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3/19/2025  The Girdwood Comprehensive Plan passed

The Girdwood Comprehensive Plan was passed by the Assembly last night.

The approved final plan has 3 changes from the S Version:

• the expected update to the language around vegetative buffers, as supported by Imagine! Girdwood

• a change to one of the resort-owned parcels between Chair 7 and Arlberg to be entirely Mixed Use rather than split, also supported by Imagine! Girdwood

• change to the "mitten" area from Open Space to Mixed Use, which was opposed by Imagine! Girdwood

The Assembly also intend to add language to the HLB work plan to put conditions on any future land disposal of the Mitten area, including requiring trail development, lower cost housing for community members to live in, and a reversion clause if the development doesn't go ahead in a resonable timescale. That discussion will continue in a month or two when the HLB Work Plan is in front of the Assembly. 

There are a couple more bureaucratic steps before the Girdwood Plan is officially in force, but they will be completed in the next couple of weeks.

This phase is complete, and Girdwood now has a brand new, Assembly-approved Comprehensive Plan!

A huge thank you to everyone in the community who has helped getting this done!

3/17/2025  The Final "Final" step?

The Assembly will go back to considering the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan tomorrow, Tues March 18th around 7pm.

In the weeks since the prior meeting, there was another work session (March 6th, recording here) which covered broadly similar grounds to previous presentations to the Assembly. 

There will not be an opportunity for residents to speak to the Assembly since the public hearing was closed at the prior meeting, although individual Assembly members might ask questions of Municipal staff or the petitioners during their deliberations.

The Assembly were in the middle of considering the "Virgin Creek" amendment, then they will move on to the "Mitten" amendment and one technical amendment. Members can introduce additional amendments, but we are not aware of anything. After all amendments have been decided, the Assembly should go to a final vote to adopt the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan.

Adoption of the 2024 (or 2025?) Plan will mark the end of this phase. Girdwood can be proud of the all the work that went into the plan, and how much members of the community stood up to make their voices heard. Thank you!

Whatever the outcome of the remaining amendments, 95%+ of what we wanted in the plan is in the plan. It's a huge step forward for Girdwood, and gives us a solid basis to address the wide range of challenges we will face over the next several years.

2/25/2025 What happened at tonight's Assembly Meeting?

In short, another delay before the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan is adopted.

Thank you to everyone who spoke during tonight's Public Hearing. The testimony was excellent and illustrated the high degree of community engagement we have seen throughout the plan development. 

Now the Assembly get to discuss the plan and ask questions of various parties. 

The S-Version (i.e. Girdwood's version of the Plan) was moved and the uncontroversial Amendment 1 was passed. Amendment 3 (Virgin Creek) was under consideration when the item was postponed until the meeting of March 18th. At that meeting the Assembly will resume discussion of Amendment 3 and then move to Amendment 2 (Mitten).

In the meantime a Work Session will be held (likely Mar- 6) to allow Assembly members to ask more detailed questions of the Planning Dept, Imagine! Girdwood/project team and possibly others. Usually no opportunity for public comment at Work Sessions.

2/25/2025 Floor Amendments Available

The three amendments described in the previous post are now available.

1. Update the Vegetative Buffer language and make all of Alyeska Tract C Mixed Use. Imagine! Girdwood SUPPORTS these changes and this amendment.

2. Change the 'Mitten'/Forest Loop/Enchanted Forest area to Mixed Use. Imagine! Girdwood OPPOSES this amendment.

3. Change a strip of land along the western edge of Alyeska Basin to Low-Intensity Residential Imagine! Girdwood DOES NOT SUPPORT this amendment.

The S-version ordinance is AO 2024-114(S). Other amendments might be introduced during the Assembly meeting.

2/23/2025 Brief Update

Everything is still on for Assembly final hearing and action at their Feb 25th meeting - details of how to testify in the post below. You can see our talking points/FAQ here.

One change: the S-1 version was not ready in time, so the Assembly will start with the S-version.

