Girdwood South Townsite Master Plan

Project Date: 2007-present
Project Manager:Ellen Campfield Nelson
Client: Heritage Land Bank (Municipality of Anchorage)
Location: Girdwood

Project Description

Located about 40 miles south of Anchorage on Turnagain Arm, Girdwood is a small town with the potential to grow into a world-class year-round resort community. Residents cherish the community's friendly small-town atmosphere and ready access to the valley's mostly undeveloped forests and mountains, as well as world-class terrain at Alyeska Resort, Alaska's largest developed ski area. The community and the Municipality of Anchorage have been working together for over 10 years to shape Girdwood’s growth in ways that will accommodate the need for new housing and commercial development within ecological constraints and at the same time protecting the area’s rural character and access to open space.

As part of this effort, Agnew::Beck has been hired to work with the community to prepare an area master plan for approximately 220 Municipally owned acres in Girdwood's New Townsite Commercial District. The area is just south of the Alyeska Highway directly across from the existing New Girdwood Townsite and includes the area sometimes called "the Squirrel Cages." Through this planning process, the Girdwood community will prioritize its development needs, determine how appropriate the land is for different development types in both ecological and economic terms, agree upon uses for the land, and adopt a master plan.

Initial planning steps will include assembling an overview of past planning and projects in progress, compiling information regarding land use and market trends in the Girdwood valley, and preparing a set of environmental maps and data for the project area. Public workshops will be held to review the research done in the project’s initial phase. In the next phase, the project team will develop a set of alternatives and identify a preferred alternative, which will be reviewed at a second public workshop.  The team will build from this work to assemble a preferred master plan and an accompanying impact assessment, which will be refined before being submitted for formal approval and adoption by the Girdwood Board of Supervisors, the Heritage Land Bank Advisory Board, the Anchorage Planning and Zoning Commission, and the Anchorage Assembly. 

Schedule

June 13: June 2008 Draft Plan distributed for public comment and review.

June 25: Plan reviewed at the Girdwood South Townsite Subcommittee Meeting; Townsite Subcommittee prepares statement of support/non-objection.

July 14: Deadline for comment on June 2008 Draft Plan. Plan introduced at the GBOS Land Use Committee meeting.

August 11: Action on the plan requested from the GBOS Land Use Committee.

August 18: Plan introduced at the Girdwood Board of Supervisors (GBOS) meeting.

September 15: Action on the plan requested from the GBOS.

October 9: Plan presented to the Heritage Land Bank (HLB) Advisory Commission.

September-October: Plan reviewed by relevant Municipal Departments.

October: Plan presented to the MOA Planning and Zoning Commission.

November-January: Plan presented to the Anchorage Assembly with comment from all previous committees and review boards.

Documents

July 2008 Final Draft Girdwood South Townsite Master Plan

Front Matter and Executive Summary (1.42 MB)

Chapters 2-9 (5.87 MB)

Appendix A: Minutes of Public Meetings (1.15 MB)

Appendix B: Publicity Flyer (864 KB)

Appendix C: Little Bears Playhouse Site Plan (6.59 MB)

Appendix D: Girdwood Community Club Vision (4.11 MB)

Appendix E: Housing Examples (513 KB)

Appendix F: Comments (130 KB)

Bibliography (75 KB)

Other Documents

Recommended Land Use Map (593 KB)

Full Site Phasing Map (441 KB)

Girdwood Townsite Sketch (3.32 MB)

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes: Girdwood Townsite Subcommittee (37 KB)
June 25: The Girdwood Townsite Subcommittee met to review the revised Draft Girdwood South Townsite Master Plan.

Public Workshop Notes (54 KB)
May 7, 2008: A public workshop was held in Girdwood Wednesday, May 7 to discuss the Draft Girdwood South Townsite Master Plan.

Meeting Notes: Girdwood Townsite Subcommitte (53KB)
March 25, 2008: The Girdwood Townsite Subcommittee met to review the revised alternatives for development and disscuss issues and directions.

Handout: Evolution of the Townsite Master Plan (762 KB)
March 25, 2008: Synopsis of ideas from previous meetings.

Meeting Notes: Girdwood Townsite Subcommittee (539 KB)
January 9, 2008: The Girdwood Townsite Subcommittee met to review alternatives for the direction of development for the Girdwood South Townsite. Click on the link above to see notes from the meeting, including images of the three alternatives discussed.

Public Workshop Summary (441 KB)
November 1-3, 2007: A series of workshops were held in Girdwood between Thursday, November 1 and Saturday, November 3 to discuss the future of the Girdwood Townsite.