Mat River development a bad idea

In this matter, we believe the direct approach is best: building more homes along the Matanuska River is not a good idea.

In a story reported Friday, we wrote that the Mat-Su Borough’s Platting Board will very soon be asked to approve a platting action that would subdivide land along the river into eight lots to be known as the Circle View Ranch.

If you’re familiar with the name Circle View it’s probably because that’s the subdivision that famously banded together to form an erosion district, to pay extra taxes that, combined with state money, was used to build and maintain a series of four dikes to protect their homes from the Matanuska River. The district constructed a fifth dike some time later.

That happened in the 1990s but Circle View has been back in the news lately as an example of a community that has managed to temporarily impede the voracious Matanuska, which has started gobbling up homes and land again.

Of the many rivers in Mat-Su, the Matanuska has lately been the one wreaking the most havoc on area properties. Homes have gone into the river. Others are threatened. In Butte, the borough is seeking federal funds to buy out homes along one of the hardest hit stretches, which has lately been prone to periodic flooding and erosion.

And yet, just a few miles downstream, we’re talking about perhaps opening the door to what could result in the further development of homes along those muddy banks.

This is not a good idea.

We are loathe to tell property owners what they can do with their land. We don’t generally favor onerous regulations. However, we do think that government has a role to play here in protecting taxpayers’ long-term interests. When the river begins to encroach we wonder why construction was allowed in these high-risk spots. In this case, homes have already been washed into the river from the same parcel of land.

This is about prevention. If borough code isn’t robust enough to prevent this development, then let this be our assembly’s call to action.

As a prime example of why it’s a bad idea to let people build along the river we remind readers of the Wenner family, who bought a home with acres between them and the Matanuska only to see their land and then their home disappear over the course of a few summers. They weren’t the ones who built there but they bought a home unaware of the risk. The bank gave them a loan, too. Nothing between them and their dream home in Alaska, nothing between them and a voracious river.

That’s the risk we run here. Surely, the family who owns this land now is well aware of what they’re getting into. But what happens when they sell it?

Maybe our borough government should buy this land while it’s still undeveloped and turn it into a park. That seems like a wiser investment than spending tax money to buy a home as well as the land later.

The Matanuska River has been a known problem in the Valley for decades. It’s well-past time to enact rules that minimize this risk for taxpayers and private property owners.

It’s time to make a plan as a community. Maybe create a river management plan or, dare we say it, institute some zoning rules along its banks.

Because the one thing that’s certain in this debate is that the Matanuska River isn’t going to stop eating way land. This is a problem that is not going away.