North Douglas has suddenly become a hot property for many development projects

North Douglas remains one of the most remote places on Juneau’s highway system, despite its proximity to urban amenity like the airport and decades of development talk. However, this situation looks set to change dramatically over the next few years; Residents are worried about losing more than just peace and quiet.

Announcement made last week a planned private cruise port It is the latest of three projects, each of which will redefine the character of the region, with a two-ship dock and a historic Tlingit village on the west coast of the northern half of the island to be recreated in 2027. A gondola at Eaglecrest Ski Area will be operated by the joint developer of the cruise port within a few years and long-proposed second pass Mobility from the island to Juneau, which could become a reality within a decade, is also likely to lead to year-round mobility.

So Tuesday night, when Juneau Planning Commission agenda Four proposed regions stood out Neighboring residents of the properties have taken notice of the North Douglas property’s proposal that would allow for more development there (the applicant is requesting the changes along with the City and County of Juneau).

“In a worst-case scenario for the Douglas Freeway, we could be looking at more than 6,000 residents there and possibly nearly as many cars added to the road,” said Gary Gillette, a North Douglas resident and former port engineer for the city. while testifying against one of the zoning applications. “The road is currently at or above capacity and does not have a separate cycle lane or sidewalk.”

The city’s comprehensive plan, introduced in 2013, states that “a significant increase in traffic to the North Douglas Expressway must be accompanied by significant improvements to the highway, including dedicated pedestrian and bicycle lanes.” He said he was aware the state or municipality had no such plans for the two-lane road.

“I understand the need to increase housing, but it wouldn’t be a service to the community if we did that and put people in danger,” Gillette said.

Dan Bleidorn, CBJ’s director of lands and resources, told planning commission members that the four rezoning requests in North Douglas are just one part of a citywide effort launched by the Juneau Council last December. He also noted that there were three more rezoning requests for different parts of the city on the meeting agenda.

“The council instructed staff and the city manager during the retreat to evaluate city properties for areas that we might be able to zone in the future to think about divestment or future development,” he said. “And so we reviewed the 2016 Land Management Plan that was adopted by the planning commission as part of (the comprehensive plan), and in that plan every single city property is listed and mapped.”

Nina Keller, who voiced the most concern about rezoning applications among planning commission members, questioned the impacts of development in certain areas as well as asking why applicants were being pursued now when the city’s comprehensive plan was in the process of being fully updated. for the first time in over a decade.

“This will be about uncovering what a community wants, what a community needs now compared to 11 years ago,” he said. “And won’t he look at where these things should be built? So right now if this property is rezoned, developers come in with ideas, potentially buy it and want to develop it based on the 11-year comprehensive plan (and) they can do that. But if we update the plan, we might conclude, ‘Oh, maybe this isn’t what we need or want.’

In response, Jill Lawhorne, CBJ’s director of community development, said the comprehensive plan has been modified since the original draft to reflect some current considerations. He also emphasized that Juneau needs to look 20 to 30 years ahead with this plan and faces conditions that many municipalities do not face.

“I can imagine other communities where it wouldn’t make sense to move forward in those areas knowing there’s a comprehensive plan on the horizon,” he said. “But we are living in challenging times here, incredibly challenging when it comes to housing, and we know this is a three to five year process. And frankly, we don’t have that much buildable land. “We’re not like any other community that just has wide open space, green space, gray space, or whatever it may be for opportunities.”

Bleidorn said the seven rezoning applications on Tuesday’s agenda were submitted to CBJ’s Community Development Department in July, and public hearings were held in September to solicit public comments.

“There are a lot of unknowns here to work out in the future,” he added, including specific projects and developers who might be interested in the rezoned properties.

“There are no definitive plans to develop these properties,” Bleidorn said.

In determining the proposed rezoning classifications, “We looked primarily at properties that were adjacent to it because we wanted to try to match the zonings as much as possible to create a cohesive map that made sense from a zoning standpoint,” he said.

Three of the four rezoning applications were approved by the commission on a 6-1 vote for presentation to the Juneau Council, which Keller opposed. One application was rejected 6-1, with Mandy Cole voting against, due to concerns about the size of the parcel in question and its location near Fish Creek.

Zoning applications approved by the planning commission include:

• A total of 39 acres of CBJ land south of Grant Creek going to the D18 zoning district instead of D3 (higher numbers reflect higher development/density levels).

• Approximately 87 acres of undeveloped land north of Grant Creek from D3 to D15. The applicant’s memo states that “the area is consistent with the adjacent zoning district.”

• Total uphill area of ​​66 acres from 6101-6615 North Douglas Highway to D3 instead of RR (rural reserve).

An application to rezone approximately 77 acres near Fish Creek on North Douglas Highway to D3 instead of RR was denied by the planning commission.

Residents met on Thursday to discuss their concerns

The North Douglas Neighborhood Association is scheduled to meet at the Juneau Makerspace at 3915 North Douglas Highway from 5:30 to 8 p.m. to discuss the status of the second Juneau-Douglas crossing, tourism development, rezoning proposals and other concerns.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at [email protected] or (907) 957-2306.