current design is to meet those needs, not to provide for larger regional facilities at this time. There is no additional site lighting that is proposed. We're not proposing any additional landscaping either. None is required.

But there has been a good focus on keeping existing vegetation as much as we can to provide additional screening from the highway and adjacent properties.

I think that is my overview of the site. Tim is here to answer any specific questions about the Snow Avalanche Program's operations or, you know, storage or movement of those explosive materials themselves. And both gentlemen are here to speak to the agreement between the DOT and the railroad if there are any questions. With that, thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you.

You have 3 minutes and 38 seconds for rebuttal.

Are there any questions for the petitioner?

Seeing none, we'll open the— oh, Commissioner McKee. I have a couple questions for you. All right. Are there any intentions to store fuel on site for the helicopter to refuel? No.

And then, um, there was a question in here about, um, the protection or offset distances from water areas. So they put the access road on the side of the railroad tracks that's adjacent to the like a wetland. Was there a reason why they didn't put it on the other side to allow the railroad facility to be kind of a natural berm or—.

Can you push a button?

Perfect. Thanks. Thank you for the question. My name is Tim Glassett. I'm the statewide avalanche and artillery program manager for Alaska DOT.

Uh, to answer your question specifically about access for the Alaska Railroad, there needs to be sight distance along the railroad, and that side allows that sight distance. So that's why that access road is on that side. And additionally, that is the old access road for the existing facility, and it's going to be built out and made better for that way.

That was my only question. Thank you.

I see no more questions. We'll open it up, the public hearing. Anyone from the public? Wishing to testify, please step forward.

Okay, uh, last chance. We are closing the public hearing. You have 3 minutes and 38 seconds for rebuttal. Would you like to use it? No.

What is the will of the body?

Uh, motion by Commissioner Polis. Would you like to state your motion?

Yes, I move in case 2026-0048 to approve a conditional use for governmental service in the Girdwood Airport zoning district in accordance with AMC 2109050, Table 21092, Table of Allowed Uses, subject to conditions as shown on page 5 of the staff report. That is seconded by Commissioner Krishna. Commissioner Pullis, would you like to speak to your motion? Yes, I intend to support the motion. Um, I agree with the suggested findings that the application meets the conditional use criteria.

And that no comments of objection were received from the public or reviewing agencies. I'll add that the Girdwood Board of Supervisors provided a resolution of support for the project. Additionally, I also agree with the department recommendations for condition of approval.

Excellent. Anybody else wishing to speak to the motion?

Hearing and seeing none, we'll call for the vote. Miss Heber, how do you vote? Yes.

Mr. Rahn?

Yes. Thank you.

That motion passes.

Um, next on the agenda, uh, Commissioner comments.

Are there any Commissioner comments? We hearing, seeing none, will entertain a motion to adjourn.

Moved by Commissioner Gardner, seconded by Commissioner Mills. Any discussion or objections? Hearing.

Seeing none, we are adjourned. Thank you, Brandy and Jeff.