We expect to see 3 amendments at the Assembly meeting:

1. The two technical changes that were in the S-1 version: update the Vegetative Buffer language and make all of Alyeska Tract C Mixed Use. Imagine! Girdwood SUPPORTS these changes and this amendment.

2. Change the 'Mitten'/Forest Loop/Enchanted Forest area to Mixed Use and recommend that any future transfer of land to Alyeska requires construction affordable and workforce housing. Imagine! Girdwood OPPOSES this amendment.

3. Change a strip of land 500' deep along the western edge of Alyeska Basin to Low-Intensity Residential Imagine! Girdwood DOES NOT SUPPORT this amendment.

Assembly members could introduce other amendments at the meeting, but we are not aware of anything specific at this time.

2/17/2025 The Final Stretch

The Assembly will hold the third and final Public Hearing on the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan at the February 25th Assembly Meeting. This will be the last opportunity to testify on the plan. Immediately after the hearing, the Assembly should move to adopt the plan, discuss it, consider amendments, and then vote to approve the (possibly amended) plan at that meeting.

This is the last step in a long journey to update the Girdwood Plan, a journey that around a thousand community members have guided forward by sharing thoughts, answering surveys, speaking at meetings, asking great questions, making donations or supporting in countless other ways. A huge thank you from the Imagine! Girdwood team for the backing of the Girdwood community. 

What's happened since December?

In December the S-version of the Plan was introduced. This is the original Girdwood plan, plus several positive changes recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission and agreed to by Imagine! Girdwood.

Since then the Planning Department refined their suggested changes in a Memo and presented them to Imagine! Girdwood at our Jan-16 Special Meeting where we formally supported two changes (Items #1, #5), opposed one (item #2) and took no action on the other two.  

What can you do?

If you have not testified at a previous Public Hearing for the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan, you can speak at the February 25th meeting either in person at the Loussac Library or by phone (fill out the phone testimony request on this form at least 24 hours in advance).

If you have spoken before, you should be able to testify if you limit comments to proposed amendments only.

Whether you speak or not, you can also submit written testimony using the same form or email comments to all Assembly Members at assembly@muni.org

What will the Assembly do?

After the Public Hearing, the Assembly will consider the S-version of the Plan and may also consider an S-1 version which is the same with the two small changes supported by Imagine! Girdwood as described above.

Imagine! Girdwood recommends approval of either the S or S-1 versions. Our local Girdwood government, through GBOS and Girdwood Land Use Committee, have formally supported the S-version.

Possible Amendments

Based on their Jan-16, 2025 memo, we expect the Planning Department to bring forward two amendments to the Land Use map.

• extend Low-intensity Residential with a 500 ft strip at the immediate west of Alyeska Basin (item #3 in the Planning memo). Imagine! Girdwood does not support this change, but did not formally oppose it.

• change the use of the area to the north of the airport (aka Forest Loop / Enchanted Forest / "Mitten") from Open Space to Mixed Use. Imagine! Girdwood formally opposes this change.

12/18/2024 What happens next?

The Assembly held a Public Hearing on Girdwood Comprehensive Plan yesterday evening and introduced the "S" version, the latest version of the plan incorporating everything supported by the Girdwood community.

This was a big step forwards for Girdwood, since prior to yesterday's meeting the Assembly were only officially considering the Planning and Zoning Commission recommendations. Now the Assembly can work from the Plan that the Girdwood community supports, including Girdwood's own elected local government body.

At the meeting we heard very compelling in-person and phone testimony from almost 20 community members supporting the "S" version and making a strong case for adoption. Thank you to everyone who spoke or wrote in support!

The Assembly did not make a decision to adopt the plan, but postponed until their meeting on January 21st. In part this was to allow the "S" version to be fully published & circulated (reducing the risk of an adoption decision being challenged) and partly to allow the Planning Department to reconsider the changes they recommended in July.

It's slightly disappointing that the "S" version of the Plan wasn't adopted at the meeting, but we started the update process six years ago - we can wait one more month until January 21 for a successful conclusion.

In the meantime you can still testify in writing through this form

12/14/2024 Assembly Public Hearing - Tuesday December 17th

The Girdwood Comprehensive Plan will have a public hearing at the Assembly Meeting on Tuesday December 17th. It appears as item 14.E on the agenda.

There are three ways to testify officially:

• speak in-person at the Assembly meeting

• send written testimony before the meeting through this form

• testify by phone (the Assembly will call you during the meeting). You must sign up for phone testimony by 5pm on Monday Dec-16 - check "phone testimony" on the same form

In addition, you can email comments to all Assembly members at assembly@anchorageak.gov although those comments will not be part of the official public hearing record.

What we expect on Tuesday

The item on the agenda is based on the Planning & Zoning recommendations, not Girdwood's original application. The Girdwood Comprehensive Plan was developed over 6+ years of work with the help of almost a thousand Girdwood community members. To acknowledge the community's collective voice, our two Assembly members will be introducing a substitute version (aka "S" version) and an updated Plan document which includes all the changes that Girdwood and Planning agree on. If this happens then the public hearing will still go ahead on Tuesday, but the final discussion and vote is likely to be delayed until January.

11/19/2024 Assembly Schedule Confirmed

The schedule for Assembly action is now finalized:

• Nov-22 10:50-11:50am Assembly work session on the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan (this is not a Public Hearing)

• Dec-17 No earlier than 6:30pm Public Hearing at Assembly. The Assembly will likely deliberate and vote at this meeting.

There will an Imagine! Girdwood meeting in early December to coordinate our main messages.

11/4/2024 Assembly Schedule Update

The schedule for Assembly action is now confirmed, although changes are still possible:

• Nov-7 9-11:30am Brief presentation at the Community and Economic Development Committee (may have limited public comment at end of meeting) 

• Nov-19 Introduction at Assembly Meeting (confirm public hearing date; no opportunity for testimony)

• Nov-22 10:50-11:50am Assembly work session on the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan (not a Public Hearing)

• Dec-3 or Dec-17 No earlier than 6:30pm Public Hearing at Assembly

We will provide links to these various meetings as they become available. 

There will also be an Imagine! Girdwood meeting in November, date & time TBC. 

10/30/2024 (Minor) Update

We are still awaiting a confirmed schedule for introduction at the Assembly. Current indications are that Assembly action will be pushed into late November or December.

We will post an update as soon as the Assembly action dates are confirmed, and will also schedule an Imagine! Girdwood meeting to share talking points.

8/28/2024 Schedule update and cancelling tonight's meeting

This evening's regular meeting is cancelled since we do not have substantial additional information to share. We will be holding September and October meetings as planned.

We have been informed that the Assembly Public Hearing is being scheduled for November 6th (the Wednesday *after* the Federal General Election), so we have requested an Assembly worksession the prior week. Look out for announcement when the schedule is confirmed. 

Finally, the additional work around the Planning and Zoning Commission and preparation for the Assembly action will put the project about $3,000 over budget. We have added a donation button to the website, or you can send a check to the address below, so please help us reach that goal if you are able to.

7/10/2024 Planning Dept recommends several changes to Girdwood Comprehensive Plan

The Planning Department published their staff report earlier this week and recommended 11 changes to the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan. Some of these changes are minor, but several are very significant changes that were opposed by a substantial amount of public comment during the Girdwood community review process.

You can read the Planning staff report and comments from other Municipal Departments and Agencies below.

The Planning and Zoning Commissioner are holding a Public Hearing on Monday July 15th to consider the application and the Planning Department recommendations. The Commission can accept some or all of the Planning recommendations and/or substitute their own. The PZC recommendation goes to the full Assembly who can also make changes and will make the final adoption decision. 

Written public comments can still be submitted via the case page, and testimony can be presented in-person or by phone during Monday's public hearing.

6/25/2024 An update and next steps

At the April 29th special joint meeting, both GBOS and LUC voted in favor of submitting the revised plan. After some technical edits and adding community photos, the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan was formally submitted to the Municipality on May 6th. The planning case can be found at https://www.muni.org/CityViewPortal/Planning/Status?planningId=18018

A huge thank you to the 21 community members who submitted a total of 67 photos. Many of them are included in the final version.

Currently the Planning Dept is collecting comments on the plan from Municipal and State departments and agencies. We expect to see a staff report from the Planning Dept early next month.

In June LUC and GBOS both voted unanimously to support the new plan with no additional comments.

Next steps

There will be a public hearing at the July 15th Planning and Zoning Commission starting at 6:30pm. Written public comments can be submitted now via the case page.

After the Planning and Zoning Commission have made a recommendation, it will then be scheduled for introduction and public hearing at the Anchorage Assembly who will vote on adoption. We anticipate the Assembly public hearing to be in September or early October.

4/28/2024 Revised Draft and GBOS/LUC meeting

The Revised Draft was released last Wednesday. Check out the document here: Revised Draft

A reminder that we're seeking photos or other images to illustrate the plan and grace the cover page: more details here 

And finally, there is a special joint GBOS / LUC meeting on Monday April 29th at 7pm to discuss the plan and ask questions to the project team.

Meeting details on the GBOS page: muni.org/gbos and below

Joint GBOS/LUC meeting on the draft Girdwood Comprehensive Plan

Date:   MON April 29, 2024
​Time:   7PM
Location: Hybrid meeting via Teams with in-person attendance at the Girdwood Community Room, 250 Egloff Rd.

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Click here to join the meeting
Meeting ID: 231 852 908 789 Passcode: nw9icP
Or call in (audio only) +1 907-519-0237,,756624026# 
Phone Conference ID: 756 624 026#
​​GBOS LUC Joint Special Meeting April 29 agenda draft
GBOS LUC Joint meeting 4.29.24 meeting packet

4/1/2024 Cover image and plan illustrations

The Girdwood Comprehensive Plan is a reflection of how Girdwoodians see their community and environment.

Help us make this literally true by contributing photos or artwork that reflect how you see Girdwood - it's physical environment, connections, culture, people, or vibe - by contributing images that will be used to illustrate the plan.

One image will be selected for pride-of-place on cover and several for each section title page, and others throughout the text.

More information and image upload form here

3/31/2024 Public Comments Closing at Midnight Tonight

Don't forget to make your Public Comments before the end of the day.

Check the Public Review Draft page for the plan and comment form.

3/27/2024 Four days left to send your Public Comments on the Draft Plan

The Public Comment period closes at midnight Alaska time on Sunday March 31st. The draft plan and Public Comment form are on the Public Review Draft tab, and hard copies of the draft plan are available at Girdwood Library.

Here's a 2 minute video on how to use the Public Comment form.

2/28/2024 The Public Review Draft of the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan was released at this evening's meeting. Public Comments are open through March 31st.

The draft plan and comment link is available at the Public Review Draft tab at the top of the page.

* Printed copies now available for review at Girdwood Library *

2/20/2024 Project Schedule Update

With the publication of the community review draft next week, this project is firmly into its final phase. There are two stages left:

• Girdwood community review: local presentations, public comment, update to a final draft based on public comment, local recommendation, then submit the final draft plan to the Municipality.

• Formal MOA review and adoption: MOA departmental review, Planning and Zoning Commission review & recommendation, and finally Assembly adoption of the Girdwood Comprehensive Plan.

The schedule is shown below with expected dates, where available.

12/17/2023 Pre-Draft Land Use Maps - Response to Public Comments

The document below includes responses to distilled Public Comments on the pre-draft Land Use maps presented in October. This will be a discussion topic at the Dec-20 regular meeting.

Note this is a draft document, subject to revision.

Meeting Materials from October 11, 2023 Community Open House 

** The comment period on the Land Use Plan Maps closed on Sunday November 5, 2023 **

** FIND THE NEW DRAFT LAND USE MAP HERE: Public Review Draft  **

5/1/2022 Existing Conditions Report *UPDATED 12.12.22*

Existing Conditions, Land Suitability and Housing Forecast - Updated

9/22/2021 Existing Conditions Report *DRAFT*

Existing Conditions, Land Suitability and Housing Forecast - Draft 

11/10/2020 Imagine! Girdwood Virtual Town Hall

The virtual public meeting was held on November 10th 2020.